Enabling Economic Empowerment through Education with Javonna Wylie

Liam Dempsey: As we reflect on our recent Start Local Networking Event, we are so grateful to our sponsors, Propell Credit Union and AMS Communications. Their embrace of our show’s mission and financial support means that we were able to bring local business and nonprofit leaders together in person to share and learn from one another. Thank you, Propell Credit Union, and thank you, AMS Communications.

Welcome to Start Local, where we talk with business owners, leaders of nonprofits, and other members of our community focused on doing business in and around Chester County, Pennsylvania. Each episode will provide insight into the local business scene and tell you about opportunities to connect with and support businesses and nonprofits in your local area.

Joe Casabona: The Southern Chester County Chamber of Commerce promotes trade, commerce, industry, and sustainable economic development while supporting a diverse and growing marketplace. The chamber is proud to partner with the Start Local podcast to raise the profile of businesses and nonprofits throughout Chester County. Learn more about the chamber at scccc.com. That’s scccc.com.

Liam Dempsey: Welcome to Start Local. I’m Liam Dempsey. Today, my cohost, Erik Gudmundson and I are gathered in the podcast studio. Erik, how are you?

Erik Gudmundson: I’m doing great. It’s another beautiful Friday afternoon here.

Liam Dempsey: Well, kind of it is, but mostly it’s a Friday morning, but that’s alright, folks. It’s Friday, and we’re happy to get through the week.

As we record today’s show, we are basking in the warm glow of good feelings generated by our recent community gathering at Stolen Sun. We sure hope you were there. There were more than 50 people who county came out to meet and mingle with others in our community. We just wanna take a second to thank our great sponsors, Propell Credit Union and AMS Communications for taking care of the costs of this event. It is so wonderful to see the leaders of those two great organizations embracing the Start Local community.

Erik Gudmundson: Yeah. And I know I really enjoyed personally just getting a bit deeper in conversation with people about things that matter to them in the community. And it’s a little more interesting to me than a typical business card exchange or quick networking session. We were able to truly get a better understanding of what’s happening around us, so I enjoyed that.

Liam Dempsey: Today, we welcome Jovanna Wiley, President and CEO of Chester County OIC. Welcome, Jovanna.

Jovanna Wiley: Thank you so much. I’m happy to be here.

Erik Gudmundson: Jovanna, it’s great to have you in the studio. So, thank you so much for making time for us.

Liam Dempsey: So, Jovanna, we saw you on Wednesday night at our networking event. Thank you for coming out. That was great to catch up with you in person and spend time with you there. But I wanna jump right into our questions now. 

We know that the Chester County OIC supports disadvantaged adults by creating educational and employment opportunities. How does that play out day to day? What do your programs look like?

Jovanna Wiley: So we are almost, if you look at us, we’re split into two different departments. So, we have Workforce Development and Adult Education. 

And so our Adult Education Programs offer GED (General Education Diploma), ESL (English as a Second Language), and Adult Tutoring. And then we also have some workforce programs that we tailor based on the local labor market. So, some of those include Forklift Operator, Digital Literacy, Certified Nurses Aide, and Customer Service, and we’re working on a few upcoming programs for the new year.

Erik Gudmundson: And that’s a lot that you have on your plate. And so I wanted to take a step back and just put things in perspective because I work in IT, and IT is filled with acronyms. And then I got involved in Workforce Development. And there are even more acronyms involved in Workforce Development than in IT, I feel. And so, Chester County OIC, what does OIC stand for, and how does that relate to your mission, in English, if you would, please?

Jovanna Wiley: Yes. So OIC is Opportunities Industrialization Centers, Inc. And, of course, industrialization is a mouthful to say, so we always say OIC. But we were founded in the 1960’s, by the late Reverend Leon Sullivan at a time where black and poor people could not get educational or, workforce opportunities. And so, Reverend Sullivan started OIC in a jailhouse in North Philadelphia, an abandoned jailhouse so that people could get free education. They weren’t getting hired at different companies at the time to make livable wages. And so he started these centers so that people could see themselves in a place of, you know, thriving and opportunity. 

So, at the time he was alive, there were 100 of OSD’s around the country. He passed away in 2001, and today, there is 24 OIC affiliates around the country. And the mission and the vision has always been economic empowerment.

Erik Gudmundson: And so when it comes to today, and you talk about assisting disadvantaged adults today, what exactly do you mean by that? How do you define a disadvantaged adult in 2024?

