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Wildcat NYC and The Women’s Project Helps Women Heal

Wildcat NYC and The Women’s Project Helps Women Heal

Join us on June 9, 2021 for Building Bridges to Community: A special virtual event to support The Women’s Project

The Women’s Project (TWP) is a community whose collective work serves as an alternative to pre-trial detention and incarceration. Born out of conversations seeking ways to permanently decrease the number of women detained in city jails and state prisons, it is part of a larger partnership between Wildcat/The Fedcap Group, public defenders, and district attorney offices in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx.

A community of shared experience and expertise, TWP aims to create a space that “stops the noise that often prevents women from finding their individual power, the power that will help them live the lives they want and make their dreams real, no matter what challenges await,” said Valentina Morales, Senior Director of Justice Initiatives and Director of TWP.

Women are generally referred to TWP while they are detained. Working together with staff, community members focus on overall wellness, accessing services and resources related to health, healing and recovery, as well as furthering economic stability and building strong community support. A core tenet of TWP is building positive communications among community members, who learn together and grow together.

Learn more, and purchase tickets for a special virtual event to take place on June 9, 2021, on the Wildcat website.

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Hardship to Hope: Combating Situational Poverty

Hardship to Hope: Combating Situational Poverty

The COVID-19 pandemic caused tens of millions of people to lose their jobs—people who have worked their entire lives. The Fedcap Group is committed to helping these individuals develop new skills required to become employed in high demand, skilled trades.

The COVID-19 pandemic is an unprecedented public health emergency and has triggered job losses and business closures not seen since the Great Depression. The economic crisis has resulted in a massive spike in those facing situational poverty—external circumstances or events that push jobholders and working families below the poverty line.

A sudden illness or job loss can plunge a family into a circumstance called situational poverty. People who have had regular employment and have strong work skills are suddenly out of work and unable to meet their day to day financial obligations. It can be tremendously frightening for the individual and their family. The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted millions in this way, threatening the well-being of individuals, families and entire communities.

Industries that employ tens of millions of people, including hospitality, food service, retail and transportation, may permanently downsize or change. Permanent job losses due to the pandemic are expected to be between 6.2 million and 8.7 million by the end of 2020, posing dire threats to individual and national economic recovery. “We know that as people spend more time unemployed, their labor market skills atrophy, their connections to the employers weaken and many start getting discouraged and ultimately leave the workforce,” Marianne Bertrand, a leading expert on the pandemic’s labor market, told the Washington Post.

Millions who face situational poverty will need to upgrade existing skills or acquire new ones, now and in a post-COVID-19 environment. The Fedcap Group’s recent acquisition of Apex Technical School, a well-known vocational and technical school in Queens, New York, greatly expands our capacity to help individuals out of situational poverty and into sustainable, well-paying jobs.

Founded in 1961, Apex Tech serves about 1,400 students annually with seven 900-hour certificate courses in skilled trades including refrigeration, automotive service, auto body, welding technology, electrical and advanced electrical, plumbing and construction. Apex certificate programs are highly regarded and have been shown to have a substantial positive impact on economic mobility—leading to entry level careers. Apex is accredited by the Accrediting Commission of Career Schools and Colleges and licensed by New York State Department of Education.

The combination also complements and expands our existing career training platform offered through the Fedcap Career Design School where we offer training in high growth sectors such as Security, Culinary Arts and Total Facilities Management followed by job placement and post placement supports.

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Celebration of Juneteenth

Celebration of Juneteenth

A Message from Christine McMahon, President and CEO of The Fedcap Group
June 19, 2020

Today is Juneteenth, a commemoration of the end of slavery in the United States and a celebration of Black Americans’ contribution to making the nation a stronger democracy and more just society.

Dating back to 1865, it was on June 19th that the Union soldiers, led by Major General Gordon Granger, landed at Galveston, Texas with news that the war had ended and that the enslaved were now free—two and one half years after President Lincoln declared the Emancipation Proclamation.

