In the Spotlight Project Voice
Shirley Ware Education Center
Oakland, CA – Programming starts this month for Shirley Ware Education Center’s (SWEC) High Road Training Partnership (HRTP) project, which won a $13 million grant allowing the SEIU-Community Clinics Partnership and the Workforce Education & Resource Center (WERC) to support 3,688 workers in Community Health and other healthcare training to address workforce shortages in the community clinic sector. SWEC, named after trailblazer Shirley Ware, one of the first African-American women to lead a major California labor organization, has been providing education and training since 1998.
Along with partners SEIU United Healthcare Workers West and the Joint Employer Education Fund (the Education Fund), SWEC uses the High Road Framework and best practices to align supply, demand, education, and training to uplift low-wage occupations that workers of color disproportionately hold. Workers improve their economic mobility by earning industry-recognized credentials, building confidence through critical skills courses, and gaining access to higher wages.
Maria Martinez Castrejon
Graduate, Family Nurse Practitioner
Maria Martinez Castrejon is a first-generation American in her Mexican immigrant household. With help from the Education Fund’s Tuition Support program and the Continuing Education Reimbursement program, Martinez graduated as a Family Nurse Practitioner (FNP) from UC San Francisco.
Martinez’s passion for her community has inspired her to pursue a master’s degree as an FNP. Her goal is “to equip patients with skills essential for self-care and chronic disease management.”