We’re proud to announce our selection as a recipient of a 2026 Taco Bell Foundation Community Grant for the second year in a row. The funding will support employment-centered programming for 16-24 year-old New Yorkers who have been incarcerated or are at-risk, helping young people gain the skills needed to secure permanent employment.

This year, that partnership became personal for our participants.

Caprice, enrolled in our career services programming, was among the young people who visited Taco Bell and met the people behind the grant:

“My visit to Taco Bell with GOSO was a very meaningful experience. We were warmly welcomed, given food, and had the opportunity to learn about the experiences of the staff, many of whom shared their journeys of starting from the bottom, and working their way up in their careers. Hearing their stories while celebrating their donation, I was inspired to see different people’s paths to success, who are helping create opportunities for others to be successful.”

Growing Our Career Services Programming

With this grant, GOSO is able to reach more young people and walk further down the road with each of them. In the year ahead, that means welcoming more participants into Career Services, deepening the career-readiness training that helps them prepare for interviews and the workplace, and expanding access to vocational training and industry certifications in fields where local employers are actively hiring.

It also means helping more participants move into internships and jobs, and staying alongside them well after that first day of work, with the coaching and support that help a new job turn into a lasting career.Workforce training remains one of the most critical parts of GOSO’s work. The road to a first paycheck often starts with rebuilding confidence as much as building skills. Our network of employer partners across New York City makes it possible to turn that training into real jobs, and real careers.

We’re grateful to the Taco Bell Foundation for investing in our young people, and to everyone at Taco Bell who took the time to share their own stories of starting out and moving up. Partnerships like this one remind our participants that their next chapter is already being written by people who believe in them.

Interested in supporting GOSO’s Career Services programming? Learn how you can get involved.