{"id":3299,"date":"2025-07-18T14:11:12","date_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/3299\/"},"modified":"2025-07-18T14:11:12","modified_gmt":"2025-07-18T14:11:12","slug":"nba-foundation-and-bridges-from-school-to-work-from-courtside-to-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/3299\/","title":{"rendered":"NBA Foundation and Bridges From School to Work: From courtside to career"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

A Bridges From School to Work staff member teaching a Pre-ETS class (pre-employment transition services) where students in high school learn about careers, employability skills, and job options.<\/p>\n

July marks National Disability Pride Month, and the NBA Foundation<\/a> is proud to spotlight Bridges From School to Work<\/a>, a valued partner dedicated to transforming the lives of young adults with disabilities through the power of a job.<\/p>\n

Bridges empowers youth ages 17-24 by helping them prepare for and secure meaningful jobs. Their approach focuses on goal-setting, recognizing individual strengths, and identifying career aspirations. With personalized coaching\u2014whether in person, by phone, email, or text\u2014Bridges remains invested in their participants well-being, celebrating as they reach key employment milestones at three, six, nine, and twelve months.<\/p>\n

In March 2024, the NBA Foundation started their partnership with Bridges From School to Work, however the work was already being done in collaboration with numerous NBA teams. Bridges is directly involved in 10 cities (Atlanta<\/a>, Boston<\/a>, Chicago<\/a>, Dallas, Fort Worth<\/a>, Los Angeles<\/a>, New York City<\/a>, Oakland<\/a>, Philadelphia<\/a> and San Francisco<\/a>) across the United States. All of which are NBA markets.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cOur current grant focuses on the Atlanta and Dallas markets,\u201d said Kate Brown, Director of Development at Bridges. \u201cOur goal was to place 150 young adults into jobs, and thanks to the NBA Foundation\u2019s support, we have already placed 193. This growth wouldn\u2019t be possible without their backing, which has helped us expand our teams and forge new partnerships with employers and schools\u2014reaching and preparing even more young adults for the workforce.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Robert Mollard, Director of the Dallas Bridges program, the most meaningful part of their work is the deep, lasting connections made with participants, employers, and community partners\u2014a legacy built over 30+ years.<\/p>\n

\u201cA former participant recently reached out\u2014now in his 40s, with a stable job and family\u2014just to check in,\u201d said Mollard. \u201cMoments like that remind us why we do this work.\u201d<\/p>\n

In Atlanta, where the grant emphasis lies, Youth Employment Specialist Ken Butler builds on this foundation.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe bridge the gap\u2014hence Bridges From School to Work\u2014for individuals who need just one opportunity to prove themselves. Our longstanding partnership with the Atlanta Hawks has opened doors for countless young people to gain meaningful employment at State Farm Arena.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kyla Stewart giving remarks at Bridges\u2019 annual gala in Washington, DC in front of 1,000 attendees.<\/p>\n

\u00a0One success story is Kyla Stewart, a Bridges participant and recipient of the 2025 Stephen G. Marriott Youth Achievement Award, presented annually at Bridges\u2019 gala in Washington, D.C. Kyla dreams of becoming a General Manager for a WNBA team.<\/p>\n

She shared, \u201cBridges has taught me so much. I\u2019ve learned that a firm handshake goes a long way. I\u2019m incredibly grateful to be part of Bridges. I started in high school and now, as I finish college, I feel truly prepared for the future. Bridges has changed my life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Kyla on the job at SlooMoo Institute in Atlanta.<\/p>\n

By the Numbers<\/p>\n

Since 1989, Bridges has worked with<\/p>\n

900 High Schools<\/p>\n

28,000 Youth<\/p>\n

7,100 Employers<\/p>\n

The National Center for Education Statistics reports that over 400,000 youth with disabilities aged 14 to 21 exit public education each year. But Bridges combated that this past year with 949 participants, 758 hires and 575 participants who retained jobs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Yasemin is a NYC\u00a0 participant in front of the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, where she works.<\/p>\n

For more Bridges From School to Work resources click here<\/a>. To see a complete list of NBA Foundation partners click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A Bridges From School to Work staff member teaching a Pre-ETS class (pre-employment transition services) where students in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3300,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,590,4921,85],"class_list":["post-3299","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-nba","tag-nba-foundation-and-bridges-from-school-to-work-from-courtside-to-career","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3299","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3299"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3299\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3300"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3299"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3299"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3299"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}