TPGI Graduates Sharpen Their Leadership Skills

Fifty-five state employees completed the two-week Tennessee Government Professionals Institute. The institute is a partnership between the Naifeh Center for Effective Leadership and the Tennessee Department of Human Resources. The institute is for high-performing state employees who may not be at the managerial or executive level yet. Employees are nominated by their supervisors for the program.

Rev. Paul Middlebrook speaks to a room of people attending the Tennessee Government Professionals Institute.
The Rev. Paul Middlebrook speaks to Tennessee Government Professionals Institute participants. A Civil Rights advocate, Middlebrook accompanied Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during some of his Civil Rights marches.

American Jobs Center Assists Justice-Involved Individuals

The Knoxville American Job Center, operated by the UT Center for Industrial Services, recently hosted another successful One Stop Re-entry Shop. The event is an opportunity for justice-involved individuals to obtain help, resources and employment after release.

The One Stop Re-entry Shop saw a total of 70 individuals, 10 resources and 27 businesses attend the job fair.

The event is held on the second Thursday of each month at the Knoxville American Job Center. The initiative developed out of the East Tennessee Re-entry Collaborative, a monthly gathering at the Knoxville Tennessee Department of Corrections Day Reporting Center. The collaboration of several community organizations has the goal of helping justice-involved individuals reintegrate into society by assisting them with needed resources and opportunities for employment.

TLC Helps Immigrants feel Welcome in Music City

The Tennessee Language Center (TLC) is partnering with Metro Nashville to help immigrants feel welcome in their new city.

TLC is translating Nashville’s MyCity Academy flyer and application into Kurdish, Burmese, Swahili, Arabic, Amharic and Spanish. The MyCity Academy, a program of the Nashville Mayor’s office, is a free seven-month, civic and leadership training program for immigrant, refugee, newcomer residents, and native and indigenous peoples that empowers participants to learn about and participate in city government. The translation project makes the program accessible to more residents and encourages them to become active participants in their government and communities.

This translation project is being funded by the TLC’s Language Collaborative for County Officials partnership with its sister agency, the County Technical Assistance Service.