Growth & Jobs | Residents in under-resourced communities groomed for jobs, skills training
Published:Tuesday | November 15, 2022 | 12:08 AM
FOLLOWING THE inking of a strategic partnership, Project STAR and the Human Resource Management Association of Jamaica (HRMAJ) are collaborating on human capital development programmes in targeted communities, starting with the design of a job readiness tool for use in the economic transformation component of Project STAR.
The tool will help the Economic Transformation Working Group to assess and match the skills and interests of community residents for jobs and training opportunities.
Launched in July 2022, Project STAR (Social Transformation and Renewal) is a social and economic development initiative created by the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica in partnership with the Jamaica Constabulary Force to bring about transformation, starting in under-resourced communities, with targeted interventions.
Key interventions include employment – job placement and certification – education, sports and entrepreneurship.
Saffrey Brown, project director of Project STAR, said, “The opportunity to tap into the support of 100 of Jamaica’s top-hiring professionals through HRMAJ will put Project STAR in a pole position to build both hard and soft skills in our youth programmes.”
Echoing Brown’s sentiments, HRMAJ President Lois Walters noted: “Our mission is human capital development, and HRMAJ looks forward to being a part of this sociocultural revolution, driven by a younger generation but anchored in community.”
As the partnership got under way, HRMAJ members on October 8 conducted a ‘Walk and Talk’ in the east downtown Kingston neighbourhoods of Rose Gardens, which, along with Parade Gardens, are the two neighbourhoods where Project STAR has begun to implement stakeholder and community engagement activities. East downtown Kingston is the first of 10 targeted communities for the project.
“It’s important for us to understand the demographic, do a needs assessment, so we can customise what we will offer,” explained Melissa Anderson, HRMAJ board director and chair of its membership services committee. “One of the valuable pieces of information to come out of the ‘Walk and Talk’ was the need residents expressed for assistance with obtaining formal certification for skills they already possess, for example, the Master Builders certificate,” she revealed.
“Internships, traineeships, job and coaching opportunities are among the services that our hiring managers may be able to assist with,” added Anderson, as she outlined the additional areas of collaboration that complement the tool.
Collaboration and consultation are integral parts of the Project STAR approach, which ensures that needs as well as solutions are identified and implemented by the communities themselves.
In turn, Project STAR works with partners – community-based organisations, government agencies, NGOs and private-sector entities, along with individuals at home and in the diaspora – to connect communities with the services and resources that are needed.