 |
|
Summer 2017 News & Updates
|
|
Welcome to our Summer 2017 newsletter! Workforce Matters is a national network that leverages the collective knowledge, relationships, and experience of grantmakers to advance the field of workforce development. Read on to learn more about recent events, planned activities, and partner resources.
|
|
What are your current learning priorities?
Do you have ideas for future Workforce Matters webinars? Feedback on a webinar earlier this year? We want to hear from you! Help us shape the Workforce Matters learning agenda for Fall 2017 and beyond:
Click Here to Take the Survey
|
|
|
|
Please note that Workforce Matters events are reserved for grantmakers and their representatives, including those based at private, independent, family, corporate, and operating foundations, corporate giving programs, United Ways, as well as individual philanthropists.
Apprenticeship Learning Network Call
It's been a busy summer for apprenticeship news! Mark your calendars and make plans to join us
Monday, July 24th at 2pm EDT | 1pm CDT | 12pm MDT | 11am PDT for a discussion on the apprenticeship landscape, including:
- Take-aways from the Apprenticeship Forward conference
- President Trump's executive order on apprenticeships
- Jobs for the Future's recent announcement of a Center for Apprenticeship and Work-Based Learning
- New resources such as Advance CTE's Opportunities for Connecting Secondary Career and Technical Education (CTE) Students and Apprenticeship Programs paper and New America's blog series.
Long-time work group members and apprenticeship novices alike are welcome to join. If you'd like to sign up for the Workforce Matters Apprenticeship Learning Network email list, please
send us an email.
Federal Policy Update
We've heard much about healthcare reform, but what's the status of skills policies on Capitol Hill? Join Workforce Matters at 2pm EDT | 1pm CDT | 12pm MDT | 11am PDT on
Thursday, August 3rd for an update on the federal policy landscape with three national experts:
- Kermit Kaleba, Federal Policy Director, National Skills Coalition
- Thomas Showalter, Director, National Youth Employment Coalition
- David Socolow, Director - Center for Postsecondary and Economic Success, CLASP
Interested in participating? Please RSVP to
wfmatters@gmail.com
to receive a calendar invite with the call-in information.
|
|
Race Equity Learning Network
|
Workforce Matters will be launching some new work this year focused on racial equity in workforce development. This will include developing learning opportunities and professional development; facilitating peer learning and exchange; and developing, refining and learning about tools we can use in our workforce development grantmaking to address disparities and move toward greater equity. We'd love to put together a core group of members to help lead this work.
Interested in helping to develop this work? Contact us at wfmatters@gmail.com.
|
|
Join the Conversation!
In response to feedback members shared at our recent National Fund for Workforce Solutions gathering,
we've launched a new Google Group where funders can directly connect with one another to ask questions and share information. The group has already grown to 28 members. Participants have can set up daily digest or view-only message-options if you are concerned about flooding your inbox.
Email Us Today if You'd Like to Join!
|
|
|
|
Apprenticeship Forward Conference Attracts 500+ Attendees
On May 4th and 5th, Workforce Matters members joined colleagues from across the nation at the
Apprenticeship Forward conference in Washington, DC. The conference sought to chart a path toward a future where millions more American workers and businesses reap the benefits of a high performing apprenticeship system built through the collaboration of the public, private, and philanthropic sectors. Workforce Matters brought together 20 of our members for a networking dinner and energetic discussion one evening of the conference. The initial concept for Apprenticeship Forward grew out of Workforce Matters' members apprenticeship efforts and was brought to fruition by a coalition of national partners led by the National Skills Coalition and New America. The conference was made possible through the support of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the JPB Foundation, JPMorgan Chase & Co., and the Siemens Foundation.
National Fund Leadership Convening Brings together 380 Workforce Leaders
More than 380 business, workforce development and philanthropic leaders met in Philadelphia, PA from June 15-16 to discuss how communities can build prosperity together. The Leadership Convening included workshops from experts from across the National Fund network as well as plenary sessions on workforce innovation in West Philadelphia; aligning workforce and economic development; and why CEOs invest in frontline workers. Workshop descriptions, resources and materials are available on the convening app at
https://crowd.cc/nflc2017.
Workforce Matters also hosted a member networking breakfast at the National Fund convening in order to build connection and share questions, ideas and resources. A few items we discussed for future Workforce Matters follow-up include:
- Learning from foundation and workforce partners about accessing and using state UI data
- Integrating worker voice in workforce development grantmaking
- Grantmaking strategies that can spur change in public spending on workforce development
- New rules from the Federal Reserve Bank on CRA and workforce investments
- National data tools on job availability, labor market information
- Research and training on career coaching
Look for more information on these and other items from our discussion in the months to come, and
let us know if any one of these topics piques your interest as well!
