[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 46 (Tuesday, April 9, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E398]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                   IN RECOGNITION OF SHARON WILLIAMS

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. JACKIE SPEIER

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, April 9, 2013

  Ms. SPEIER. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the remarkable Sharon 
Williams, the long-time director of Menlo Park-based JobTrain. Sharon 
is retiring after forty years of instilling optimism in each JobTrain 
client and building life skills amongst an entire community. I have 
watched with amazement over these many years as Sharon has guided the 
JobTrain organization.
   Sharon earned her BA in English from the University of the Pacific 
in 1965 and her teaching credential from San Francisco State University 
in 1968. She joined JobTrain in 1973 as a GED teacher. She became 
Director of Development in 1978 and a short time later took over as 
Executive Director. Conducting job training classes and connecting 
people with jobs was very difficult in the late 1970s. Sharon guided 
JobTrain and its clients through difficult financial times and built a 
stunningly successful career and job education center.
   With Sharon's outstanding leadership, JobTrain has offered cutting-
edge and traditional job training, everything from solar panel 
installation classes to computer repair to culinary arts to laboratory 
technician training for biotechnology facilities. Knowing that life 
skills are a large component of the training done by JobTrain, Sharon 
and her staff insist that clients learn how to show up on time to work, 
become team members in the modern work environment, and learn how to 
balance work and the demands of a family.
   Mr. Speaker, Sharon Williams has infused JobTrain with the same 
``can do'' attitude that she insists from her clients. I've visited 
JobTrain on several occasions, most recently in the last few months. 
It's a very busy place. JobTrain helps 8,000 persons per year, and 600 
of them receive full-time vocational training. At least 85% of those 
who enroll complete their training. 75% of those persons are placed in 
jobs, and 12 months after placement, 84% are still working. JobTrain's 
success is spelled out in these numbers.
   Sharon's contributions to the Peninsula are not limited to JobTrain. 
She currently serves on numerous boards, including the Center for 
Excellence in Nonprofits, and East Palo Alto Digital Village. She has 
also previously served on the boards of the East Palo Alto Senior 
Center, the Boys and Girls Club of the Peninsula, Leadership Mid-
Peninsula, and the San Mateo County Workforce Investment Board.
   After forty years at the helm of JobTrain, it is time for Sharon 
Williams to bid her beloved nonprofit goodbye and to head off in new 
directions. The only thing missing from JobTrain's smorgasbord of 
classes at the moment is a class on how to make eyeglasses. That's not 
surprising. Sharon sees quite clearly the need for human dignity 
through productive work. Why would she believe that anyone else in the 
community needs glasses when her own sight is both perfect and 
prescient? Let us give Sharon the highest compliment that any employer 
can offer an employee. Let us say, ``Job well done.''

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