During his City Club of Chicago speech in May, Arne Duncan applauded Berglund’s work with Chicago CRED, an organization dedicated to removing barriers to opportunity so that people can live to their full potential.
Through the Chicago CRED program, Duncan, a former Secretary of Education and CEO of Chicago Public Schools, helps in finding career opportunities for disconnected young men between the ages of 17 and 24 who live on Chicago’s South and West sides. Berglund hired one of the Chicago CRED participants, KaySean Thomas, in March.
“One of our guys is now working at Berglund making $24 an hour,” Duncan said at his City Club appearance. “It’s a life-changing opportunity.”
Duncan noted that Berglund has a history of providing opportunities for people who struggle to find them, which is why the company was quick to embrace the Chicago CRED mission.
“They understood this better than most,” he said. “One of their best [foremen] who they put on all their tough jobs – he is a former gang leader who had been incarcerated for a while.
“All of us have done some things in the past that maybe we’re not so proud of. The question is, should that lock us out of this situation forever?”
We believe it shouldn’t, and we are proud to play in role in making sure it doesn’t.
Check out the video below.