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National Skills Coalition has taken to the road this summer. Our staff got to see firsthand how the issue areas we have been working on are progressing in different states, and to meet people who have been tirelessly engaging in these efforts.
NSC would like to thank everyone we met during our visits for sharing their time and insight, and for allowing us into their busy workspaces!
Chief of Staff Rachel Unruh, National Field Director Jessie Hogg Leslie, Workforce Data Quality Campaign Director Rachel Zinn, and Business Leaders United for Workforce Partnerships Director Scott Ellsworth visited two workforce training centers to learn how federal policies such as HEA, Perkins, and WIOA can better support employer-driven training. The group first visited the St. Louis Carpenters Joint Apprenticeship Program, led by NSC leadership council member Dr. John Gaal of the Carpenters’ District Council of Greater St. Louis & Vicinity. The apprenticeship program is a partnership between management and labor, preparing at-risk youth and other non-traditional populations for careers in the construction sector. The group then visited St. Louis Community College’s Center for Workforce Innovation. In addition to the Center’s pre-employment training program with Boeing, staff learned about how STLCC has leveraged four rounds of TAACCCT grants to align federal funding streams, partner with employers in targeted industries, revamp developmental education, and collaborate more effectively with other community colleges in the state. Leaders of the TAACCCT initiatives discussed how short-term, non-credit Pell and more resources for postsecondary Perkins/Career & Technical Education could help them sustain and scale the innovations they’ve fostered as a result of the time-limited TAACCCT grants.
CEO Andy Van Kleunen, Chief of Development and Strategic Growth Sarah Oldmixon, Federal Policy Director Kermit Kaleba, and Field Coordinator Ashley Shaw visited organizations focusing on youth workforce development strategies, with a particular interest in learning more about sector partnerships and work-based learning models that serve youth and young adults. Their first stop was Per Scholas, New York City’s largest and oldest professional IT workforce development program. Per Scholas offers a series of free, multi-week professional IT job training courses and career development and placement services, and has trained more than 4,5000 students since 1998. The group then visited Comprehensive Development Inc. (CDI), a non-profit that prepares youth and young adults for future careers and life through free academic, career-readiness, and social services. CDI serves 3,500 NYC public high school students and alumni through a network of partner schools including the High School for Health Professions and Human Services, and organizations such as the New York Alliance for Careers in Health. The group finally visited the Heckscher Foundation for Children, which provides grants to youth-serving organizations in the fields of education, family services, child welfare, health, arts and recreation.
State Policy Director Bryan Wilson, Senior State Policy Analyst Brooke DeRenzis, and Rachel Zinn and Christina Lindborg-Pena of Workforce Data Quality Campaign (WDQC) traveled to Minnesota to learn about data systems, career pathways, and WIOA planning. They first met with the Minnesota Office of Higher Education and Department of Employment and Economic Development personnel who demonstrated recently developed data tools that prospective students and job searchers can use to shape their career paths. The team next visited the Project for Pride in Living (PPL) Learning Center to learn about their FastTRAC career pathway program. PPL prepares people for jobs in the human services sector by partnering with others to combine adult education, occupational training, career counseling, and support services. The crew then headed to the Anoka County Workforce Center, a point of resource for career pathways programs, adult basic education and other education opportunities, WIOA employment and training services, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) Employment and Training, childcare and medical assistance, and more. To cap off the tour, NSC staff had the unique opportunity to join a monthly meeting of the Minnesota Workforce Council Association (MWCA) Operations Committee. The meeting provided NSC staff with a chance to hear about different perspectives on WIOA implementation throughout the state.
Senior Policy Analyst Amanda Bergson-Shilcock, Business Manager Melanie Pinkert, Communications Associate Yuri Chang, and Office Manager Tabitha Bennett visited the Welcoming Center for New Pennsylvanians to learn about services that promote immigrant participation in the area’s political, social, and economic life. The Welcoming Center is a centralized employment and referral center that connects jobseekers to employers, and provides English language classes, job and life skills training, small business support, and legal advice. The group learned how the Welcoming Center utilizes strategic partnerships with numerous regional organizations such as government agencies, service providers, employers, business associations, and trade unions to connect immigrants to economic opportunities. The group met with several program directors and sat in on a contextualized English language, life skills class. NSC is working to increase resources for effective, employment focused ABE/ESL at the state and federal levels.
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