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BWH was among 11 recipients of the first City of Boston/English Works Campaign Certificate of Recognition this month for its English for Speakers of Other Languages classes, taught in partnership with Jewish Vocational Services.
“I’m proud that the city of Boston has such strong partners in the ESOL community,” said Mayor Thomas Menino, who presented the awards during a press conference at Wainright Bank & Trust on Feb. 18. “The strength of these award winners comes from the fact that they are helping to build better communities by investing in the immigrant workforce. In these difficult economic times, it is critical that business leaders understand the value of improving the English language skills of their employees. It’s not only the smart thing to do, it’s the right thing.”
About 35 percent of the city of Boston’s workforce is foreign-born, and about seven in 10 of those workers need increased availability of and access to English language programs. The English Works Campaign promotes partnerships between the private and public sectors and businesses and labor to provide high-quality English language programs.
BWH President Gary Gottlieb, MD, MBA, said that offering English classes is central to BWH’s workforce development plan. “ESOL is a vital program that enables us to support our employees by providing them with the skills they need to perform at their personal best and give them every opportunity to advance in our organization,” he said.
Together, the organizations that received certificates of recognition provided English classes to more than 500 people in the last year. Awardees span five industries, including health care, hospitality, property management, financial and food distribution/processing. BWH’s sister hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital, also received an award.