Why Don't They Just Get a Job?: One Couple's Mission to End Poverty in Their Community

WHY DON'T THEY JUST GET A JOB? describes the journey and the incredible results of Dave and Liane Phillips efforts to help those in poverty find their way to self sufficiency. Under the premise that existing job-readiness programs only focus on job placement and not retention to help the unemployed and underemployed, Dave and Liane Phillips created a poverty to economic self-sufficiency program with an 80% one-year employment retention rate. In the past three years this organization, Cincinnati Works, has brought $25 million in wages locally to over 1500 families. The not-for-profit offers a complete spectrum of free, lifetime employment services for the entry-level job-seeker to sustain and advance in today s work climate. The model is a winner of the 2009 Manhattan Institute Social Entrepreneur Award. Following its success, Dave Phillips is now volunteering as a consultant for similar programs in other cities.

Liane Phillips currently serves as interim president of the award-winning Cincinnati Works, which she co-founded along with her husband of 50 years, Dave Phillips, former managing partner at Arthur Anderson. A 2009 Manhattan Institute s Social Entrepreneurship Initiative award, 2005 Better Business Bureau Torch Award for Marketplace Ethics, and that same year, a Best Practices Back-to-Work Program from The American Institute for Full Employment, are just a few of the accolades their non-profit has received. A lifelong humanitarian, Liane has led the way in drug- and child abuse-prevention, and in literacy, self-sufficiency and career development programs. Liane and Dave make their home in Cincinnati, Ohio. Echo Montgomery Garrett is an award-winning career journalist and author of numerous books, including My Orange Duffel Bag: A Journey to Radical Change and Dream No Little Dreams, the story of Clay Mathile and The Iams Company. Her work has been published in more than 75 national magazines, newspapers, and websites, and she has appeared on numerous television and radio broadcasts, including Good Morning America. Her humanitarian work includes serving as board member for Gift for a Child/The Heart Gallery Southeast, a foster care advocacy program. She lives in Marietta, Georgia.