TokuOra announced a partnership with Dorothy Day House to match residents of their shelters and other transitional facilities with potential career paths.
Online PR News – 02-March-2023 – Berkeley, CA – TokuOra has announced a partnership with Dorothy Day House to connect formerly unhoused residents of their shelters and other transitional facilities with a scientifically proven online tool to match them with potential career paths and help them acquire the skills they need to remain housed and find opportunities for personal and professional development. As of this release, dozens of individuals have taken TokuOra’s assessment through the Dorothy Day House intake program.
“We’re excited to offer our revolutionary software to people who are suffering from a lack of proper career readiness programs, counseling, and other supports,” said TokuOra Co-Founder and CEO Wayne Sharp. “We hope the data we’ve collected and the positive feedback we’ve received will move the City of Berkeley and other municipalities to adopt this technology in all of their homeless outreach programs.”
TokuOra uses AI, psychometrics, and machine learning to help anyone with any desire and any skill level achieve their goals for a better quality of life. Users complete a 40-second color-based survey and are presented with 1-3 career paths, a list of skills needed for the matched career(s), and links to existing courses, programs, and resources to acquire those skills.
Dorothy Day House provides non-traditional shelter settings, housing navigation, and a daytime
drop-in program where the unsheltered population can access showers, meals, and clean clothing. They also provide workforce development in community social services, and the retail and food service industry.
“We pride ourselves on meeting people where they are currently in their lives,” said Dorothy Day House Executive Director Robbi Montoya. “We then focus on finding solutions to improve their circumstances immediately and provide our guests with the tools to advance their lives toward self-sufficiency. We believe TokuOra can be an integral part of that process and help us quickly up-skill our clients so they can move into permanent housing and we can provide emergency shelter to even more individuals.”
In addition to connecting individuals experiencing homelessness with career paths, TokuOra has also completed a pilot program with the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) to implement the tool across their 34 classrooms as a means of curbing recidivism. More than 2,000 incarcerated individuals took the TokuOra assessment and completed nearly 27,000 actions to learn more about their career pathways and required skill sets.
Educators are also excited by the potential for TokuOra to save counselors and students hours of valuable time and help school districts meet their College & Career Indicators (CCIs) as a part of their Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) Dashboard. Unfortunately, many school districts do not currently have the resources to generate this data in an efficient, accessible, and ultimately usable way. That is one reason why the Los Angeles Unified School District has accepted a scope of work from TokuOra and is moving toward implementation.
“TokuOra helps our students and schools with career awareness and exploration and is working to purposefully support school districts with their CCI metrics and indicators,” said Jeff Schmidt, Past President of California Career Technical Education. “This tool could also save districts money that could be better spent on additional socio-emotional supports for students.”
TokuOra plans to release additional informational updates as partnerships continue with the Dorothy Day House, CDCR, and other partners.
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About TokuOra
TokuOra matches students, unhoused individuals, veterans, inmates, and parolees to careers via software that uses algorithms, AI, and machine learning, putting them on a path to success. TokuOra works on a cognitive level to provide users with career reinforcement, career and life guidance, life guidance, self-esteem, purpose, and critical thinking. Learn more at tokuora.com
About the Dorothy Day House
Dorothy Day House is a volunteer-based 501(c)3 non-profit organization that for over 30 years has provided meals, shelter, and employment for low-income residents and people who experience homelessness in Berkeley, California. Learn more at dorothydayhouseberkeley.org