Opening Message
The Cycle of Good
by Keith T. Parker, President & CEO
Janine Anthony Bowen, Board Chair FY2020
Dear Friends,
This year brought significant and unexpected changes for all of us. As the rest of the world adjusted to challenges brought on by the global COVID-19 pandemic, so did Goodwill. Although there have been many obstacles, we are proud to stand united as a team to support our community and continue our mission to put people to work.
First and most importantly, our team has remained focused on three key priorities throughout our COVID-19 response: health and safety, maintaining the mission, and keeping our team employed with benefits. Evaluating our decisions through these three lenses allowed us to make sound decisions for our team members, shoppers, donors, and job seekers at every turn.
While this year involved many surprises, we are grateful to have reached many milestones throughout fiscal year 2020.
This year marks the completion of the second year in our organization’s 2023 strategic plan. We are proud to say that we are well on our way to achieving our five-year strategic plan goal of putting 130,000 people to work by 2023. In calendar year 2019, we connected over 27,000 people with a first job, a better job, and career. This achievement skyrocketed Goodwill of North Georgia to number one Goodwill in the country for helping jobseekers become employed.
In 2020, we opened three new retail locations across North Georgia, including Alabama Road, Northridge and Duluth. Our stores continue to excel in providing a reimagined shopping experience that makes treasure hunting with us more exciting than ever. We are also extremely proud of our Old National Career Center, the first career center in South Fulton. This grand opening was a step forward in increasing income mobility for thousands of our neighbors that are in need of workforce development resources.
As the number one nonprofit employer in Atlanta, our diverse team of 3,000 employees continues to drive Goodwill into the future and allows the organization to continue to grow. Without the hard work from each of these team members, we would not have been able to serve the 50,000 jobseekers that walked through our doors or accessed our virtual career services this year.
To our supporters, thank you for continuing our cycle of good. Whether you donate, shop, or help train and employ our job seekers, your involvement is vital to our success and your continued support allows us to connect thousands with meaningful employment.
Through difficult times, we must remember that we are stronger together. We look forward to continuing to serve as a stabilizing force in the North Georgia community and will continue our mission to put people to work.
Sincerely,
Keith T. Parker, President & CEO
Janine Anthony Bowen, Board Chair FY2020