On Jan. 27, 1992, Octavia thought about putting an end to her life. At 23 years old, her mother had been stabbed repeatedly by her second husband and placed on life support. Octavia was forced to drop out of college, take care of two younger siblings, pay the mortgage and make a living.
Nearly two decades later, Octavia stood in front of 17 members of GW Women in Business to tell her story with a beaming smile about how the founder of Second Chance Employment Services, GW alumna Ludy Green, had changed her life.
Octavia is one of more than 500 at-risk women in the D.C. area whose life has been transformed by Green and SCES. Green founded SCES as the first nonprofit organization in the United States that provides human resource services for at-risk women. The women are given opportunities to work for Fortune 500 companies such as PNC Bank, SunTrust Bank and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
The organization’s services, however, go beyond human resources. It has a team of volunteer psychologists, make-up artists, plastic surgeons and dentists across the United States helping women attain higher confidence after abusive situations.
SCES has gained support from prominent political figures such as former President Bill Clinton, former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and Democratic Massachusetts Sens. Ted Kennedy and John Kerry. Green has raised $300 million and worked with about 530 women so far.
She said her ambitions started at GW where she volunteered at numerous local D.C. shelters, including My Sister’s Place.
“In college, my friends wanted to go out and dance and party,” Green said. “But I thought, why would I do that if I could help others?”
Green decided to pursue a career in human resources after receiving her master’s degree in business and international finance at GW in 1989. But after 12 years of human resources experience, Green decided to take her hobby of volunteering at women’s shelters to the next level by founding SCES.
What Green learned from her volunteer work at the homeless shelters helped her form SCES.
“These women were addicted to what the government was providing them,” Green said. “Money to them was like a bottle to a baby. It was like, why should they work if they will keep getting money from the government?”
She added, “The shelters that I was volunteering at were doing job training, but the women kept on coming back. Something was obviously not being done right.” At SCES, Green promotes financial security and independence by making a two-year commitment with each client to make sure that she stays on the right professional path.
After starting SCES, Green said she realized that her goals had changed over the years.
“All my life, my ambition was to become a vice president of human resources, but I later realized that I really needed to make a difference. I feel most accomplished now in my life.”
