INNOVATING WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
Bridging the
network gap.
A career can change when someone gets the chance to show what they can do—and a community helps them take the next step.
re:WORK TRAINING is a Chicago-based nonprofit helping people build skills and social capital. We bring sales strategy into the job search and connect learning with feedback from real professionals.
Read the video transcript: Community voices: what support made possible
My name is Emmanuel, last name Buwabasa. I'm from the DMV area. Well, I'm originally from Ghana.
Hi, my name is Spirit and I am part of the 39th cohort of the re:WORK TRAINING program. I'm from Georgia.
I live in the Metro Atlanta area and I definitely absolutely wish re:WORK was around growing up.
So I worked a retail job with Costco Wholesale. I didn't feel like I was being challenged where I was. I've been in retail for seven years,
but I know that I am capable of so much more. As a single mom going through a hard time, I needed a change and I needed a change fast.
The same night, or maybe like the next night I signed up and then fast forward to now I'm working in the role all because I followed the blueprint that the program had.
Ever since joining re:WORK, my life has changed so much and I wanted to just give them their praise and their shout outs and kudos
for what they are doing with this program. As I became a candidate, within two months, I realized I was having more progress
than the prior programs that I had attempted. If you are thinking about making a donation to the program, I mean, I'm the cause right here.
Anybody that's pumping money into this right now, please don't stop. Keep it going.
A community that cared and that actually showed real support made a world of a difference for me. So please, please keep giving.
Thank you re:WORK.
Participants describe their own experiences. Individual career outcomes vary.
These original presentation recordings include earlier program descriptions and impact estimates. The text below reflects our current approach; our evidence page explains the results we report today.
01 / THE CHALLENGE
Ability needs
an opportunity
to be seen.
Professional networks shape who gets useful advice, candid feedback, and a chance to demonstrate their skills.
For someone with fewer connections in an industry, even knowing where to begin can be difficult. Submitting applications is one part of the search. Learning how to research an employer, start a conversation, and follow through gives a jobseeker more ways to participate.
We help people build that practice—and a community where they can use it.
Read the video transcript: Why the network gap matters
We believe in a world where your starting point never determines your future, but right now the reality is that 53 million Americans capable, hardworking, talented are stuck in low-income, low-wage jobs and is staring at a gap, the gap of talent and opportunity that seems almost impossible
to cross. Why is this gap so wide? Well, because for over 50 years, the workforce development space has focused on building a safety net. Safety nets are important. They catch you when you fall. They help you survive. But here's the hard truth that we've realized. You cannot climb out of a safety net.
Safety nets are designed for catching, not climbing. They keep people safe, but they also keep people stuck. To bridge that gap, we didn't focus on building a safety net. We focused on building a ladder. This isn't about survival. It's about mobility.
02 / SOCIAL CAPITAL MEETS SALES STRATEGY
Sales skills.
Career skills.
Research. Listen. Explain your value. Follow through.
These are habits people use in sales, and they are useful when pursuing a career. We teach learners to approach their job search as a business of one: understand their market, make a clear case for their abilities, and manage relationships with care.
Many participants pursue BDR and SDR roles. The same skills can support other career paths, too. The focus is on doing the work, learning from feedback, and building professional credibility.
Read the video transcript: Shelton Banks: why we teach sales skills
My name is Shelton Banks and I'm the CEO of re:WORK TRAINING. Here's our mission. We're building the future of workforce development
through the power of sales. We're the first nonprofit organization to treat technical sales, not just as a job description,
but as a skill to empower people's lives. Now, why sales? Well, because in an economy that's automating everything,
human influence is the one thing that artificial intelligence can't replace. And so we've taken the exact go-to-market strategy
well-known tech companies use like Salesforce and LinkedIn and we've turned it to help our community make money. Our philosophy here is simple,
that better incomes lead to better outcomes. Because we don't want our community to just survive, we wanna help them thrive.
And this just isn't theory for us. We've generated over $100 million in salaries from our community.
How we got there, well, that's the best part. My hope is that you'll review the next couple of slides and see how we've been able to help our community
to get this work.
Performance currency
Evidence of what you can do: preparation, practice, and work someone else can review.
Relationship currency
Trust built with people who know your work, understand your goals, and have seen you follow through.
03 / LEARNING BECOMES ACTION
A go-to-market
strategy for
your job search.
The Go To Market Career Academy turns the method into lessons and missions. Learners identify suitable employers, develop their professional story, practice outreach, and prepare for interviews while applying to relevant open roles.
We built MissionXP to connect that learning with the daily work of a search. It helps participants track opportunities and relationships, organize next steps, and use AI-assisted practice alongside human feedback.
Explore the curriculumRead the video transcript: A go-to-market strategy for your career
So no matter what industry you're in, whether you're a teacher, a coder, an engineer, a nurse, you've likely been told the exact same thing before an interview that you have to go in there and sell yourself. But here's the problem. Society tells you what to do, but nobody teaches you.