Jovanna Wiley: Yes. So it’s ever changing, but in Chester County, at least, we look at a livable or a family sustainable wage which depends on family size, but it’s between $18-$20 an hour, in the Coatesville area especially. And so many individuals may have different skills, but how we define disadvantaged could be unemployed. Right? So no income at all, or it could be underemployed. Maybe you have multiple jobs because you make $8 an hour, $10 an hour, and you’re struggling to meet ends meet. And so that’s what we would consider disadvantage. It can look like all different walks of life, so it could be someone who was formerly incarcerated. It could be a single mother. It could be someone who switched career pathways. It could be someone who’s retired and just doesn’t make enough income. So all walks of life come through OIC.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. There a lot there. While we’re focused on your definition or OIC’s definition of disadvantaged adults, can you talk to us about kind of the numbers here, the size of the county, and maybe, you know, thinking about how many folks you’re actually supporting on a day to day business, and then what maybe what the wider needs of the community are?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So in, so we were founded in 1979, so we’re one of the younger OICs, but we have always operated in Westchester. In 2018, we received a grant from the county of Chester to buy our building in Coatesville to have a bigger impact. And so although we serve all of Chester County through our classes, we’ve had a stronger emphasis on Coatesville since 2018. The unemployment rate in Chester County is around 2%, but in Coatesville, it’s 10%. And then probably, like, at 50% poverty rate. So, the need in Coatesville is a lot higher. 

Each year, we see around 500 students come through our adult education program, more so the ESL program than the GED. But then for workforce, we also serve around 500 students. So each year, we serve around a 1000 students through our programs.

Erik Gudmundson: That’s a lot of students you have rolling through there. Explain what kind of jobs your students, or should I say graduates, expect to get upon completion of their studies?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So we, a lot of our students end up in manufacturing or administrative roles. We do aim to put them in entry to mid level roles. And when they are entry level, you know, at that $18-$20 per hour, we partner with, you know, some local businesses that aim to elevate that person. So, perhaps some type of role where they can grow even if they have to start at an entry level position. 

So, again, manufacturing, administrative, nursing, of course, with, you know, certified nurses aide. It really just depends on what that student’s interest is. And we have a labor resource manager, David, on staff to meet one on one with a person. So, sometimes if there’s a program or service that we’re not offering, we’ll partner with a local partner like the PA CareerLink that might be able to put that person in a specific field that we might not be able to.

Liam Dempsey: Jovanna, we talked before today, and you shared about how you and your CCOIC colleagues pay what I thought was a lot of attention from my position of ignorance to the many and competing needs of the community that you serve, that your colleagues serve. Why do you devote such attention and energy outside of the provision of career training and education? What’s  the value there? What are you seeing there?

Jovanna Wiley: So me, my background, right, is in social work even though I’m the president and CEO today and do a lot of, you know, business like work. My background is local work, so my scope is very systemic. And so when we look at how people can elevate out of poverty, you know, into the working or middle class, it’s helpful to look at things in a systemic way. 

And so, you know, one of the examples I always say is we have a driver’s education program. When we first moved to Coatesville, we had a young adult reentry program for 18 to 24 year olds, and what we realized was that a lot of the individuals that were ready and able to get our support were 25, 26, so they were falling outside of that scope. Even in serving the 18 to 24 year olds, we noticed that, I think we had about, like, 38 students at this time when I made this evaluation, and probably only 10 of those students had a driver’s license. And so, right, being able to be mobile and have a license and get to different places enhances the quality level of work that you can access. 

And so, me, personally, when I got my license at 22 years old while I was in college, and I know that my, you know, my mom was like, she’s a terrible driver. I’m not teaching her. So I had to be resourceful, and I always tell people, you know, my college boyfriend is the person who taught me how to drive.

So one of the questions I always ask people is, who taught you how to drive? Because, you know, many people might be able to say, you know, my dad, my, you know, aunt, my cousin, whoever. Some people don’t have those resources. And then when you think about driving, right, to be able to drive, you need to, or to be able to get your license and take the test, you need to know someone who has up to date registration, car insurance. You know, their car has to be have all those proper documentations. And when you are in poverty or your network also is, you know, struggling with poverty, you might not have those exact resources. And so we understand that, like, it’s more than just your own ambitions and wanting to have a license. It’s also a very systemic process. 

And so we were able to create a driver’s program, and a DMV program that, you know, a few times a month, we use our company van to get students out to the DMV so they can get, you know, their ID, their permit, different things like that. We’ll cover the cost. We get them there. But then we also enroll them into a driver’s education program in partnership with Chester County Intermediate Unit so that they can get that license and have access to livable wage opportunities outside of where they live.

