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TWC Technical Assistance – Beyond the First Contact

Almost all TWC technical assistance contacts begin with an email or call to TWC’s helpdesk, asking for information, resources, or advice on a variety of workforce development issues. Sometimes these interactions involve just a few emails or calls back and forth, providing resources and relevant contacts, but, quite often, these initial requests are just the beginning of a sustained and productive relationship between TWC and the person or organization seeking assistance.

An initial technical assistance email from Florida created a connection between TWC and CUTR, leading to last month’s Apprenticeship Academy, detailed in the story above. That email from CUTR staff was the basis for a series of follow-up calls between the two organizations, followed by two successive years of TWC presentations at FPTA/FDOT/CUTR’s Professional Development Workshops. The 2023 presentations on apprenticeship coordinated by TWC were so successful that the Apprenticeship Academy was launched in response to a request for a more in-depth program.

Technical assistance contacts have frequently supported transit stakeholders in other ways as well. When Valerie Campo, the newly-appointed Mentor Program Coordinator for the Champaign-Urbana (IL) Mass Transit District (MTD) emailed TWC’s helpdesk in April 2022, she was hoping to get some guidance on retention and recruitment. She never expected that initial contact to blossom into a long-term working relationship, an ongoing source of support for her and her agency, and a pathway to her professional development. “When I first started this role, I knew that mentoring would look different in the transit setting than it does in a traditional office setting. And I knew that there HAD to be someone out there who had information on this; so, I started Googling. And within a few clicks, there was the TWC.”

Following up on a phone call with Senior Director for Workforce Education Pat Greenfield, who “spent an hour on the phone answering questions and pointing me in the right direction,” Valerie viewed past TWC webinars and other resource materials on mentoring. Based on those presentations, she asked to be connected with someone involved in IndyGo’s established mentoring program. Pat connected her with Dionna McCane, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1070’s Mentorship and Apprenticeship Coordinator for IndyGo, who invited her for a visit. Valerie spent two days at IndyGo Headquarters and out on the buses with Dionna, noting that “I can’t even begin to explain how impactful that was. And watching Dionna in action? She is so compassionate and her passion for seeing people succeed was so motivating! I left the experience with a feeling of excitement at what the future held in store for our district.” 

Valerie also joined TWC’s American Transit Training and Apprenticeship Innovators Network (ATTAIN) peer network coordinated by Senior Policy Analyst Karitsa Holdzkom. She participated in ATTAIN’s webinars, engaging with and learning from new and experienced staff from mentoring and apprenticeship programs from across the country. With all these resources in hand and after a lot of hard work at MTD, Valerie launched MTD’s first-ever B.U.S. (“Building Up for Success”) Mentor Program. She developed a mentor training program, relying on her experience and knowledge as a former operator, as well as training materials shared by TWC and many of her newly-developed contacts. As the program began, she carefully gathered pre and post-program metrics, having discussed their importance with TWC and many of those contacts. Besides an enthusiastic reception for the program across the agency, she was able to establish the significant impact of the program, increasing the operator retention rate from 53.5% before the mentor program began to 86.7% a year later. MTD Deputy Managing Director Amy Snyder observes, “What Valerie has been able to do, to both develop a mentoring program from scratch while also taking on this brand-new staff position, was a heavy lift. She has risen to the challenge, and I believe with the support from TWC, and the network she found within it, she was able to expedite her success. And we at MTD were able to enjoy the benefits of the program’s successful implementation!” 

In Valerie’s continuing discussions with TWC, it was clear that she had established an immensely successful program, starting from scratch. When TWC was asked to lead a session on mentoring at the Spring 2023 Arkansas Public Transportation Association conference, TWC’s Research Associate Shayna Gleason, who led the session, reached out to Valerie to ask her to co-present and talk about the work she had done at MTD and the program’s success. Valerie recalls how “exciting it was to even be asked to present with Shayna! I had never presented anything for anyone other than my coworkers prior to that conference. But I just kept reminding myself how important the information really is to other districts, and that I talk everyone’s ears off about mentoring every day already. I was terrified, but after talking with Shayna and other presenters and vendors that were in attendance, my nerves settled and next thing I knew, it was over. . . and I was ready to do it again!” 

Regarding Valerie’s first public presentation, Shayna notes, “Valerie was a real pro! After the workshop, many attendees approached her to talk more about her program and how they could learn more from what she had accomplished. It was wonderful to see her in a setting where she could pass on her knowledge and expertise to others.”

Valerie is now working on strengthening the mentor program while attending TWC webinars and staying in touch. She looks forward to reuniting with people she’s met and worked with, sharing information and stories, and meeting new contacts at Making Connections 2024 in November in Baltimore. 

Do you have a technical assistance request? Email TWC’s helpdesk at twc@transportcenter.org.