Building Penn Medicine’s Pavilion helped launch his career. Now, William Griffin is going places
Griffin participated in PennAssist, a program to help graduates of Philadelphia’s career and technical high schools and city residents enter the building trades, and made an impression on the construction management team for the Pavilion.
It’s been a whirlwind of opportunities since William Griffin participated in PennAssist, a 12-month program to help young graduates of Philadelphia’s career and technical high schools and city residents—especially minorities and women—enter the building trades. The initiative, which ran between 2017-2020, was a collaboration of Penn Medicine, the School District of Philadelphia, Penn’s construction firm LF Driscoll, and the Philadelphia Building Trades Council. Griffin worked from 2018-2019 with the subcontractors building the $1.6 billion Pavilion at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP). PennAssist matched the young people in the program with the most suitable trades based on a skills assessment and a training boot camp. Griffin primarily worked with the electricians but said he gained exposure to many other construction trades.
Vice President Kamala Harris, left, with William Griffin and his wife and son. (Image: Penn Medicine News)
“There were electricians, plumbers, sheet metal workers, carpenters, painters, insulators, boilermakers, foremen … everyone was working together to make sure that this job got completed,” Griffin says. “We were learning cutting-edge technology and using a lot of new tools and methods, because the technology in that hospital is so advanced. It felt really good to be a part of it.”
It wasn’t just on-the-job experience. Two evenings a week, instructors with the Construction Apprentice Preparatory Program (CAPP) led the PennAssist participants in classes to learn the necessary math and other skills to pass the apprenticeship tests required to join their respective trade unions.
Construction had always called to Griffin. He had attended Jules E. Mastbaum High School, a career and technical school in Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, but had lost interest after his carpentry teacher left mid-way through senior year. By the time he found PennAssist, he was married, owned a duplex he partially rented out, and had held various jobs, while yearning for a stable career with benefits.
Right away, Griffin made an impression on Saege Steele, the economic opportunity plan manager for LF Driscoll, Penn Medicine’s construction management team for the Pavilion.
William exemplifies what PennAssist stood for, says Lauren Valentino, transition manager for the Pavilion.
“At Penn, we’re focused on carving the way, innovating, and creating opportunities and firsts for many other people to follow,” Valentino says. “We built one of the largest, most innovative hospitals at the Pavilion, and creative initiatives like PennAssist—with hard-working people like William—helped make it happen. From the very beginning, as Penn Medicine embarked on the largest capital project in our history, it was grounded in a desire to invest in our community.”
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