August 2021 Rise Up Project is an initiative that provides essential job skills to help enter and advance in the workplace. We consist of a group of diverse professionals volunteering our time to assist those that need a little extra support during a time of unprecedented unemployment and job challenges. NEW: ADVANCED BOOTCAMP ON OFFICE 365 Are you looking to improve your Office 365 skills? Do you want to take your Excel to the next level? Sign up for our advanced bootcamp that will take a deep dive into several Office 365 applications, such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. September 7 – October 5 (Sessions on Tuesdays) 8:30pm – 10:00pm ET / 5:30pm – 7:00pm PT Sign Up for a Bootcamp UPCOMING BOOTCAMP Do you know of someone just entering the workforce or who may be job searching now? Refer them to our bootcamp! We cover essential job skills for interviewing today, including best tips on how to interview in a virtual setting! October 7 – October 28 (Sessions on Thursdays) 8:00pm – 9:30pm ET / 5:00pm – 6:30pm PT Sign Up CAREER DEVELOPMENT LinkedIn Learning Did you know that you can learn new skills with online courses? LinkedIn is offering courses to help build important skills such as remotely managing a team, finding a job, and coping with new stressors. Additionally, they are providing several FREE LinkedIn Learning resources as a response to the global pandemic in order to help individuals navigate the impact to our personal and professional development. Try out a free month subscription now. Learn More PARTICIPANT UPDATES It had been a while since I needed to submit a resume, years in fact. How much had technology and etiquette changed since I last had to focus on this task? It was more than bits of resume and cover letter format; nearly post-pandemic, the entire landscape had changed. Over multiple structured but informal sessions, we covered everything from interview prep and updated document structure to best practices for remote interviews. The floor was always open for further discussion and questions. Whether participants were brushing up on basic skills – or starting from scratch, our instructor and other Rise Up partners were welcoming and friendly, throughout. Much gratitude to Al Torabi and Rise Up – highly recommend!— J. Balsam VOLUNTEER HIGHLIGHT Meet Cindy Novak, Social Media Coordinator Cindy has been working in the Biotech and Pharmaceutical industries for over 25 years. Starting out in Quality Control (QC) performing testing in a lab environment, Cindy moved quickly into Quality Assurance and then IT. She has been working in IT for over 20 years. Most of that time was spent implementing and supporting enterprise systems for Research and Development and QC labs. In the past 10 years, she has helped companies navigate Mergers, Acquisitions and Divestitures as both the acquiring and acquired company and recently worked as part of a team starting up a new manufacturing site in Ireland. Cindy is currently working for Bristol Myers Squibb Company as the Senior Manager for the Laboratory Computerized Systems (LCS) teams throughout Washington. In addition to her work in IT, Cindy has been published in the European Pharmaceutical Review and has been a contributing blogger for CSols. She enjoys public speaking at conferences around the world as both a specialist in Laboratory Information Management System and Electronic Lab Notebooks and more recently on the subject of Digital Transformation in the pharmaceutical industry.When she’s not working, Cindy is an active volunteer for both the Planes of Fame Air Museum where she has been volunteering for 27 years and with Rise Up Project which she joined in March. She also enjoys reading, exercising and spending time with her family. RECENT GRADUATESCongrats to all of our graduates from our July session! Rise Up is so proud of your commitment to this program, and we are so excited to see what is in store for your professional future! Evelyn Aborode – Finance Santina Burakiewicz Carlson – Career Development Wayne Harmon – Management Terence Hill – Culinary Arts Claudia Rojas – Social Justice Lisa Sandford – Finance and Accounting Email hire@riseupliftup.com for more info.Branch Ambassador, Capital One | Rockville, MD Email Manager, Center for American Progress | Washington, DC Director of Finance and Operations, Restaurant Workers’ Community Foundation | Remote Office Services Coordinator, Department of Recreation | Silver Spring, MD Publications and Social Media Coordinator, Catholic Legal Immigration Network | Silver Spring, MD Research Assistant, Revolving Door Project | Washington, DC Remote Jobs, USAJOBS | Remote, US |