This February, the SERJobs Employee Engagement Black History Month Subcommittee hosted a lineup of events to amplify Black history and culture amongst staff, with a special focus on Black history in Texas and in Houston.

The first event was an open-air happy hour kicking off the month hosted at the Wing Quarter, located in the Third Ward. The event was an excellent team-building opportunity, paired with delicious Cajun cuisine and great weather!

The next two events were geared towards amplifying Black history: a Lunch + Learn event featuring a screening of Netflix’s High on the Hog: How African American Cuisine Transformed America, Episode 4 with popcorn from POParazzi Popcorn; and Black History Month Jeopardy.

To explore Black history and art from a Houston perspective, a Black History Month Book Club was organized to read a book written by a Black author from Houston. After a vote amongst participants, the winning book club selection was Invisible Houston: The Black Experience in Boom and Bust by Dr. Robert D. Bullard of Texas Southern University, who is widely regarded as the Father of Environmental Justice. The books were purchased from Houston’s first Black-owned bookstore, Kindred Stories in the Third Ward. The book club will meet in March to discuss the book.

To end the month, the Black History Month Subcommittee organized the second annual Culture + Cuisine Day! Staff were treated to a day of catered meals from local Black-owned restaurants, with the day kicking off with breakfast from Glazed the Doughnut Café located at 1333 Old Spanish Trail. Staff lunches were catered by Mikki’s Soulfood Café and Soul Food Vegan. The day ended with Crumbville’s famous stuffed cupcakes!

To complement these events, a newsletter was distributed each week highlighting celebrated Black Americans throughout history, and a display in the SERJobs lobby was also erected to highlight these historic figures.

The SERJobs Employee Engagement Black History Month Subcommittee was chaired by Kazhari Ray, Program Coordinator. The subcommittee members were Robert Depay, Valeri Dunn, Joyce Harris, Felicia Hines, Zully Ramon-Vidal, and Christi Vasquez.

On February 22, 2022, SERJobs was presented with the 2022 Development of Distinction Award from the Urban Land Institute (ULI) Houston. SERJobs won in the Not For Profit category for its Workforce Opportunity Center located at 1710 Telephone Road.

RDLR Architects spearheaded the project and the ULI Houston 2022 Development of Distinction nomination process. Longtime SERJobs champion and employer partner Tellepsen was the project’s general contractor, with engineering by Matrix Structural Engineering and landscape architecture by Asakura Robinson.

The SERJobs Workforce Opportunity Center is the heart of the SERJobs campus and opened in 2018. It was the result of the vision and direction of SERJobs leaders past and present, as well as the resilient community that has supported and advocated for the organization throughout its storied history in Houston’s East End.

With the opening of the Workforce Opportunity Center, SERJobs amplified its legacy with a state-of-the-art building to provide economic opportunity to even more individuals across 13 Texas counties. The City of Houston and Harris County contributed a large portion of the $11.5 Million Capital Campaign, as well as countless other stakeholders and community partners that help make the WOC a reality.

SERJobs continues to expand its impact in the Texas Gulf Coast this year, with its Workforce Training Center slated to open September 2022.

Read the full press release from ULI Houston here.

Browse photos from the event here.