First Step Staffing Creates Economic Opportunity in Atlanta’s Westside

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First Step Staffing (First Step) is an organization that delivers meaningful staffing solutions for a variety of industries through a pipeline of rapidly deployed trained personnel. First Step’s services include recruitment, placement and support through job coaching, transportation and housing placement assistance. The mission of First Step Staffing is to provide a pathway to economic stability through employment and retention services. Offering temp-to-hire and direct-hire employment options, First Step is the largest light industrial nonprofit staffing firm in the U.S., with offices in Atlanta and other locations throughout the country.

Since 2020, the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation has supported First Step in Atlanta’s Westside by granting the organization more than $226,800. The grants support First Step as it provides residents with immediate income opportunities and transportation services that integrate with and supplement a workforce collaborative Westside Works and its programs. The foundation grants have supported more than 2,200 unique work placements with supportive services, more than 50,000 rides to and from job sites and millions of dollars in earned wages for First Step clients. This fully aligns with the foundation’s strategy of supporting long-term residents of Atlanta’s Westside to be more economically stable.

Alexis Nwaiwu, the foundation’s communications specialist, recently met with Amy Woodson, executive director at First Step Staffing for Atlanta’s Westside, to learn more about First Step and what drives its team.

Alexis Nwaiwu: First Step creates opportunity and dignity through employment. Can you share what that looks like in action for the individuals you serve, particularly Westside residents?

Amy Woodson: Our chief mission officer, Kelly Brownlow, says that before you can have economic mobility, you have to have economic opportunity. First Step provides immediate job opportunities for individuals facing barriers like homelessness, incarceration and poverty. We serve as an on-ramp to economic mobility, offering rapid employment, often within 48 hours, so individuals can regain stability. While the jobs may not be long-term careers, they serve as crucial first steps toward better opportunities.

Many Westside residents naturally find their way to us, but we are also intentional about ensuring our support is respectful and empowering. Challenges, like a lack of opportunity, can limit residents’ ability to realize their own potential, so we work to open new pathways for growth and workforce development.

Alexis: Some of the people you serve face issues such as transportation challenges and homelessness. How does First Step help them overcome those challenges?

Amy: In 2023, we provided more than 100,000 rides to work because we know transportation can be a major barrier. We cover costs by providing MARTA cards, Uber rides and our own vans to ensure people can get to work.

Other major barriers include food insecurity, childcare (which disproportionately affects women, who make up about 33% of our participants), healthcare and accessibility for individuals with disabilities. We have a division dedicated to finding employment solutions for people with disabilities, which is especially impactful for the veterans we serve.

Alexis: First Step partners with Westside Works to provide job training and immediate income opportunities. Can you share how this collaboration has helped advance First Step’s mission?

Amy: We see ourselves as part of the stabilization process for people in need of steady wages to get back on their feet. Our role, along with our partners, is to meet people where they are rather than offering one-size-fits-all solutions. Westside Works, for example, provides job training, healthcare, legal aid, parenting support and coaching. This creates an ecosystem of solutions. If they’re ready for career advancement, we refer them to Westside Works for specialized training. We see this work as a continuous cycle where people enter at different points and move through at their own pace.

Alexis: What makes First Step’s approach to workforce development so effective?

Amy: We only work with employers who truly get it. When we approach employers, we’re upfront about the demographic we serve and their struggles. We try to partner with organizations that embrace a second-chance mentality—employers who understand that people are not defined by their past mistakes, especially when so many of those “failures” are the result of systemic issues.

Our operations team works tirelessly, not just in Atlanta but across all nine markets where we operate. We employ more than 8,000 people nationwide annually. A relentless compassion drives our team, it’s what we look for in our employer partners and, most importantly, it’s what keeps the people we serve going.

First Step’s success comes down to three things. First, our staff. They truly believe in what we do. Our operations team is in the trenches, keeping people employed and on the job.

Second, our employers and partners who imagine a different future for the people we serve and meet their needs with compassion.

And third, the people themselves. The ones who simply don’t give up. They keep trying and keep showing up. That resilience is everything.

Alexis: Compassion is coming through clearly as one of your core values.

Amy: I think about the sheer weight of poverty all the time, not just financial poverty, but poverty of opportunity, poverty of compassion. Some of the people we work with have faced unimaginable hardships, and yet they keep going. I don’t use the word empathy often because empathy runs out when you can no longer imagine yourself in someone else’s situation. Compassion doesn’t require imagination to understand when something isn’t right.

We are unapologetic about our mission. Someone has to keep that on-ramp to economic mobility open. And that’s what we do.

Alexis: How does it feel to be a woman in a male-dominated field like housing, workforce development and transportation? What has your experience been like as a woman in leadership in this space?

Amy: We have incredible women in leadership at First Step, across all our teams. So, I’m not alone in this. We embrace strong women as leaders, and we’ve created a culture where women can thrive. That’s why we’re so passionate about bringing more women into this work and finding solutions that support them.

Atlanta, in particular, has embraced women in this space. I think a lot of that has to do with the strength of Black women in this city. They have raised the standard for all of us. Because they’ve been so willing and unrelenting in their service to our community, they’ve created pathways for everyone.

At First Step, strong women lead the way, and in the broader Atlanta ecosystem, men and women across all races and backgrounds are deeply committed to equity.

Alexis: What advice would you give to somebody looking to enter the nonprofit space? It’s incredibly rewarding work, but it can also be quite heavy at times.

Amy: If I could give one piece of advice to anyone who wants to enter this space, it would be that motives matter. Why do you want to do this work? That answer will determine your longevity in it. Whether it’s for recognition, for accolades or to be seen—those things are fleeting. They won’t sustain you. So don’t worry about any of that. Instead, dig deep. Do the work. Love people.

If you need constant credit and validation, you’ll burn out. Or worse, you’ll lose sight of the mission. But if you can stay focused on the impact rather than the applause, you’ll be able to make real change. Know who you are, know the value of your work and stay committed to serving others. That’s how you make a lasting difference.