Welcome to the Massachusetts Workforce Association's Exclusive Member's Only Newsletter: The Quarterly Voice! Look for this publication in your inbox each quarter, detailing MWA's work for you!
|
|
- State Legislative Meetings Summary
- D.C. and USWA Update
- 2019 Supp Success
|
|
- Updates from the Alliance for Voc-Tech Education, Housing and Workforce Development Work Group, MAPC CEDS Advisory Committee and More
|
|
- Stats from the Jobs and Workforce Summit 2019
- Advocacy Workshop with Nexus Werx
- P4P with Third Sector
- Webinar Learning Community
|
|
- Committee Accomplishments
- Branding and Communications Progress
|
|
|
MWA
advocates for public policies and resources to support our members in meeting the talent needs of local businesses and connecting job seekers to employment and career pathways.
|
|
State Legislative Meetings
|
In addition to legislative meetings as part of the Workforce Solutions Group, in the fall of 2019, MWA held meetings with various state representatives and senators. They focused on introducing the association, strengthening relationships with legislators, and highlighting our members as experts and key resources on workforce related issues. The meetings were held both inside and outside of Boston and included MWA members:
- Senator Comerford, joined by Patricia Crosby and Teri Anderson
- Senator Lovely, joined by Stan Usovicz and Mary Sarris
- Senator Lewis, (youth employment focused) joined by Chris Albrizio-Lee and Trey Walsh
- Representative Garlick, joined by Greg Bunn
- Representative Roy (manufacturing focused), joined by Peter Farkas, Jeff Roberge, Kelly French, Patricia Crosby and Lorraine Albert
- Representative Cutler, joined by staff from the MassHire Lowell Career Center, Nancy Gagnon and Ellen Waszak
Our advocacy efforts will continue in 2020 and beyond. Expanding and further strengthening our public policy capacity and expertise is an integral part of MWA's 3-year strategic plan.
|
|
Building relationships with the MA federal delegation and colleagues across the country was also a priority for MWA in 2019.
In
March 2019
, we traveled to D.C. and met with 9 out of 11 members of the Massachusetts congressional delegation, highlighting local success stories and building relationships with staff.
In
July 2019
, Tonja traveled to NYC for a 2-day convening with colleagues from workforce associations across the country. In 2020 and beyond, we hope to further facilitate networking and best practice sharing across state lines. This convening also provided a great opportunity to learn from other associations about advocacy, member recruitment, governance, and more.
In
November 2019, we were back in D.C. with our USWA colleagues to attend meetings at DOL, the White House, Congresswoman Trahan's office, and Speaker Pelosi's office, among others. It was an invigorating day of listening and learning but also sharing some of the great work being done throughout Massachusetts.
|
|
Additional Funds Secured in FY19 Supplemental Budget
Working with members, workforce colleagues, and key legislative champions, MWA helped secure additional workforce funding in the FY19 supplemental close out budget bill, including $400K for MassHire Career Centers and $375K for WCTF.
|
|
|
MWA
is a thought-leader for workforce development, sharing best practices and elevating our members’ local expertise and strengths statewide and nationwide.
|
|
In early November 2019, Tonja facilitated a panel discussion at an event organized by EOLWD between participants of various apprenticeship programs around the state. These participants shared their inspiring stories about how apprenticeship offered them opportunities for education and career development that they otherwise would not have been exposed to.
|
In December 2019, Tonja was invited by the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) to be the
Region 1 Liaison on behalf of the Northeast Region. Regional liaisons act as area connectors between local workforce experts and NAWB to help inform NAWB's policy agenda and initiatives. Tonja will be participating at the 2020 Forum in a panel discussion with other USWA members, as well.
|
|
MWA Represents MA Workforce System by Building New Relationships with Partners
|
Throughout
2019, MWA staff were invited to participate in a number of meetings and groups to help share the perspective of our members, as well as learn more about efforts that affect all of you. A few examples include:
- Housing Insecure and Workforce Development Group: Leaders from CHAPA, the United Way of Mass Bay and Merrimack Valley, Workforce Solutions Group, EMPath, Western MA Network to End Homelessness and others have been connecting periodically to share information and align efforts at helping those who are in shelter or otherwise housing insecure, seek stable employment.
- Alliance for Vocational Technical Education: This group of allies of vocational technical training and education began convening around 2014 to coordinate advocacy efforts and research on the benefits of expanding access to quality vocational technical education. They released a report in 2018 detailing their definition of what High Quality Career Technical Education should look like in Massachusetts and their policy recommendations toward that end.
- Metro Area Planning Council (MAPC) Comprehensive Economic Development Strategy Advisory Committee: The Advisory Committee is made up of representatives from the public, non-profit and private sector organizations and businesses who are leaders in advancing economic development in the Metro Boston planning region for the federal Economic Development Administration. They are working on the next 5-year strategy. The previous strategy can be found here.
- MassINC Wage Record Research Advisory Group: MassINC will be partnering with Northeastern University’s Dukakis Center to develop a better understanding of upward economic mobility in Massachusetts by analyzing student trajectories through high school, post-secondary education, and into the labor market. As this will be one of their first projects to utilize the state’s wage record data, it provides an opportunity to learn more about the strengths and limitations of these administrative records for quantitative research. The project will be led by a team of economists. To be sure they are asking the right questions and correctly interpreting the results, they have decided to assemble a diverse group of external advisors.
|
|
MWA
convenes our members for strategic partnership development,
peer-to-peer learning and networking opportunities.
|
|
Tonja presented on MWA and public policy issues at
8
member board meetings in 2019, sharing our mission and vision for the future of the organization.
|
Raija held
14
one-to-one meetings with workforce board and career center directors across MA in her first 3 months on the job, learning about the successes and challenges members are experiencing. She's looking forward to meeting the rest of you in the months to come.
|
|
The
10th Annual Jobs and Workforce Summit
in October was a great success, with
238
attendees, many from MWA member organizations. Evaluations were positive, many calling Tiffany Ferguson's presentation on the Reinventing Work Initiative a highlight. MWA produced a video in partnership with the Workforce Solutions Group to highlight the successes achieved in Massachusetts workforce development over the past 10 years. To watch the 5 minute video, click
here
.
