Gernell Turner of the Chicago Transit Authority: A Look Inside the Citywide Career Fair

Gernell Turner

Senior Coordinator of Workforce Initiatives

Chicago Transit Authority

Almost since her start in January 2024, Gernell has spearheaded the Citywide Career Fair and developed it into the multi-agency effort that it is today. For jobseekers, the fair is a groundbreaking event that brings together 60+ employers and thousands of sustainable wage career opportunities within in-demand industries; for employers, the fair serves as a great way to tap into Chicago’s underserved talent. Gernell is leading with authenticity to ensure a smooth and impactful experience for job seekers and employers alike. Continue reading to learn about the opportunities available for employers at the Citywide Career Fair.

What is your role at the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)?

I am the Senior Coordinator of Workforce Initiatives. The Workforce Initiatives team is nestled within the Diversity Programs department. I'm mainly responsible for labor compliance on CTA construction projects, which includes monitoring workforce goals on those contracts as well as coordinating outreach events, including the Citywide Career Fair, along with CTA workforce partners and other stakeholder groups.

What was your first job?

My first full time role was with a small nonprofit organization called Chicago Allies for Youth Success, whose mission was to increase access to after-school programming for youth in Chicago. Since then, I have always been in the nonprofit ecosystem, specifically within workforce development and youth services.

What obstacles have you had to overcome in your career?

Overcoming corporate masking is a major career achievement I'm proud of. I started off thinking I had to communicate like others so that they would understand me or want to work with me. What I learned, though, is that authenticity is far more important. Authenticity allows me to communicate with greater clarity and impact.

Consistently we have received feedback from participating employers stating they receive excellent candidates at our events.

I grew up in an underserved community with limited resources. I dedicated my career to nonprofits and workforce development because I know what it’s like to come from a place where you don't have a lot of real-life examples of higher education or a visible path to a sustainable wage career. Through lived experience and earning my MBA, I’ve developed the confidence to communicate with credibility in any setting because I intentionally navigated that path myself. I can now speak conclusively about workforce initiatives, the people they impact, and explain why the work is so important. You simply cannot do that from an inauthentic place.

What's it like to work at the CTA? What makes it special or unique?

Working at the CTA is special because of its mission – to link people, jobs and communities. Not only is the CTA providing mass transit to the city of Chicago and 26 surrounding suburbs, which is vital to the heartbeat and well-being of the city, but it is also a place where servant leadership is key. It takes every single person doing their jobs to make the whole thing work. Working at CTA allows me to be part of something that can increase access for underserved communities to sustainable wage career pathways throughout the entire city; it’s like nothing else I’ve ever experienced.

How did the Citywide Career Fair get started?

The Citywide Career Fair project was initiated in January 2024 with the ambitious goal of helping community residents, particularly on the Far South Side, access careers in high-demand industries across the city. This idea originated from conversations regarding the impending Red Line Extension project and the need to connect residents not just to construction jobs, but to sustainable wage opportunities in other high demand sectors like TDL (Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics) and healthcare. The core idea was to host a large-scale, citywide career fair twice per year, once in the spring and once in the fall, where residents from all over Chicagoland could become prepared for–and access–not just any old job, but good paying jobs requiring transferrable and technical skills within industries where people can grow.

The fair is not exclusive to the CTA. It is a collaborative effort between multiple organizations, including support from the City of Chicago, the Office of the City Clerk, City Colleges of Chicago, Civilians Office of Police Accountability, CTA Workforce Partners, and several other organizations. Collaboratively, we typically identify anywhere between 60 and 80 exhibitors, making this one of the largest, free career fairs in the city. Since launching in the spring of 2024, we’ve never had fewer than 400 attendees for each installment. We are excited to have the continued assistance of organizations like World Business Chicago, Chicago Public Library and the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership as we look ahead to 2026.

Who is the typical employer that exhibits at the Citywide Career Fair?

We are strategic about the employers we invite to ensure both quality and quantity of available opportunities for what we know will be a high turnout of quality job seekers. In the beginning we primarily targeted CTA’s prime construction firms, well-known transportation companies, major hospitals and other large healthcare employers in the city, who continue to participate each installment. We’ve always invited the participation of training and resource agencies as well but have been careful to limit the ratio of employers and community-based agencies to 70:30. This is to ensure our focus can remain on the demand from attendees for sustainable wage employment opportunities available now. Since then, the fair has grown to include employers from government sectors like Cook County Bureau of Human Resources, Chicago Park District, Chicago Police and Chicago Fire Department. In addition to these core sectors, we also include employers from the retail and IT (information technology) industries with opportunities ranging from entry-level to management, and we are currently exploring adding manufacturing to the mix. Consistently we have received feedback from participating employers stating they receive excellent candidates at our events.

Who is the typical job seeker who attends the Citywide Career Fair?

Our fair attracts a wide-ranging, well-prepared audience. We see a diverse group, ranging from young career-starters to individuals interested in their next construction project to veterans and returning citizens to highly seasoned professionals looking to change roles or advance in their careers.

