15th Anniversary of the Building Skills Partnership

Floor Speech

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Mr. GOMEZ. Madam Speaker, today I rise to honor Building Skills Partnership (BSP) on 15 years of improving the quality of life of property service workers in low-wage industries, as well as their families and communities.

BSP is a non-profIt organization founded with the vision of creating an equitable playing field for California's working families to succeed in their careers and educational endeavors. Born out of the Justice for Janitors movement that helped thousands of immigrant janitors achieve a more just way of living and working, BSP partnered with responsible businesses and employers to pilot its first workplace training, which focused on Vocational English language acquisition.

BSP programs serve 5,500 participants annually and focus on workforce development, immigrant inclusion, and community advancement. The organization offers career and education programs that enable workers' personal and professional success. Today, BSP represents a unique partnership between over 90 janitorial employers, over 60 commercial building owners, the Service Employees International Union-United Service Workers West (SEIU-USWW), and the broader community. With collaboration and a holistic approach to programming, BSP continues to strive to create an equitable future for working families to build a better life.

Thanks to BSP's dedication, BSP has expanded to seven major cities across California and broadened its programming to fully address the unique barriers immigrant janitors and their children face in realizing the benefits of social, civic, and economic integration.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring and celebrating the 15th anniversary of Building Skills Partnership.

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