History

Center for Employment Training (CET) was founded in 1967 amidst a time of heightened political and socio-economic activism that was occurring in the nation. A group of concerned citizens—among them founders Father Anthony Soto and Russell Tershy—organized to establish a job-training center for the working poor and low-income residents of the barrio “Sal Si Puedes” in Eastside San Jose, California.

In it’s early years, CET’s principal target population was migrant and seasonal farm workers who were suffering in poverty with inhumane job conditions and low wages with the goal of preparing these workers for stable, full-time, permanent jobs in industry. Over the past four decades, success with agricultural workers has motivated the organization to grow to over 30 centers nationwide, serving a number of other disadvantaged populations across the nation, including:

• Welfare Recipients (CalWorks, TANF)
• Highschool Dropouts/Unemployed Youth
• Unemployed Seniors (55-62)
• Displaced Workers
• Disabled Workers
• Refugees & Immigrants
• Minority Single Female Heads of Household
• Homeless
• Ex-Offenders & Parolees
• Veterans, among many others...

Nationally known for its exceptional outcomes, which include higher job placement, higher earnings gains and higher retention rates than most training programs ever studied, CET was awarded funds to replicate its model throughout the Southwest as well as in other areas of the United States. The organization now has nearly 30 training and service centers in several states, with six international centers in Belize and Chile.

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