Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development

Contact: Tony Jewell (608) 266-9806

MADISON—Gov. Tommy G. Thompson today announced that the Mt. Zion Child Development Center in Milwaukee has won the January Governor’s Workforce Innovation Award (WIN), which recognizes individuals and organizations that create innovative approaches and outside-of-the-box solutions to develop and sustain Wisconsin’s workforce.

Mt. Zion, under the guidance of its director, Martha E. Carter, is a provider of before and after school mentoring for area youth. For the past three years, the center has provided on-site training for Wisconsin Conservation Corps at risk youth ages 18 to 25 as a sponsor of Governor Thompson’s Central City Initiative.

"Mt. Zion provides a valuable service for Wisconsin’s tomorrow by investing in the youth of today," Gov. Thompson said. "Participants in this program learn valuable skills and training that can help them become assets to the future of Wisconsin instead of liabilities," he said.

Program participants receive a wide array of training including how to develop work skills, personal life skills, finances/budgeting, infant/toddler care and early childhood educational learning skills, day care standards, and child care certification requirements.

The WIN award is presented each month to highlight innovative approaches and solutions to overcoming barriers to work, empowering individuals to move up the job ladder, and partnering with employers, educators and local government to do what works to build a stronger workforce.

The award goes to organizations and individuals that significantly advance one or more of the following:

• Enhance the skill level of Wisconsin's workforce.
• Create effective partnerships between education and business, and the public and private sectors.
• Assist young people with career planning and skills training.
• Encourage older workers to remain in or return to the workforce.
• Help low-income, disabled and minority individuals enter the job market and move up the job ladder.

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