Goodwill Industries International (GII) knows the power work has to improve peoples’ lives. Each year, it connects more than 2 million job seekers with community-based programs designed to help them build their careers.
Among the individuals who have benefited from Goodwill’s programs are Taylor Devenport and Katie Reigelsperger. Exemplifying Goodwill’s “not charity, but a chance” ethos, Davenport and Reigelsperger worked hard and drew on the opportunities offered to them to create sustained, positive change in their lives. To honor their achievements, Goodwill presented each with one of its annual awards.
Devenport, the 2023 GII Achiever of the Year honoree, earned the award by overcoming significant challenges. Born premature, she experienced developmental delays that eroded her confidence as a young girl.
Things began to change in high school when she enrolled in a school-to-work program run by the Goodwill in Menasha, Wisconsin. Working and learning new skills gave her self-confidence, and she excelled and earned several promotions at the Goodwill store where she was employed.
Devenport’s success has propelled her to her current position as a senior job coach at the Goodwill in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Referred to by one of her colleagues as “the sunshine of Goodwill,” she goes above and beyond in helping others build their professional skills.
As the GII Kenneth Shaw Graduate of the Year, Reigelsperger has similarly worked to give back to others after a positive experience with Goodwill changed her life for the better. As a young girl, Reigelsperger lacked parental guidance due to both of her parents experiencing addiction issues, and she became a mother twice while she was a teenager.
Caring for the first of her children forced her to drop out of high school. Her lack of a diploma left her with no choice but to work a series of dead-end jobs.
Concerned that she would not be able to secure a better future for her family, she enrolled in a tuition-free diploma program at the Indianapolis Goodwill’s Excel Center. Reigelsperger not only graduated from the program, but also went on to complete a Pharmacy Technician Certificate. She then proceeded to build a career as a pharmacy technician.
Reigelsperger was subsequently asked by the staff members at the Excel Center to return as a teacher. Her experience instructing others inspired her to start the KLR Medical Certification Training School. There, she focuses on giving a chance to people who, like her, have faced significant life challenges.