Instructor, Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation Story By: Jill Porter Jacqueline Gibson is an educator who ushers people across the threshold of a new world - from welfare to work. As a training instructor for the Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation, she works with women often beset with troubled backgrounds and shaky self-esteem - and transforms them into those that accomplish their dreams. And she uses whatever means she can to do so. Jacqueline plays them Patti LaBelle's song, "I have a new attitude." She inspires them with quotes from Robert Browning: "A man's reach should exceed his grasp, or what's a heaven for?" She encourages them with anecdotes of prior students who've attained goals that once seemed out of reach. "You have to be creative and have energy,” says Jacqueline. “You have to respect them. You have to have excellence, professionalism and commitment." Jacqueline has excelled everywhere she's brought her intense passion for education. She won the Philadelphia School District's prestigious Dr. William Ross Scholarship Award for outstanding classroom performance when she was a public school teacher and in 2003 she was honored with being employee of the year for Philadelphia Workforce Development Corporation’s Transitional Workforce Division. Jacqueline vividly remembers her own first career suit - a charcoal gray number that "at the time was not in my budget" - which made her feel invincible. And she's been tickled, as a volunteer and liaison to The Career Wardrobe for PWDC, to enlighten her students with the transforming power of a professional appearance. With creative flourish and a deep commitment, Jacqueline helps her students knock on opportunity's door. As she says - using another quote, this time from motivational speaker Les Brown - "It's better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one, than to have an opportunity and not be prepared." Photographed By: Jeffrey Holder, Jeffrey Holder Photography |
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