The LAUNCH Initiative: A Partnership to Create a Path to New Careers

“When we get a chance to enrich communities, improve the quality of life, we want to take it.”
- Lisa Cabrera, TRWD Chief Human Resources Officer
A new partnership between Tarrant Regional Water District (TRWD) and UpSpire seeks to offer employees more than a job. The goal is to offer them a path to a career.
UpSpire is a for-profit social enterprise program that deals with homelessness and helps people get back on their feet.
TRWD is a regional water supplier that also manages and maintains the Fort Worth Floodway. Sometimes, it has trouble finding enough people to do the difficult work along the floodway.
To help fill the worker gap, TRWD is working with UpSpire to provide it with workers to keep up with its parks, levees, and trails. Additionally, TRWD is implementing a new three-year program, called LAUNCH Initiative. The program involves a mix of on-the-job training and education to increase worker marketability, not only for jobs here at the water district, but with other employers, as well.
The LAUNCH Initiative will focus on propelling underserved individuals into an educational and professional opportunity to help them succeed. This program will help foster an individual's confidence and job skillset.
LAUNCH's legacy is centered around building a lasting impact for the Fort Worth community, furthering our mission of enriching communities, and improving the quality of life.
TRWD will start accepting applications in mid-January and is expected to kick the program off in March.