On Thursday, August 8, 2024, the Downtown Women’s Center (DWC) hosted a graduation ceremony for its 22 LA:RISE program participants. The LA:RISE program is a collaborative partnership between the City, County, and nonprofit organizations to support individuals experiencing high barriers to employment, especially helping to connect women to resources that help them receive jobs.

The graduation began with graduates’ testimonials about their hardships and how the program guided them in their careers and in life. Through the program, participants who were facing homelessness, drug addiction, and repercussions of being incarcerated have gone on to use their skills from being in the program to better their lives as well as the lives of others going through similar life difficulties.

EWDD’s General Manager, Carolyn Hull, was in attendance to provide words of encouragement. “You have made the world a better place. Embrace failure. Success is about resilience and your past doesn't dictate your future.”

EWDD is a leadership team partner of the Los Angeles Regional Initiative for Social Enterprise (LA:RISE). This innovative, collaborative partnership unites the City and County of Los Angeles’ Workforce Development System with non-profit social enterprises and for-profit employers to help people with high barriers to employment get good jobs and stay employed.

The City’s WorkSource Centers and LA:RISE prioritize individuals recently released from prison, the unsheltered or those at risk of homelessness, and youth ages 18-24 who are neither in school nor employed. After working in a transitional job at a social enterprise, leveraging WorkSource Center training and services, LA:RISE participants are placed in permanent jobs within the private or the public sector.