What makes our audience unique is the emphasis we place on advance preparation. The powerful collaboration of our workforce partner agencies often results in trained, job-ready career seekers being added to the pre-registration list for each event. These participants are provided with one-on-one career coaching services in advance. Because walk-ins are welcome to attend as well, through our collaboration with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, we advertise to the general public how to find their local American Job Centers for resume and mock interviewing support. We also advertise to the public how to find their local public library for access to internet and computer support, one of the things made possible by our collaboration with Chicago Public Library. And because of the landing page support from the Office of the City Clerk, we can provide a list of employers and hyperlinks to their applicant tracking system in advance of the event so attendees know exactly what they want upon arriving.

How would you describe the impact that this event is having on the local community?

One of the outcomes we're truly proud of is the consistently large attendance we see at every installment. We’ve never had fewer than 400 attendees, and one of our fall events brought in over 600 job seekers who were prepared and actively looking for jobs with the employers they knew would be exhibiting.

Because of the support from the Office of the City Clerk’s website, attendees understand well in advance what companies and the types of opportunities will be available, meaning the people who show up are genuinely interested in the industry.

This consistent level of public engagement is the outcome that really drives us. We track attendance by zip code and can see where the demand for opportunities is highest, and that the community is preparing and showing up. We are continuously exploring thought partners that can support with deeper data analytics of various event metrics.

What unique values does the Citywide Career Fair offer to employers?

Attending these fairs not only helps an employer diversify their talent population, but it also helps them find candidates in the Chicagoland area who are nearest to their projects and their locations. We’ve hosted many city departments at all of our events, like the Chicago Metropolitan Water Reclamation, the Chicago Police and Fire Departments, and the Chicago Park District. These organizations are finding candidates who live in proximity to their parks, offices, and project sites. Exhibiting provides these employers a rare opportunity to engage directly with the local public about career opportunities. This allows employers to see the person, ask questions, and gauge what makes a good candidate, which can be missing in a typical hiring process.  

Another benefit we advertise to exhibitors is that they are connecting with a highly qualified and targeted audience. Because of the support from the Office of the City Clerk’s website, attendees understand well in advance what companies and the types of opportunities will be available, meaning the people who show up are genuinely interested in the industry. Exhibitors are talking to job seekers who likely already have experience, education, training, or certifications in that career field.

How can an interested employer begin the process of exhibiting at the Citywide Career Fair?

The first step an interested employer should take is to email the CTA Workforce Initiatives team.* Let us know you're interested in exhibiting at an upcoming Citywide Career Fair, and we will reach out promptly to help you get started.

Organizations must be in an in-demand industry (TDL, Construction, Healthcare, IT, Manufacturing or Retail) and be currently hiring and able to provide materials for attendees to take away during the fair. We will then have an exploratory conversation to confirm eligibility and ensure the employer has all the necessary details to confirm registration to exhibit at our next event.

What is the experience like for an employer at the Fair?

The experience for an employer is designed to be smooth and productive. Exhibiting is absolutely free. Given the extensive experience of our collaborating agencies, we ensure the event is very well organized, providing a thorough orientation to all exhibitors in advance. This orientation details the audience we expect, the day's flow, logistics, and how to accommodate any specific setup needs. We require all exhibitors to come with two representatives so that our volunteers can manage a lunch break for exhibitors without disrupting the flow of the event. All employers are provided with light refreshments for breakfast and a boxed lunch also free of charge. 

Providing Chicagoans with sustainable wage jobs is essential for the successful future of the city.

Additionally, because there is a mix of both employers and resource agencies present the event serves as a great networking opportunity for employers. We've received great feedback about the connections exhibitors make at our events.

What data do you capture to demonstrate the impact of the Fair?

The sheer volume of opportunity is one of the key impacts we track. For instance, based on the number of opportunities reported by our registered exhibitors, we have hosted upwards of 3,000 different job opportunities available at a single installment. While tracking individual placements and interviews presents a challenge, we capture several key quantitative and qualitative metrics.

We collect data from employers who report the number of people they added to their candidate pool for follow-up in their Applicant Tracking System. We also have attendees and employers self-report placement and interviews when possible. Additionally, we collect zip code data to show where our participants are coming from, giving us a clearer picture of the local communities we are serving.

What role does the Citywide Career Fair play in the Chicagoland workforce development ecosystem?

The Fair drives workforce initiatives that create pipelines for jobs within in-demand industries like construction, TDL, and healthcare, and it ensures attendees learn not only about open job opportunities, but specifically about high-value job opportunities. Providing Chicagoans with sustainable wage jobs is essential for the successful future of the city. 

*Editor’s note: As of the time of publication, contact workforceinitiatives@transitchicago.com to get in touch about the Citywide Career Fair. Learn more about the initiative on the CTA’s website.

Interviewed by Austin Morales-Sanchez in October, 2025 | Written by Misha Williams