MWA's Pre-Summit Reception was well attended with Consul General of Ireland Laoise Moore speaking about the shared challenges and opportunities facing Ireland, Great Britain, the EU and Massachusetts. Several members invited Laoise to speak at their board meetings in the future.
Save the date for this year's Jobs and Workforce Summit on
October 21, 2020
. MWA will hold its Pre-Summit Networking reception the evening before.
|
|
MWA Winter Member Meeting & Workshop
|
Our Winter Member Meeting and Workshop at Salem State University was kicked off by President and former state legislator,
John D. Keenan. Following his talk, we had an engaging and interactive workshop on how to build relationships with local legislators and engage board members and business leaders in effective advocacy which was led by
Stefanie Coxe of Nexus Werx.
Below are links to Stefanie's PowerPoint and the tools and resources she created for MWA members.
If you were unable to attend the Winter Meeting and would like to learn more about Stefanie's workshop, let us know.
|
|
Webinar Learning Community Launched
|
This fall, MWA began a partnership with EOLWD and MDCS to launch a pilot learning community for those interested in understanding more about what it takes to deliver quality, appealing content to job seekers via webinar. Interest in this subject followed last spring's MassHire Day presentation by MassHire Lowell Career Center staff, Stacey Thompson and Bob McIntosh, on their success utilizing webinars as a different means for workshop delivery. The pilot learning community was launched in November with staff from organizations in 9 regions participating. We look forward to sharing the learning outcomes and future opportunities for peer-to-peer learning to come.
|
|
|
|
P4P Workshop Series with Third Sector
|
Last spring, MWA partnered with MDCS and Third Sector on an outcomes-oriented workshop aimed at learning more about outcome based contracting. Based on feedback from the workshop, in 2020,
MWA and Third Sector are facilitating 5 regions in a 3-part workshop series on how to use data to drive program improvement and take advantage of pay for performance opportunities.
To read more about the workshop series, click
here
. To read H.Kay Howard's (from Third Sector) recent opinion piece in Commonwealth Magazine about the potential for pay for success models to help boost post-secondary student outcomes, click
here
.
|
|
Since spring of 2019, the Governance Committee has been meeting monthly. The focus of the Committee’s work has been to establish a diversity statement, a process for recruiting and on-boarding new MWA board members, and developing an annual Executive Director performance review. The committee has also developed a Board Member Job Description and form for nominating new board members.
Over the next several months the committee will continue this work while also ensuring that MWA has the necessary policies, procedures, and controls in place.
|
|
The Membership Committee has been meeting monthly since September, focusing its work on finalizing the committee charter and value proposition statement. The value proposition was vetted by both the Workforce Board Council and the Career Center Council, as well. The committee has also reviewed current MWA member benefits and is in the process of researching and developing a structure through which new members could be welcomed into the association. The committee currently has 8 members from career centers, workforce boards, and the MWA Board.
Following the goals set by the MWA strategic plan, the committee will work to finalize a membership structure by the end of June, along with developing a plan for relationship building and stakeholder engagement for FY21.
|
|
Since September the Public Policy Committee has convened monthly. The focus of the committee's work has been to establish a committee charter, public policy issue selection document, and to continue to engage and recruit new members. We closed 2019 with 11 committee members and good representation across career centers, workforce boards, and the MWA Board.
Over the next several months the committee will focus on the FY21 budget, a Career Center briefing at the State House, and building a state and federal public policy agenda.
We hope members continue to use the committee structure as a way to participate and help instruct MWA's work. In addition, members should also see committee work and meetings as professional development opportunities for staff.
|
|
MWA Releases 2020 Calendar
|
We can't contain our excitement for 2020! We're proud to release a calendar of meetings and events for you to get a glimpse of what is to come in 2020. We hope you will save the date for some of our Quarterly Networking Events, our Annual Meeting, conferences and other events.
Some key events to look forward to include:
- Roundtable with Congresswoman Trahan January 21st
- Career Center State House Briefing February 26th
- MWA and MassCAP Conference March 11th in Devens
- MWA's Annual Meeting May 14th in Pittsfield
- MassHire Day Awards and Workshops May 15th
- Quarterly Member Networking Events March 11, May 14th, July 16th and October 20th
- 2020 Jobs and Workforce Summit October 21st
|
|
Are you one of our more than
120
followers on LinkedIn?
Click the links below to follow us on social media and get the latest news in workforce development.
|
|
MWA Progress on Branding and Communications
|
In the past quarter, MWA has developed and launched two newsletters -
Workforce Connections
, focused on our members and the broader workforce development community, and this one,
The Quarterly Voice
, our member's only publication.
We have a communications plan for FY20 which includes robust use of social media and traditional media outlets. You may recall, Tonja had an
OpEd
published in the Eagle Tribune in October!
In particular, we've spent a lot of time working on developing a new website, which will support our communication with external partners and all of you. We look forward to launching the website in the first quarter of 2020.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
