A MESSAGE FROM OUR BOARD CHAIR
A Winning Investment
Over the course of my career, I have enjoyed great success investing in underappreciated companies in which there is a huge disconnect between the public perception of that company and its actual strengths and potential. By investing early and helping nurture those companies, I have received tremendous satisfaction in watching them flourish and significantly outperform expectations.
This is why I accepted an invitation to serve as the Board Chair at Goodwill of San Francisco, San Mateo and Marin Counties.
SF Goodwill may not be a young organization—we are over 100 years old—but it is a misunderstood organization with massive upside.
First and foremost, Goodwill provides individualized career services and job training for people who need a second chance. This may mean the formerly incarcerated woman raising two children and determined to launch a career in IT. Or it may be a non-native English learner escaping violence in El Salvador who needs a job to put food on the table. Or a veteran who served our country but needs training to acquire the tools necessary to compete in the 21st century job market.
WE CREATE SECOND CHANCES
THROUGH TRAINING AND THE DIGNITY
OF WORK
Goodwill not only provides career advancement services to thousands of people each year at our Career Centers, we also employ more than 500 of the Bay Area’s most vulnerable populations. We love our talented and dedicated team—but unlike most organizations, we actually don’t mind when they leave! The comprehensive array of training opportunities we offer through our “earn while you learn” model gives our employees the skills and marketplace savvy they need to forge fulfilling and sustainable careers.
Our employees have been ignored. Even dismissed. But when given the chance, they maximize their potential and prove the doubters wrong.
Our trainees and employees inspire me, but I also have a personal reason for choosing to serve Goodwill. My grandfather was an immigrant to this country more than a hundred years ago, fleeing persecution in Russia. When he arrived, he didn’t speak English, nor did he have a formal education. Through hard work and perseverance, he entered the middle class and provided a good life for his family.
I see a lot of my grandfather in our trainees. All they are lacking is opportunity—which is where Goodwill comes in. With our extraordinary leadership, market-proven training and career programs, our potential—just like our trainees’—is staggering.
Please join me in strengthening our Bay Area community by giving more people a second chance. I am confident your investment will pay off.
Eric Sippel,
Board Chair