[Congressional Record Volume 159, Number 170 (Tuesday, December 3, 2013)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1785]
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, December 3, 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 build 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 and Members, 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 percent 
of those who enroll complete their training. Seventy five percent of 
those persons are placed in jobs, and 12 months after placement, 84 
percent 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.''