Each year the Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce selects approximately 45 business leaders to participate in its annual Leadership Albuquerque Program.  The Leadership Albuquerque Program, which started more than 25 years ago, is designed to encourage leaders to "make a difference" in the economic health and quality of life of our community by teaching participants to take leadership roles in nonprofit and public sectors.

Under the guidance of Dr. Michael Gaylor, Vice President of Leadership, Greater Albuquerque Chamber of Commerce, Leadership Albuquerque participants take part in volunteer projects that contribute to the needs of the community.  Participants are divided into teams.  Each team is responsible for determining its own project and spending the year developing and completing it.

 Seven members of the Leadership Albuquerque Class of 2008 (Team Blue: Ray Barton, Mickey Byrd, Aprilyn Chavez, Dennis Davis, John Henninger, Anita Romero, and Ken Schaefer) met during the early weeks of the program to identify a project that could be completed within the program year and that would be sustainable after the team had graduated from the program.  Long-term sustainability was the most important criterion to the team.  The next most important criterion was that the organization provided support to disadvantaged women.  And finally, the team wanted to work with an organization in need of community support.  The team identified a number of organizations that met the criteria.  After interviewing them and discussing each, Team Blue chose to work with TeamWorks.

 TeamWorks started in 1998 under the auspices of the New Mexico Commission on the Status of Women.  The TeamWorks program serves TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) eligible women who are single-parent heads of households in transitioning from welfare to work.  The goal of TeamWorks is to support the women in overcoming barriers to their transition to economic self-sufficiency through successful employment.  Typical barriers include lack of or limited transportation, housing, child care, clothing and education, as well as coping with domestic violence or substance abuse.  The purpose of the program is to equip participants with skills necessary to compete effectively in the job market.  In addition to comprehensive case management by Career Development Specialists, TeamWorks offers a program of personal and professional development skills, as well as computer skills training deemed important in the workplace.  A full-time Job Developer helps guide clients in career exploration, resume preparation and job search.

 Dr. Linda Friedman, former Executive Director, and members of the TeamWorks staff met with Team Blue to identify the most crucial needs of the TeamWorks program.  Three key needs were identified:

1. Increased public awareness
2. Job interview training and preparation
3. Job placement assistance

 Team Blue chose to focus on job interview training and job placement assistance.  The team members quickly realized that the way to provide ongoing support was to facilitate partnerships between TeamWorks and businesses in the Albuquerque community.  Rather than solicit individual businesses, the team decided to approach the Human Resource Management Association of New Mexico (HRMA).  Patty Longdon, President, and Kim Baird, Past President, began the conversation of possibilities with the two organizations.

 HRMA provides human resources professionals throughout the greater Albuquerque area a forum to continue their professional growth, to partner with business to drive the HR profession, and to build networks with dynamic HR professionals.  HRMA is a local affiliate chapter of the Society for Human Resource Management, the world's largest Human Resource Management professional membership association in the world. 

 In a meeting with the HRMA Board, Team Blue proposed to facilitate a partnership between TeamWorks and HRMA.   The HRMA Board embraced this idea, recognizing that its members are generally considered experts at interviewing, resume writing, and routinely conducting training in these areas and many others in the scope of their regular job duties. HRMA viewed this as a real opportunity for its members to give back to the community and specifically to women in the local Albuquerque area. The Board sought and immediately received the approval of its membership to partner with TeamWorks on this project and named a Board Member, the Vice President of Community Relations, to champion the project for HRMA and coordinate efforts with TeamWorks.

 The HRMA Board subsequently developed a professional training curriculum for a Resume Writing class and an Interviewing Skills class which could be delivered to TeamWorks participants during their seven weeks of classroom training.  Additionally, HRMA developed a behavioral interview guide to be used in a "Mock Interview" forum for participants in their final week of training. Once the curriculum and training was developed, HRMA solicited its membership to volunteer on a regular basis to conduct the training sessions at the Team Works' facility.  Each month local HR professionals volunteer their time to deliver training and conduct mock interviews with the women in the TeamWorks project.  Through practice and immediate feedback, TeamWorks participants gain experience and confidence as they prepare for real job interviews.  

 Many participants in the program have indicated that HRMA's involvement is contributing to their success and making a difference in their professional development.  Amazing professional organizations working together to make a difference.  These partnerships and collaborative efforts provide an inspiring opportunity to change people's lives.