A West Philly ‘career matchmaker’ nonprofit gets a $4M surprise

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One of the largest grants in the history of a Philadelphia workforce development organization was a surprise.

This week, philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awarded the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative $4 million through her charitable organization Yield Giving.

Scott is an Amazon.com Inc. shareholder who has donated billions to charities since her divorce from founder Jeff Bezos.

Yield Giving conducts “quiet research” on the track record of community nonprofits and doesn’t disclose the philanthropist until a decision is made.

No strings are attached to how the money is spent, so the nonprofit can support more workers while exploring and experimenting with new ideas.

“They’re not asking us to do anything different. They’re saying you’re doing a really good job. Keep going, we trust you,” said Cait Garozzo, executive director of the University City District’s West Philadelphia Skills Initiative. “And that means a lot. It allows us to experiment and innovate to leverage the investment funds that we already have to grow in a way that feels authentic.”

The workforce development effort is a program of the University City District that prepares unemployed residents to apply for an entry-level job in a local high-wage industry. Graduates of the program earn an average wage of $21.71 per hour and are often working in vocational trades, manufacturing and health care.

For example, the West Philadelphia Skills Initiative recently recruited for a paid biomedical technician training program through The Wistar Institute to work for VintaBio’s gene manufacturing business at its Navy Yard operations.

In the last year, the nonprofit has worked with 200 individuals, about 91% of whom snagged jobs because of their experience with the organization.

“We work with [residents] to prepare them not just for the role but the interview and the career that comes after that first role,” Garozzo said.

In a sense, the organization is a trusted matchmaker between the job seeker and the company — often large institutions, which are often difficult to navigate since resumes are usually screened with computer software before recruiters begin interviews.

“That leaves job seekers in this position where they have to try and impress a computer system,” she said.

Instead, the initiative is built on relationships between the workers and employers. Individuals may participate in a training program that lasts a few months but may be supported by the program for years afterward.

“We will likely never get to the point where we’re serving a thousand people every month because it’s not possible to create authentic relationships at scale,” she said.

The group is also participating in a new life sciences talent pipeline effort known as the Keystone LifeSi Collaborative, which is funded by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Yield Giving has donated much more to nonprofits in the region: $20 million to the United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey; $3.5 million to The Urban League of Philadelphia; $18 million to the Greater Philadelphia YMCA; $3.5 million to Community Legal Services of Philadelphia; and $3 million to the Maternity Care Coalition.