Erik Gudmundson: And we’ve heard from many guests that transportation is one of the challenges that employers and employees face today in Chester County. And I know when Chester County OIC opened in 1979, it was based in Westchester. And in 2018, your organization moved to your own facility in Coatesville. So, I’m curious what prompted the move, and what has changed since your move? And does this has the move, you know, really helped to better position your ability to serve your students?

Jovanna Wiley: Yes. So, we know over time, Westchester has changed, and the demographics have changed. Actually, I’m born and raised here. So just from history, I’ve seen some of the changes myself, but also hear about it from neighbors. And so at the time when we moved, it really was to have a stronger impact, just understanding that Coatesville is the poverty pocket of the county.

When I started at OIC in 2014 as a college intern, I actually ran a youth program, and we, that youth program was in Phoenixville because Phoenixville was an up and coming community and had some of the same needs that Coatesville currently has today. And so when we moved to Coatesville, we realized, you know, we love all the programs we’re doing around the county, but there’s such a need here. And so we focused our energies there. It started out in reentry, but then obviously, we realized there’s so many other needs outside of reentry.

Liam Dempsey: We read an interview with, that you did with Vista today. We read the interview earlier, well, this week. And, in that interview you mentioned that you read Doctor Leon Sullivan’s book Build, Brother, Build. And before this show, I did some research on Doctor Sullivan and I learned that he was quite a mountain of a man both literally and figuratively. Can you walk us through just some of the achievements of this great local leader? You couldn’t cover everything because we would need probably four episodes to cover that. But can you just touch on some of the things? I don’t think a lot of folks will know how much he contributed to the quality of life for a lot of different people in and around our region.

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. Absolutely. So just knowing the history of reverend Sullivan keeps me going on my hardest days. Just him knowing that he has that vision, knowing that he opened up so many centers, you know, around the country, and internationally and that even today, you know, 100 and thousands of people are still thriving off of his vision. 

So he was born in West Virginia, you know, very poor, and he moved to Philadelphia after getting his education, you know, became a reverend, served many congregations. But when he started this movement, he was very bold in everything he did. His vision was self help. So, knowing that people want and need opportunities, but they just need the tools to help them get there, and so he was very big on helping people help themselves. That’s OIC’s model. What can we do to make sure people are helping themselves? 

And he was the first black person, the first black man to serve as a board member on General Motors. At that time, it was very rare. He organized around the country. You know, he worked with different presidents at the time. So, he just had a lot of impact in general in, I wanna say the black community, but I really, nationally. 

So, Reverend Sullivan actually did a lot of work in Africa as well, and he played a big part in ending apartheid in South Africa, just by taking trips there, by starting the Sullivan principles that just talked about, you know, justice in the workforce, how all people are created equal and how bringing others into opportunities and into the workforce is better for everyone.

Erik Gudmundson: Those are some really big shoes you have to fill. And I’m sure you’d be the first to say you’re not gonna fill those shoes, but you’re gonna, you know, fulfill part of that mission at least. And I know the previous Executive Director, Joyce Chester, also left quite an impression and held that role for a long time and did a wonderful job. So how does it feel to be selected to continue that legacy that so many great people filled before you came along.

Jovanna Wiley: Yes. It’s inspiring. Some days stressful. Joyce was with the organization for 23 years, and what’s awesome is if you’re ever in the presence of the OIC network with OIC of America or some of the other 23 affiliates, you’ll see that a lot of the presidents and CEOs are long timers. Some of them have been there for 30 years. Some of them knew Reverend Sullivan while he was here. And so when you’re in the room with all of them, you’re going to hear all about the movement. The expectations are high, but it’s also inspiring because when you think about running a nonprofit organization, you know, sometimes as a President and CEO or an Executive Director, it can feel like a very unique role, but you’ll realize, you know, people have gone through these same exact hard times. They figured out how to pivot.

And one of the things that reverend Sullivan has always said, but also I’ve heard some of the other execs as well as Joyce, is as long as you’re, you know, paying attention to the people, following those in need, you’re gonna stay in business. Right? Because it’s not hard to figure out what people need and advocate for them and then build the partnerships and the resources around what you need. 

So, just seeing all the people who have come before me that have done this work and are still doing it is what keeps me inspired.

Liam Dempsey: And hearing you say that, Jovanna, makes me wonder if that’s part of the reason why you pay such close attention to things outside education is because the great folks before you clearly, they clearly imparted that wisdom onto you.

