The contra to the widely-recognized shopping days of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, #GivingTuesday began as a way to combat consumerism. It’s a day when the world comes together to celebrate philanthropy and social good. A day to remind us to give back. #GivingTuesday is a global day of giving, spreading the potential of social … >More
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Middlesex Sheriff joins forces with UTEC to assist young offenders
From the Lowell Sun: It’s no secret that many young adult offenders find themselves in a vicious cycle. After getting released from jail, there’s a decent chance they’ll re-offend within three years. Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian admits jails must change how they serve this population. As a result, the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction plans … >More
AmeriCorps Members Celebrate Service on Opening Day
AmeriCorps members sworn in to serve as youthworkers at UTEC. Each year on AmeriCorps Opening Day, new and returning AmeriCorps members across the country get officially sworn in to their year of national service. On November 3rd, nearly a thousand AmeriCorps members from across Massachusetts gathered at the Reggie Lewis Center in Roxbury to celebrate … >More
Youth advocates rally for Expungement at the State House
Young people with misdemeanors often have a difficult time finding stable jobs or pursuing higher education because of the ‘stain’ on their criminal records. Just last week, the MA Senate passed a criminal justice bill which includes juvenile expungement. On Tuesday morning Oct. 31, UTEC and the statewide coalition Teens Leading the Way (TLTW) hosted a lobby … >More
UTEC Hosts Spirited City Council Candidate Forum
Once again, UTEC hosted its City Council Candidate Forum for all candidates appearing on the November 7th ballot in Lowell. This forum, as with the past eight candidate forums UTEC has hosted over the years, was run entirely by UTEC’s young people and covered a variety of issues important to our young adults. UTEC partnered … >More
Food for Thought: UTEC Launches Advanced Culinary Class
UTEC young people learn about the finer points of food from experts in the field. Can you tell the difference between parsley and cilantro? Unless you’ve worked with these specific herbs, you may not know how to tell the difference. In order to advance the knowledge and skills of the young people in our Food … >More
Bank of America Invests in Economic Mobility
Bank of America’s Adrienne Chistolini recently paid a visit to UTEC’s Woodshop program, much to the delight of some of our young adults. Our Workforce Development and Social Enterprise model is key to the long-term success of our young adults. UTEC’s growing social enterprises offer our young people opportunities to learn industry-specific skills as well … >More
How Do You Create the World’s Oldest LEED Platinum Building?
UTEC’s historic building in downtown Lowell How do you take an old historic building, add a major addition to it, turn the whole thing into a highly energy efficient and sustainable structure, all while maintaining a strong historic preservation component? Let’s just say it takes teamwork and time. In the latest edition of The Alliance Review, … >More
Leeno’s Work Is a Cut Above
Whole Foods Westford Store Team Leader Todd Johnson (at left) was thrilled with Leeno’s new cutting boards. See photos below of Leeno hard at work. The request came out of the blue. Several weeks ago, long-term partner Whole Foods Market Westford contacted UTEC Woodworking, one of our social enterprises, with an urgent request. They needed two extra-large (48’ … >More
UTEC’s Teambuilding Week a Great Success!
Staff engage in one of the many teambuilding exercises during the full and hectic week. Not many organizations devote an entire week to teambuilding. But here at UTEC, given the nature of our work and the many facets of our integrated programming, a full week of teambuilding is essential to our culture and values. Every … >More