Webinar: Investing in Entry-level Talent - Retention Strategies that Work
Webinar: Philanthropy & Advocacy 101 - Investing in Change
On April 25th, Workforce Matters members joined a special webinar with Keely Monroe, Counsel at Alliance for Justice. This web presentation discussed rules that funders should keep in mind to comply with federal tax law while helping to maximize the effectiveness of their nonprofit grantees' advocacy work.
Learn More.
|
|
Partner Learning Opportunities
|
|
Webinar: Gig Workers and the Public Workforce System
The Annie E. Casey Foundation is hosting a webinar devoted to exploring how public workforce systems can support job seekers and employers as they navigate the rise of the gig economy.Gig employees are scheduled and paid on an as-needed basis, and their shifting work hours and earnings can make it difficult to pay household bills, secure transportation and find quality child care.
Tuesday, July 18 | 2 - 3 PM ET |
More Information
Webinar: Census 2020: New Tools to Support a Fair + Accurate Count
A Funders' Committee for Civic Participation Webinar Co-sponsored with the Bauman Foundation, Grantmakers Income Security Taskforce, and Philanthropy New York
Webinar:
What's Next in the Movement for Working Families: Opportunities for Offense and Building Power in the States
A webinar for funders, sponsored by GIST, Ford Foundation, Funders for a Just Economy, Open Society Foundations, and Wyss Foundation
Investing in America's Workforce: Improving Outcomes for Workers and Employers
A Federal Reserve System initiative in collaboration with the John J. Heldrich Center for Workforce Development at Rutgers University, the Ray Marshall Center of the Lyndon B. Johnson School at the University of Texas and the W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research.
Grantmakers Income Security Taskforce Fall Meeting
Washington, DC | October 10, 2017 | Details Forthcoming
GEO Leading Change Conference 2017
Are you headed to these or other workforce events soon? Let us know and we'll keep you apprised of Workforce Matters networking opportunities at upcoming conferences.
|
The 2017 Moynihan Lecture was presented by Professor Alan Krueger. Professor Krueger's recently released working paper, "Where Have All the Workers Gone?", examines the movements and trends of labor force participation in the United States.
Watch the recording on YouTube: he Impact of Non-Traditional Jobs and the Role for Public Policy.
In
Beyond the monthly jobs report: Putting faces to the numbers, Martha Ross of the Brookings Institution explains what the monthly jobs report does and does not reveal about unemployment in the U.S.
A new report from the Workforce Data Quality Campaign highlights how agency administrators, practitioners, and researchers can work together to improve the use of data for workforce programs and policy.
From Patchwork to Tapestry: Collaborating to Maximize Data Utility showcases both local and state systems from Illinois and provides recommendations for coordinated data system development.
For over 30 years in the Bronx, Cooperative Home Care Associates (CHCA) has embedded training in employment with impressive results: Of 630 jobseekers enrolled annually, 94 percent graduate with a portable credential and 85 percent are employed as home health aides. Building on lessons learned from CHCA, the Pinkerton Foundation recently announced the release the fifth paper in its Pinkerton Papers series,
When the Employer is the Trainer: Lessons from Cooperative Home Care Associates, by Steven Dawson.
Nonprofits, community groups, and philanthropists are embracing cocreation as a way to engage a wider community in tackling pressing problems. But, in a recent issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Joanna Levitt Cea & Jess Rimington find that only a small percentage of these efforts are resulting in bold innovation and powerful solutions. What does it take to deliver breakout innovation?
Read their article here and stay posted for information about a forthcoming webinar on the same topic this fall.
Career Pathways: Five Ways to Connect College and Careers, the latest report from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University, finds that the lack of transparency around college and careers leads to costly and uninformed decisions. The report argues that postsecondary education and training needs to be more closely aligned to careers to help close the skills gap.
In a new opinion piece on the Huffington Post,
Reframing How We Talk About Career and Technical Education, Siemens Foundation CEO David Etzwiler reflects on findings from a national survey Advance CTE implemented to gauge effective messaging with high school students and parents to attract them to career and tech education.
Race Specific Strategies for Workforce Equity in Healthcare and IT, a new report by Race Forward with support from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, identifies major internal and external barriers to greater adoption of race-explicit strategies for equity in the workforce development field, including racial bias and discrimination, limited tracking of racial disparities and outcomes, and a lack of services to support low-income workers of color.
The Aspen Institute's UpSkill America has released the
Upskilling Playbook for Employers. Created with support from the Walmart Foundation, the playbook features detailed examples of employers that have pursued upskilling strategies, investing in economic opportunity for workers and benefitting their companies at the same time.
|
|
Thank You to Our Supporting Members!
Workforce Matters is made possible through the generosity of our Supporting Members. A special thanks to our 2016-2017 funders: Annie E. Casey Foundation, Hitachi Foundation, Joyce Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, The New York Community Trust, Siemens Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Walmart Foundation.
|
|
|
|
|
|
