FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Local Job-Matching Firm SkillSmart Commits to White House Partnership for Refugees
SkillSmart Joins White House Call to Action for Private Sector Engagement on Global Refugee Crisis
Germantown, MD – September 20, 2016 – Today, SkillSmart announced its participation as a partner in the White House Call to Action for private sector engagement on the global refugee crisis. To facilitate this engagement, the White House launched the Partnership for Refugees and called on the private sector to make new, measurable and significant commitments that will that will have a long-term, sustainable impact on refugees.
“There are 21 million refugees around the world struggling to regain normalcy in their lives. It’s important that we in the private sector do our part to support this community, and at SkillSmart we’re committed to help,” said Jason Green, SkillSmart Co-Founder, SVP and General Counsel. “Refugees are mothers, fathers, doctors, teachers and students, and they deserve the stability and self-sufficiency that employment can provide.”
SkillSmart is proud to stand with President Obama and join the Partnership for Refugees. Refugees are a valuable untapped resource and, if given the opportunity, can thrive and contribute wherever they reside. SkillSmart’s commitment is focused on education, employment, and enablement, and the job-matching startup will collaborate with a refugee resettlement organization to provide the hiring platform to match refugee job seekers with participating employers.
“Too often the refugee community is unable to use the full breadth of their skillset due to lack of credential recognition, which also has a real impact on employers seeking skilled workers ” said Mike Knapp, SkillSmart’s CEO and Co-Founder. “Their credentials may not transfer, but their skills can and SkillSmart’s web-based platform will help to match their skills to available opportunities and connect to tailored training courses to continue to climb the ladder of mobility.”
SkillSmart has pledged to provide its skills matching and capacity building platform to match refugee job seekers with participating employers and educational institutions. These activities are aligned with the goal of the Call to Action: to empower refugees to thrive and contribute to society wherever they reside by providing them with the infrastructure, resources and tools they need to access education and skills, gain meaningful employment and become self-reliant.
SkillSmart joins more than 50 companies that have responded to President Obama’s Call to Action including Airbnb, Chobani, Google, JPMorgan Chase & Co., Microsoft, UPS, TripAdvisor, and more. To learn about the Partnership for Refugees, visit www.partnershipforrefugees.org.
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About SkillSmart
SkillSmart is a for-purpose tech company that is reshaping how employers identify and hire talent. Its employer-driven hiring platform helps growing organizations and industries find the talent they need by matching job seekers to employment opportunities based on skills rather than traditional proxies like a degree. We are based in Germantown, Md. and help empower employers and job seekers to make the right match in states across the country. For more information, please visit www.SkillSmart.us or find us on Twitter @SkillSmartUS and Facebook @SkillSmartUS.
For more information, contact:
Kyle Friis, kfriis@skillsmart.us
(301) 250-1015