We quickly tell overlooked talent to network and negotiate. We don't give the strategies on how you see, that's that's just advice. It's not training at re:WORK TRAINING. We realize that the job search mirrors the exact same sales process companies use to generate revenue. So we didn't
design a course on job hunting. We designed a go-to-market strategy for careers. We teach prospecting to help individuals find the hidden job market. We teach discovery to help them understand how to ask the right questions in an interview. We teach closing to help them secure the opportunity
they deserve and be able to negotiate for just a little bit more. You see, these aren't just sales tips. These are a universal operating systems that companies know are efficient. We do too. And it not only works in tech, but it works in healthcare. It works for moms. It works for veterans. It
works for youth. It works for returning citizens.
START AT YOUR OWN PACE
Learn in MissionXP
Start the free Academy today and work through it at your own pace, with community support.
LEARN WITH A GROUP
Explore a quarterly cohort
Join a re:WORK cohort for a shared learning experience. Cohorts start once per quarter; self-paced learners may also be considered based on commitment to the process.
04 / THE COMMUNITY AT WORK
Experience shared.
Opportunity expanded.
Volunteer Champions give learners people to practice with and learn from. Alumni can return to share what they have learned. Corporate partners can contribute employee expertise and financial support.
A resume review, mock interview, or thoughtful response to outreach can make the next step clearer. Partnership does not require hiring.
Read the video transcript: How our community supports the next learner
Most traditional non-profit models are linear, meaning you donate, that donation helps one person, and then that's where the story ends. At re:WORK TRAINING, we've created a flywheel, and our secret weapon is our alumni and our volunteers. You see, the people that we're
training, they just don't start generating revenue and leave us. They return, and they become the mentors of the next class. They become the recruiters who are opening doors. They become the sales leaders at tech companies. They become the donors.
That are willing to sponsor and pay it forward, just like somebody paid it forward to them. This framework creates a powerful circle of efficiency because as our alumni and our volunteer network grows, our costs to develop new talent goes down. Our placement speed goes up because we don't have
to spend money on ads. Our model was built on a self-sustaining efficiency model. We're not just placing talent. We're building an ecosystem, a community, that feeds itself, and so while donations start the wheel, the community keeps it going.
Mentorship and participation help the next learner develop. That is how we put social capital into practice.
Read the video transcript: A LinkedIn volunteer perspective
Hey, y'all. My name is Audra Duren, and I am the social impact lead for Chicago at LinkedIn. re:WORK TRAINING is one of our signature partners, and what that means is that we help them incorporate LinkedIn trainings into their curriculum so that their participants can use LinkedIn platform to
the top of its capabilities. Because re:WORK has done such an amazing job of already teaching participants of how to leverage it appropriately, we're going to be focusing on mock interviews with re:WORK participants. So our coaches on the LinkedIn side are going to be walking through
a mock cold call, giving feedback, providing coaching, and just overall networking with somebody who works at LinkedIn.
A recorded example of LinkedIn professionals contributing mock-call practice, coaching, and conversation.
05 / DOCUMENTED PROGRESS
People behind
the progress.
We report what our records can support and explain how we count. Personal stories show what an experience meant to someone; program records help us understand the broader picture.
- People supported through training, coaching, and community
- 1,000+
- Participants with at least one documented hired outcome
- 600+
- Cohorts represented in our records
- 35+
Source: re:WORK’s reconciled program records, through September 2026. Hired outcomes count unique participant accounts. These are conservative thresholds; historical records are incomplete and identity matching is being refined. They are not a placement rate or a guarantee of individual results.
Read the evidence and reporting definitions06 / HELP EXTEND THE OPPORTUNITY
Put your support
into someone’s
next step.
re:WORK TRAINING is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. Donations help sustain free career training, practical learning tools, and community support. Partners can connect employee participation with sponsorship; Champions can contribute their experience.
For workforce organizations, a conversation can help identify where our approach might support the people you serve.
Read the video transcript: Shelton Banks: the case for support
If I told you that there was an investment fund that turned every dollar you invested into over $10, would you call it charity? You'd probably call it the best investment in your portfolio. Well, that's the reality of re:WORK TRAINING, which is a number that I'm most proud of. It's 91%. 91%
is our employment retention rate. You see a traditional programs, people, they get placed, they get a job, and in 90 days they're struggling. They're looking for something different because what they were forced for, they didn't understand. That's linear. Our people, they stay, they grow,
they get promoted. That's exponential. You see, when somebody keeps a high paying job with full benefits, that creates a ripple effect. It creates a ripple effect that transforms everything around of their families, their friends, their way of thinking. You see, it's more than just a paycheck.
It's healthcare for their children. It's a down payment on a home. It's the capital needed to start their own business that we've proven the model. We've lowered our costs, we built the engine, and now we just need the fuel to keep it going. By investing in re:WORK, you're not just
helping a person change a job, you're helping a person change their future. Help us to help others to get this work.
This original recording cites earlier retention and earnings estimates. The “10×” comparison describes an impact estimate, not a financial return to donors. Use our current reported results when evaluating our work.
BUILDING YOUR OWN NEXT CHAPTER?
There is a place
for you here.
Explore the free Go To Market Career Academy and choose the learning path that fits your life.
Explore the program and sign up Meet the team behind re:WORK