Jamko Foundation, Inc. is a national 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in December 2019, dedicated to helping eradicate poverty of mind, body, and spirit. The Foundation is led by Founding Executive Director Michelle Edmond, MBA, whose background spans corporate roles at MTV Networks, Sybase, Wells Fargo, and Charles Schwab, and nonprofit leadership at SAVE Oakland and the Sinkler Miller Medical Association.
Jamko runs the Maritime Apprenticeship Program (MAP), a U.S. Department of Labor Registered Apprenticeship and California’s only maritime apprenticeship, alongside outreach and workforce partnerships in the Oakland/Bay Area, with MAP now expanding into the Long Beach/LA corridor.
CHALLENGE: Discrimination is institutionalized and embedded into society and its systems and has consistently prevented poor communities of color from accessing education, building wealth and developing career pathways; leaving millions behind.
CORE STRATEGIES:
- We Engage + Listen to our clients to build trust + develop relationship.
- Clients seek to Learn + Grow as they develop a personalize life plan centered on learning, stability and growth in key areas: education, finances employment, housing and healthy well-being.
OUTCOMES:
- People facing homelessness, job loss + financial distress gain tools + support to recover.
- People address issues that hold them back.
- People develop skills to reduce homeless recidivism, poverty and unemployment.