- February 21, 2024
Senator Murray Meets with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest WA, Local Partners to Discuss Connecting Students with Hands-on Career Experience and Mentorship Opportunities
Senator Murray: “For our communities and our nation to succeed—our young people have to be able to succeed. That means ensuring every child can get a quality public education, and making sure we are building the pathways and providing the opportunities they need to pursue a good career.”
***PHOTOS AND B-ROLL of today’s event HERE***
Olympia, WA – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), Chair of the Senate Appropriations Committee, met with local high school students, mentors, and partners of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington (BBBSSWA) to discuss their career exploration programs and efforts to connect local high school students with mentorship opportunities and pathways to rewarding careers. The visit took place at Naked Prosthetics, a cutting-edge prosthetics manufacturing company in Olympia that partners with BBBSSWA through their career mentoring exploration program, which pairs students with mentors at local businesses to help them gain hands-on career experience and a better understanding of the variety of paths into the workforce.
The visit comes as Murray is working to secure $750,000 in Congressionally Directed Spending in the Fiscal Year 2024 funding bills for BBBSSWA to expand their career exploration partnerships into more rural communities in Southwest Washington.
“For our communities and our nation to succeed—our young people have to be able to succeed. That means ensuring every child can get a quality public education, and making sure we are building the pathways and providing the opportunities they need to pursue a good career,” Senator Murray said. “Career mentorship programs like this can really open doors for young people—that’s why I’m working right now to secure funding through Congressionally Directed Spending to help Big Brothers Big Sisters expand their partnerships to rural communities in Southwest Washington. As Appropriations Chair, I’m fighting to secure strong investments in workforce and apprenticeships programs, even under very difficult funding constraints, in our final bills for Fiscal Year 2024.”
At the visit today, Senator Murray first heard from local high school student “mentees”—and their “mentors” at Naked Prosthetics—in a discussion about the students’ experience gaining hands-on career experience through Naked Prosthetics’ partnership with BBBSSWA. Afterward, Senator Murray toured Naked Prosthetics and heard more about the groundbreaking work they do to manufacture high-quality prosthetics, including working with VA clinics and hospitals to provide prostheses for veterans with traumatic finger injuries. After the tour, Senator Murray met with leaders at BBBSSWA and Naked Prosthetics, and other local partners—including Capital STEM Alliance and Career Connect WA—to discuss current and future efforts to connect students in the community to career pathways and opportunities, and how Senator Murray can continue to support these efforts at the federal level.
“Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington creates and supports one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. Our Career Mentoring Exploration program collaborates with workplace partners, including Naked Prosthetics, to empower youth to discover, explore, and envision their future. With the support of their mentor and dedicated Big Brothers Big Sisters staff, youth take real steps toward achieving their goals. We are honored have been selected to share our work with Senator Murray as she champions workplace development across the nation,” said Jeff Engle, Executive Director of BBBSSW.
“Naked Prosthetics is dedicated to improving the lives of individuals with partial hand limb difference. Central to this mission is building a skilled and passionate workforce. We believe that participating in the Career Mentoring Exploration program provides an opportunity to show young people how they can pursue a career in this impactful industry,” said Jessica Coen, Director of Custom Experience at Naked Prosthetics. “We admire Senator Murray’s commitment to federal-level workforce development and are proud to be involved in this event.”
Senator Murray has been a champion for workforce development programs and apprenticeships programs throughout her career. As a senior member and former Chair of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, Murray led passage of the original Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and reauthorization of the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education Act. On the Appropriations Committee—which she now Chairs—Senator Murray has long fought to secure strong investments in workforce training programs and high quality apprenticeships.
In the Senate Labor-HHS funding bill for Fiscal Year 2024, which Murray wrote and passed through committee as Appropriations Chair, Senator Murray also fought to include $750,000 to help Big Brothers Big Sisters of Southwest Washington expand their career exploration program for high school students into more rural service areas in Pacific, Grays Harbor, and Mason counties. As negotiations over final spending bills for FY24 continue, Senator Murray is pushing to ensure this funding is maintained in the final bill that is signed into law.
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