City of Manassas wins Communitas Award

Contributed by the City of Manassas

City of Manassas, VA . . . The City of Manassas has been awarded a 2014 Communitas Award for Corporate Social Responsibility. The Communitas Awards are an international effort to recognize exceptional businesses, organizations and individuals who unselfishly give of themselves, their time, and their resources, and those who are changing how they do business to benefit their communities.

The City of Manassas Neighborhood Services Division won the award for their work with Manassas City Public Schools with support from the AmeriCorps Vista program. For this program, Kisha Wilson-Sogunro, Neighborhood
Services Manager, arranged for business community leaders to volunteer their time at Osbourn High School to mentor students. Leaders like Juan Garcia, Manager of Walgreens, Dede Rutherford, Human Resources Manager for US Foods, Mike Garcia, owner of Mike Garcia Construction, Maria Schuler, Director of Government Relations for Comcast and many others shared a question and answer period with students and then enjoyed a one-on-one “speed networking” session with the students.

This networking provides access to role models and resources that gives students practical,real-world successes and challenges faced by these mentors every day. The participants addressed issues such tardiness and absenteeism, the challenges of maintaining a schedule, and the devastating effect that poor decision-making has as it relates to career opportunities. The business leaders shared stories about what helped them move up in life; many times it was advancing their education first. Lastly, over the past year several teens have landed internships and/or jobs through the program.

Information contained on this page is provided by an independent third-party content provider. Prince William Living Inc. and it’s staff make no warranties or representations in connection therewith. If you have any questions or comments about this page please contact info@princewilliamliving.com