Creating Jobs for
A Better Baltimore

By Mary Medland

Since taking over the reins of the Empower Baltimore Management Corporation in 1994, Diane Bell-McKoy, sociology and social work ’73, has overseen the creation of more than 5,000 new jobs in Baltimore City and assisted some 8,000 residents in finding employment.

Bell-McKoy is especially proud that Empower Baltimore’s goals include moving motivated, entry-level workers into better paying, more responsible positions. She is further focused on assisting people locate work that comes with healthcare and other benefits, at a certain minimum salary and, most important, with a career path ahead for them.

Bell-McKoy, who received the Alumni Association’s Distinguished Alumna award, has spent her entire career committed to poverty issues, including drug abuse and child welfare in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Upon the election of Kurt Schmoke as mayor of Baltimore City in 1987, she served as director of the Office for Children and Youth and director of the Office of Public Information.

"Empower Baltimore has certainly been able to see great improvements in work force development," says Bell-McKoy. "One of our initiatives involves both Hopkins Hospital and the University of Maryland Hospital. We did the research and designed a program that took hospital workers and trained them to move up as surgical technicians. Then we implemented the program and found that it worked! There are many low-income, low-skilled people who are willing to roll up their sleeves and who really want to have careers."

At Hopkins, Empower Baltimore worked with administrators to establish a training program for both long-term, entry-level employees and their supervisors. "The program really helps supervisors learn how to be both more pro-active and better managers," says Bell-McKoy, "and we found many people there who wanted to move up. For example, the program assists certified nursing assistants and geriatric nursing assistants on the pathway to becoming a licensed practical nurse."

Empower Baltimore was the driving force in establishing a prototype that led to the creation of the Biotechnology Institute in Baltimore City. When Chesapeake Biological Laboratories found itself expanding and needing more workers, Bell-McKoy got going and contacted the company’s CEO. Then she worked with Baltimore City Community College to design a training module—to teach high school graduates to be lab technicians—for that employer.

"Previously you had to have a college degree to do this work, but our program showed that high school graduates could be a great asset, and this allowed them to improve their earning power," she says. "Most people are not aware of how intense are the barriers that low-income people face, such as issues involving self-esteem."

Other Empower Baltimore achievements—and they have been recognized both nationally and internationally—include assisting small and minority businesses to expand, helping with financing and developing business plans, linking businesses with local government and creating six community-based career centers "However, I think what I am most proud of is my ability to bring together a diverse group of people—people from different backgrounds, with different experiences and different beliefs—to put together a collective vision and figure out a way to carry out that vision," she says.

"Diane literally embodies many elements of UMBC’s mission. Her strong liberal education is effectively blended with a strong sense of responsibility," says Cynthia Hill, assistant vice provost and director of student support services at UMBC, in support of Bell-McKoy’s nomination. "She lives her commitment to serve responsibly in the community, state and nation. Diane is a distinguished alumna, who is precisely the kind of citizen that UMBC strives to graduate."