“The people of Texas are informed that, in accordance with a proclamation from the Executive of the United States, all slaves are free. This involves an absolute equality of personal rights and rights of property between former masters and slaves, and the connection heretofore existing between them becomes that between employer and hired labor…” —General Orders, Number 3; Headquarters District of Texas, Galveston, June 19, 1865

The celebration of June 19th was coined “Juneteenth” and became a day for African Americans to reassure one another, pray and gather remaining family members.

Today, Juneteenth is enjoying a phenomenal growth rate within communities and organizations throughout the country. Institutions such as the Smithsonian, the Henry Ford Museum and others have begun sponsoring Juneteenth-centered activities with the goal to cultivate knowledge and appreciation of African American history and culture, and to celebrate African American freedom and achievement.

Across America, companies and individuals are sharing in a moment of silence during Juneteenth to recognize the ongoing struggle for justice for all. We want to honor this historic day with a moment of silence as well. Please take some time out of your day today to pause and reflect on this significant occasion, remembering the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

Thank you for taking part in honoring the legacy of Juneteenth.

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Crisis and Leadership

Crisis and Leadership

“The words hope for the best and plan for the worst have never resonated with me so much as we have worked to navigate our international company through the ever-changing realities of COVID-19.”

These are uncertain times. I am not someone who likes uncertainty—and I ask many, many questions in order to gain clarity in any situation. I like to dig deeply into complex problems, clear the noise and make decisions. Yet during these times, there simply may not be answers.

So what do we do?

The way a leader behaves and acts during a crisis will uncover their ability to lead-period. It will uncover their willingness to take prudent and yet decisive action during a time when there is no manual. It will uncover their ability to calm the waters when others around them are panicking. It will demonstrate their ability to learn and rapidly course correct as circumstances indicate. It will show to others their innate character.

Don’t Allow Your Emotions To Get The Best Of You

In times of crisis, leaders invariably find themselves in the midst of a stressful and tense atmosphere. Now is the time to take charge of your thoughts, emotions and the way you deal with problems.

Remain Positive To Remain Productive

Positivity is the fuel for productivity. When the chips are down, you can choose to either get caught up in all the negativity surrounding you, or you can choose to do something positive about it. There’s always a choice.

Manage Expectations

When crisis strikes, people want to get over it as quickly as possible. As a leader, this is the time to face the situation and learn the magnitude of the problem. Let your staff know it might be a while until the storm passes and prepare them for the long and hard battle ahead.

Exercise Your Fearlessness

Fear is contagious and so is courage. If your demeanor reeks of fear, your employees will feel a greater sense of fear. You cannot afford to project yourself as someone who is not sure of his ability to lead or is short on confidence. Demonstrate the kind of courage that makes people want to follow you.

I have also found that the insights of Patrick Collison, founder of Stripe, to be especially helpful. In an article published by the Knowledge Project entitled Preserving our Optionality Collison wrote: “How do we prepare for a world that often changes drastically and rapidly? We can preserve our optionality. We don’t often get the advice to keep our options open. And we should. We live in a world that’s constantly changing, and if we can’t respond effectively to those changes, we become redundant, frustrated, and useless. Instead of focusing on becoming great at one thing, there is another, counterintuitive strategy that will get us further: preserving optionality. The more options we have, the better suited we are to deal with unpredictability and uncertainty. We can stay calm when others panic because we have choices.”

This rings so true for me, especially given the current times. Optionality means that we are always preparing for a variety of possible outcomes. We assume the next challenge is around the corner and we are constantly listening to diverse voices in order to be prepared. And we position ourselves to keep as many options open as possible. This optionality pathway cannot simply start during a crisis but must be a part of steady state. At the Fedcap Group, this has been one of our mantras: Diversity in programming results in diversity in options. So in this time of uncertainty, let’s find strategic ways to preserve our options. Let’s be smart, making decisions that can weather this storm. And in the meantime, breathe. I want to share a poem with you that has great meaning to me and when things seem overwhelming, I listen to it.

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