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North Carolina Companies Work To Help Women Veterans Find New Careers

U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Jessica Keith and other members of the 17th Training Wing at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, render a salute as the American flag passes by during the Veterans Day parade in San Angelo, Texas, Nov. 6, 2010. Airman Keith p
Staff Sgt. Heather L. Rodgers
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U.S. Air Force via Flickr/Creative Commons

Computer giant Lenovo is teaming up with the non-profit Dress for Success to help get female veterans into the civilian workforce.

Numbers from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics show the unemployment rate among female veterans is nearly double what it is for male vets.

Beth Briggs is Executive Director of Dress for Success Triangle.  The organization trains women to get them back in the workforce and provides them with a wardrobe. 

“And we know that there is a tremendous number of unemployed and underemployed veterans in the Triangle who are looking for a job, so this is a new initiative.”

A picture of Betty Harris.
Credit Leoneda Inge
Betty Harris graduated from a similar jobs program that partners Dress for Success Triangle with Lenovo.

Beth Segovia, Executive Director for PC Services at Lenovo, says they will provide financial and technical support.

“And we really felt like we could do something about that by combining the efforts of Dress for Success with that mission.”

She says female veterans have a hard time getting back to work.

"One of their challenges is turning military skills into skills that apply in a civilian workplace.  So we want to tailor that set of job acquisition skills to enable them to transition into a civilian role and become employed.”

Organizers say they hope to re-career 175 female veterans in the first year.

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of WUNC's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at WUNC as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leoneda’s work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.
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