Jovanna Wiley: Yes. Absolutely. When we talk about Leon Sullivan’s books, Build, Brother, Build and Moving Mountains, he literally creates a road map on how to run this organization, how to partner, and how to strengthen your communities.

Erik Gudmundson: Another item you mentioned in your Vista Today interview, was your desire to support the local youth that are in need. So what challenges are you seeing that aren’t being addressed with local youth today, and how can your organization better address them?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So right now, there’s about FIVE generations in the workforce, and I know myself just from being a millennial how stressful it can be for the generations before us to look down and say, why aren’t you doing things this way? This is how it should be. And so, right, you know, after COVID, after 2020, the workforce has not been the same. So many things are changing. Technology is changing. Communication is changing. And just being around some youth, we had a pilot program that we offered last fall through some funding we got from the Alliance For Health Equity. And those students were so hungry for leadership and change, but many of them didn’t have parental support. Some of them just didn’t know where to start. And so just knowing that you know, that the youth are ready and able and they wanna do something, they just need some of the tools to do it, is what has us paying attention to how can we help develop these young people because they’re the future of, you know, our county, but also our workforce, and so we need to be providing them with those tools that they need to get ahead.

Liam Dempsey: We know that CCOIC partners with a number of local businesses to provide employment opportunities for students. You shared with us about that and said how a number of area businesses take advantage of your various programs and employ your students and graduates. I wonder if you can share some examples, specific examples of companies that you’re working with, and I’d love to hear you talk about how these companies benefit from employing your students kind of in a practical sense. What’s in it for them?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So one of our programs I can give an example of is our work enclave, and that program is probably the program that made my career. 

In 2021, I always had the vision of being able to provide paid work experiences for adults the same way that we did for the youth when I started in 2014. And so to my predecessor, Joyce, I would always say, I want this model for our adults. I want this model for adults. So one day, I finally just made the curriculum. I was able to loop in a lot of different partners and professionals to help create it, and I sent in a proposal to Second Century Alliance in Coatesville, and they made a $25,000 investment in January 2022. And once I had that investment, I was able to go to the county’s workforce development department, and then we continued to get funding for the following years.

And so with the work on CLEAVE, it’s a 5-week model, we’re paying students $15 an hour to essentially get professional development, but also do some community engagement and cleanup. And so while they’re working, it’s really a supplemental income. So, you know, we encourage them to have work outside of these hours, but we build them up. So they get conflict resolution. They get diversity awareness in case they’ve never had that kind of training. We teach them mindfulness. How do you mentally show up for work and be prepared and deal with all the struggles? Emotional intelligence. And so once they get that training, we’re already, you know, figuring out what’s the next step for them, what are they interested in, what are they skilled at, what are they skilled at, what employers are available. And we’ll, once their 5-week ends, we’ll get them into a local employer where we can extend their paid work opportunity potentially paying them $18 an hour, 40 hours a week for 6 weeks. And so some of, we’ve had a few really, really, really great successes where they ended up getting full-time work. 

And so a few of those partners are Whitmer Public Safety and Innovation Chester. So Sue Springsteen is a big partner of ours. And people have been able to get these livable wage jobs that have really changed their lives and created stability. So, when we think about what the employers get out of this, I would say, right, a good worker. For at least five to six weeks, they’re getting an investment into their workforce that they don’t have to worry about the funding. So, essentially, it’s very low risk because OIC is taking on any potential liability that would come with, you know, having an untraditional hire.

Erik Gudmundson: You mentioned funding, and I’d like to go a little deeper on that front. You have a lot of programs and services that are not, you know, free to run because, you know, your staff certainly needs to be paid. You know, you’re paying some of these workers as they go out and try these new things with employers. What is your funding model exactly? You know, where do you get your funds, and, you know, how do you approach acquiring new funding?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So we’re a $1,600,000 organization. About half of our funding, around $800,000, comes from the PA Department of Education, and that’s invested into our Adult Education pPograms, you know, so the ESL, the GED, the free Adult Tutoring. And then the rest of our grants are really, either unrestricted funds, or we go after some of the same funding from partners like Alliance For Health Equity, Department of Community Development, Department of Workforce Development, Department of Labor, and Local Foundation. So we really depend on a lot of those funds to support our workforce programming, and then, also, of course, restricted funds help with our operations.

