Last month, Whole Foods launched several courses providing contextualized English language training to its employees in the New York metro area. Through Skills and Opportunity for the New American Workforce, these courses help Whole Foods’ immigrant workforce gain access to increased career pathways. Courses are taught by experienced instructors from Westchester Community College and LaGuardia Community College. Skills and Opportunity for the New American Workforce is now actively offering training at major retailers in the Miami, Houston and New York metro areas. The program was recently featured in a Fox 5 NY video that spotlighted Whole Foods participant voices from New York.
Angel Lopez works as a dairy buyer at the Whole Foods store in White Plains, NY. Originally from Peru and a native Spanish speaker, Angel has worked at Whole Foods for 8 years. Currently he is participating in the course offered by his employer at Westchester Community College. Angel joined the program to improve his English grammar and pronunciation through language training that is specifically tailored to help him in his job. He told us, “knowing English is very helpful in the store and I want to become more comfortable communicating with customers, team leaders and co-workers.”