Goodwill on a Mission

When you clean out your closet or are in need of some cheap picture frames, what’s the first place you think of?

Chances are high you said Goodwill.

“Goodwill has very strong brand recognition,” said Brendan Hurley, chief marketing office of Goodwill of Greater Washington, “but where Goodwill is lacking is in mission awareness.”

The mission, according to Goodwill’s website, is “to transform lives and communities through the power of education and employment,” particularly for those with disabilities and disadvantages.

“Transforming is a word that really resonates,” said Hurley. “When someone is successfully employed, they can meet a variety of human needs.”

Needs including a roof over ones head, the ability to buy food, to keep the lights on, or keep the heat running in winter, the ability to get kids school supplies or sneakers or medicine when they’re sick.

“It provides necessities that many of us take for granted,” he said. “That is transformative.”

The organization uses the acronym RISE – respect, integrity, service and excellence – to reflect its core values.

Goodwill offers job training and placement programs in the fields of hospitality and security services, as well as career navigation. The latter is a generalized career enrichment program that includes resume and interview assistance, and job search and self-marketing tools.

Goodwill’s career services education programs feature individual assessments to find participants’ best career fit, and address the full job-training process, from initial search to job retention post-hire.

The retail stores that are associated with the Goodwill name help to fund that mission. Ninety-one cents on the dollar that comes into the stores goes to support Goodwill’s education and job training services.

“There is a disconnect between how we generate money to fund our mission and the mission itself,” Hurley said. “We work on correcting that everyday.” (Next) 

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