Love is that which holds us together. Love is that which liberates us all. – Maya Angelou
Vanessa Russell founded Love Never Fails in December 2011 after she learned a teenager in her dance class was a victim of human trafficking in the SF Bay Area. Love Never Fails (LNF) is a non-profit dedicated to the restoration, education, and protection of those involved or at risk of becoming involved in domestic human trafficking. From the beginning, every LNF program was and continues to be, developed with a singular focus – holistically addressing a survivor’s needs on their journey to safety and wholeness. To date, Love Never Fails has educated thousands of children and community members on the issue of human trafficking and opened four homes that provide long-term safe housing and restorative services for over 176+ women, men, youth, and children impacted by human trafficking. Vanessa believes that the issue of human trafficking can be solved through love expressed in prayer, safe housing, mentoring, job training, outreach, and education.
Vanessa worked for 23 years in the IT industry-leading technology and sales organizations. She retired from Cisco Systems in January 2019 to lead Love Never Fails full-time. Her professional mission is to inspire and motivate people to develop businesses and themselves. To that end, LNF launched the ITBiz Tech Academy connecting under-served community members with financially sustainable careers. ITBiz students are prepared for professional certifications and careers in Customer Relations, Technical Sales, Project Management, Technical Engineering, and Entrepreneurship using curricula from Cisco, Microsoft, LinkedIn Learning, CompTIA, AWS, Google, Scaled Agile, Hewlett-Packard, Renaissance, and Strively. In collaboration with Oakland Adult and Career Education and Merritt College, ITBiz students are enrolled as Merritt students and receive college credit for courses taught by Vanessa, now a Merritt adjunct. The ITBiz Tech Academy also includes a registered cybersecurity pre-apprenticeship linked to the CCSF Cybersecurity Apprenticeship, registered with the California Division of Apprenticeship Standards and the US Department of Labor. In partnership with NextGen Cyber Talent, another non-profit and BayICT partner with a goal to reach the underserved to diversify the cyber workforce, ITBiz students are trained in security operations tools and prepared for paid internships.
LNF epitomizes how the BayICT Partnership envisions collaboration as the means to achieve goals we can’t reach alone. Vanessa and the LNF team continue to move the social justice needle through more new, exciting partnerships.
LNF has been engaged as a technology training partner for CROP (Creative Restorative Opportunities Programs). CROP, a re-entry non-profit, provides justice-involved people with valuable resources through transformative programs, pathways to sustainable careers, housing solutions, and community connections. Plans are underway for the ITBiz Tech Academy to deliver training for 120 re-entering felons on tech design and infrastructure support.
All eyes have been on OneTen, a national initiative to advance one million Black Americans in tech careers in 10 years, because of its emphasis on individuals without a four-year college degree. Its mission is to connect them with leading education and skill-building organizations, committed employers with family-sustaining jobs, and wraparound support services. LNF has been designated and onboarded as a National Training Developer. Vanessa is excited about how this new relationship aligns with LNF’s community college charter and relationships with Merritt and CCSF. Over 80 OneTen partners (employers) have signed up to help fulfill this mission.
LNF’s employer network has expanded with the addition of Synack and Dropbox. LNF is connecting ITBiz grads with Synack paid internships and revitalizing the Dropbox-CCSF apprenticeship through her connection with Dropbox DEI leaders within Dropbox. Leveraging its long Cisco relationship, LNF is working with the Customer Experience Division of Skills for All (new branding for the Network Academy) to pilot its Field Tech Training Program. Skills for All is taking a different, more inclusive, and accessible approach to curriculum content and delivery aimed at students who have difficulty with traditional approaches to self-study. Five ITBiz pre-apprenticeship students will complete the Cisco training and, upon completion, be placed as field techs for Cisco.
On Juneteenth 2020, LNF and the Western Regional Minority Supplier Development Council will host a “speed-interviewing” event with over 20 employer members participating. WRMSD members are small, minority-owned businesses, often overlooked when connecting with the CC IT talent pipeline. Watch BayICT.org for event details.