"I've learned that the honest dose of perspective needed sometimes is that I am not homeless or downtrodden—not poor, sick, outcast or otherwise destitute; that I owe it to myself and those I serve to fight doubt and inspire hope; and that keeping myself informed, educated and competitive is my responsibility."

 — Amy Caffarello, Executive Director, St. Joseph the Worker

Fellow Biography

Amy Caffarello "fell into" her first nonprofit job by answering an ad for an office manager. Since that beginning in 1997, she has worked at several nonprofits and in the process has found everything she could ask for: "I am earning my living by taking lessons on how to live as I believe I should." She is currently executive director of St. Joseph the Worker (SJW), a small organization helping homeless and formerly incarcerated individuals learn how to rejoin the workforce and achieve self-sufficiency. Caffarello serves on the boards of Circle in the City and Lodestar Day Resource Center.

Field Notes

With the Piper Fellowship, Ms. Caffarello intends to gain momentum to implement annual staff and board development and long-range planning at SJW. The agency's strengths have been in its core operations to empower individuals to take control of their lives. In her sabbatical, she hopes to discover where employment opportunities will be in the emerging new economy and how to create resources for new and existing clients. She will take her sabbatical all at one time, attending courses at ASU's Nonprofit Management Institute, Harvard Business School and the Center for Creative Leadership in Colorado Springs and visiting homeless services and social enterprises that employ homeless individuals in Boston, Los Angeles, New York City and Portland, Oregon.

Contact Information

Amy Caffarello
Executive Director
St. Joseph the Worker
602.417.9854
acaffarello@sjwjobs.org
http://www.sjwjobs.org

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