Erik Gudmundson: Well, you’re doing a lot of good with the funding. That’s for sure. So do keep it up. And with that momentum in mind, you’ve had this role for about a year, and you’ve been with OIC for even longer than that. And if I were to ask you to project 20 years into the future, if you could have OIC doing anything you wanted, what would OIC be doing? What would it look like?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. Oh, that’s an interesting question. So, for sure, I imagine the workforce will continue to change. So I don’t exactly know what that looks like, but I know we’ll continue to follow that. What I can imagine in Chester County are more satellite locations where we have the space to provide different trainings that are on-site. 

What my goal is is to have more things in-house, and have some more one-stop shops because a lot of times, in social services, students may be spinning their heads trying to figure out where they can find this resource and the next resource. And so, you know, if we were able to have a staffing agency on-site that could support students with the immediate, I need a job right now, because that is not OIC, that would be helpful. You know, if we could have a culinary program that can provide nutritious foods for not just the students, but the staff too and then the community, that would be awesome.

Continuing to have youth programs that invest in, you know, STEM and STEAM programs. Our sister organization in Montgomery County, they’re like the guru of before and after care and childcare. So, they have the best youth programs, but they also have before and after care that can help working or, you know, studying parents while they’re attending class. Those are some of the visions I would have. Whatever it looks like to invest in our students and community in a way that they can continue to thrive, and reach those economic goals that they may have is what I see down the road.

Liam Dempsey: Jovanna, I’m gonna ask a question that is really focused on Coatesville. And you talked about earlier in this conversation how you folks moved to Coatesville. You have your own facility out there now and to work to better serve that community in the wider Chester County area. And a few moments ago, you talked about Susan Springsteen and her Innovation Center out there. For folks listening, Susan was one of our guests back in Episode 28, so we’ll be sure to include a a link to that episode in the show notes. And I was out at a networking event at the Arches in Coatesville, a few weeks ago, maybe a month or so ago now, and I heard about it from 2nd Century Alliance, which is as I’m coming to learn, an amazing organization headed up by Amber Little Turner. Can you tell us about what’s going on in Coatesville as far as delivering economic empowerment to the folks that are living there? Because it seems like there’s a lot going on. We’ve been hearing a lot, not only from our chester, but in the county. And you’re right there in it, and you’re making it happen too. Can you talk to us about that a little bit?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So I do believe that, you know, some of the nonprofit businesses or organizations have had a strong impact on some of what’s been happening. I know that when we moved to Coatesville, there was some hesitancy around, you know, what it looked like to have nonprofits in the area because would they be bringing in income? How do they support the community? And so I know for sure when I come across some of the council members, they’re praising us and so excited for all that OIC has been able to do since 2018 and just fulfilling our promises and staying in Coatesville and, you know, investing into the community and pouring into them. 

And I would definitely say that 2nd century alliances and Amber’s work is playing a huge part in what’s happening. The small incubator business that’s on Lincoln Highway is phenomenal. I love the Western Branch teas and coffees. There’s a hat shop. There’s a clothing shop. There’s just so many resources, you know, that you can shop at to build the local dollar, but also that students can tap into if they’re in interested in entrepreneurship. 

And so one of the things OIC is looking to do is partner stronger with the city of Coatesville because, you know, they could utilize a lot of support with, you know, like, parks and recreation and community cleanup and different things. And so when I’m speaking with my team and we’re thinking about some of the need or some of the need that the county focuses on, all we see is job opportunities.

Erik Gudmundson: You mentioned a lot of local organizations and local businesses there in that answer, which I really, really enjoyed hearing. But I wanna pause for a moment and ask you, is there a specific local business or local nonprofit organization that people should know more about?

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. So I would say, this is, in a way, a shameless plug, but I’m a board member for Chester County HR Association. And so I actually got involved with CCHRA, almost 3 years ago now. A former board member of ours kept talking to me and saying, Jovanna, you should do HR. And I was like, why? But I totally understand because there’s always a need for Human Resources. But CCHRA is great because they have low membership rates, and then each month, there’s different networking events that come with professional development. So, I feel like professionals at any level of their career, you know, whether entry, mid, senior, it’s a way for folks to connect and really get different resources and different professional development that not only benefits them but can benefit some of the folks that they lead.

Liam Dempsey: You’re doing a lot of work out there to educate folks, provide them career training, help them learn languages, and the like. Are you looking for volunteers? Do you need any help?

Jovanna Wiley: So we do have some upcoming board vacancies. We can always benefit from, you know, just people investing their time in OIC, whatever that may look like, because we work with so many people from different walks of life because we’re all over the county. We have, you know, about 15 satellite spots where we’re teaching GED and education. So, you know, we can always benefit from maybe some retired folks running a class. There’s always a need at OIC, you know, for leadership opportunities.

