East Bay Goodwill

On May 10, 2007, the Boards of Directors for Goodwill Industries of the Greater East Bay and Calidad Industries, an affiliate of Goodwill, honored individuals and community partners who exemplified the agency’s mission of helping people achieve self-sufficiency through the Power of Work at our Third Annual Awards Ceremony.

The Chairman’s Award, which recognizes an exemplary employee, was given to Eileen Phillips, Project Manager, Coast Guard Island.  Ms. Phillips’ contract for food service has been recognized nationally for the last two years in the prestigious Coast Guard Excellence in Food Service Award.  Bill Erben, was awarded our Power of Work Award, which honors an individual who successfully completed one of our job training and placement programs.  Mr. Erben was hired by Goodwill Industries after his successful work as an apprentice at Calidad Industries and been promoted to his current position as a Program Services Specialist.  Our Apprentice of the Year Award was given to Fred King, an HVAC Technician.  Mr. King was hired at CSTC Parks after overcoming a number of challenges related to this disability.  Cynthia Valdez was named our Placement of the Year.  She also overcame a number of challenges and developed the skills she needed to secure sustainable employment at Dermatology Consultants of Marin. 

“The individuals we recognized worked very diligently to overcome the obstacles they faced.  This is what Goodwill and Calidad are about – helping people with barriers to employment learn the skills and acquire the self-esteem they need to empower themselves to succeed in today’s job market,” said John B. Latchford, President & CEO.  “They are our mission at work in the community.”

Community organizations honored included the Oakland Unified School District for our Community Partner of the Year, the community-based organization Mission Solano as our New Community Partner of the Year, and United Parcel Service in Oakland as Employer of the Year.  Our Mission Advocate of the Year was Fred Koenig in his role at California’s Employment Development Department program for military veterans. 

“Our Board of Directors also recognizes the role that our partners play in our ability to fulfill our mission to the community,” Mr. Latchford added.  “We work with many community, governmental, and private organizations to help train and place people in need into sustainable employment, and the organizations we honored have helped us tremendously.”