Erik Gudmundson: And it amazes me when you’re talking about building that workforce, you really approach it from all levels, it seems. And we even have a digital literacy program. For whom is that offering targeted, and what sort of training do you specifically provide?

Jovanna Wiley: So we partner with Full Circle Computing, which is located in Exton. But since my time at OIC, which is a decade now, we’ve always partnered with Full Circle. So they teach all different groups of people. They’re very versatile in their training style. 

But digital literacy specifically, focuses on Microsoft Office Suite. So it gives people that beginner and intermediate level learning that they need to be competent on the computer. Individuals also get to learn about, you know, Zoom, LinkedIn, how to use it, how to maximize your network from utilizing it. And at the end of the training, they take an exam in Microsoft Word and become certified. So, a lot of times I say people who are looking for an administrator role of some sort would benefit from this, but, really, anyone in general. Because I know me with all these Microsoft updates, I’m questioning what generation I’m from.

So we love digital literacy because of the versatility, and one of the things we do at the end of the training, once students complete, is we give them the laptop that they’ve been using. So we always build that into our grants to make sure students have access to that.

Generally, when we started out, we had a lot of retired folks who either played a strong community role, or, you know, wanted to just get back into the workforce. But lately, we’ve been having, you know, intergenerational students join this training, and, it’s just helpful for any career opportunity.

Liam Dempsey: Yeah. I couldn’t agree with you more. The, it’s hard to get anywhere without some level of understanding of kind of day to day computer usage at a proficiency level that doesn’t get in the way. So that’s great that you’re offering that. Thank you for that. 

I asked you previously about volunteering opportunities, but I wanna circle back and ask, is CCOIC hiring? And if so, where can folks learn about the positions that you have?

Jovanna Wiley: So we are hiring. Prior to being president and CEO, I was the director of workforce. And so right now, we do need a a manager for workforce. I’m looking for, you know, someone who is, you know, in the community, has a vibrant personality, has, you know, maybe some experience with grant writing and things like that. We are also looking for a finance person. So all and any of the positions that will be open are on our website, [ccoic.org], and we also post about it on our social media.

Erik Gudmundson: You’ve also talked several times during this interview about partnering with different organizations. And by reading your website, we’re seeing over 15 local organizations, and I’m sure you probably partner with even more. So what value do you see in partnering with so many different nonprofits, churches, educational institutions, local governments, and more? That’s just a lot of work to keep track of, but I’m sure you see value in it. So, tell us about that a little bit more.

Jovanna Wiley: Yeah. Since I’ve been in this field, I’ve always heard about the silos, and I’ve never seen things that way. It honestly doesn’t make any sense. It’s so helpful to be able to partner with other people because we get to maximize on our grants and services. Even when I think about the driver’s education program, there was a point where I was like, we really need this program, and lieutenant Alice from Coastal Area Police Department was willing to help me teach permit classes and things like so we were spinning our heads, trying to figure out how to make this happen. 

And one day, I was like, let me just do a Google search, and I realized that the Chester County Intermediate Unit already offered this. So what I was able to do was just start building it into our grants and, projecting what type of funding we might need to do this partnership. Like I said, when we have the work on CLEA, we have a lot of partners that are included in that.

So we have Open Heart come and talk about their match program, which includes a car match program so that when students get their license, they can already have that resource set up to get a car. So we love to partner at OIC just because we know that we can do everything on our own. Even though we operate very much so as a community based nonprofit, you know, we don’t do housing. We don’t have all the resources in the world. And so anytime that we can maximize a partnership, whether that means doing presentations on their site or their them coming to ours, anything we can do to build our mission and our vision, we’re excited to do that.

Erik Gudmundson: Jovanna Wiley, President, and CEO of Chester County OIC. Where can listeners connect with you and learn more about CCOIC?

Jovanna Wiley: So I’m always on LinkedIn, so definitely link me on LinkedIn, Jovanna Wiley. We are on Instagram and Facebook, Chester County OIC. We do have some updates on LinkedIn as well through the Chester County OIC page and then also our website [ccoic.org].

Liam Dempsey: Jovanna, thank you so much for spending time with us today. It’s been an absolute pleasure learning about your organization, and about your work there. Thank you.

Erik Gudmundson: Thank you to my cohost, Liam Dempsey. I’m Erik Gudmundson. 

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