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 Issue 6 • March/April 2006
Workforce Development
 Dear Philanthropy Professional,
Spring is the season for growth and opportunity – a fresh start. Yet many Americans lack the job skills and economic opportunities they need to flourish, advance, and succeed.
This edition of IdeaMail focuses on workforce development -- efforts to improve work-readiness, job skills, and career pathways for job seekers and employees, while meeting the workforce needs of employers. Below we share a new Call for Proposals supporting workforce development for frontline health and health care workers, and 12 resources you can use to support job training and workforce development.
Warmly,
Kris Putnam-Walkerly, MSW
President
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Launches $15.3 Million National Workforce Initiative
RWJF, in collaboration with the Hitachi Foundation, has just released a Call for Proposals (CFP) for Jobs to Careers: Promoting Work-Based Learning for Quality Care. Jobs to Careers will support partnerships to advance and reward the skill and career development of incumbent workers who provide care and services on the frontlines of America’s health and health care system. Application deadline is May 18, 2006.
Putnam is proud to have helped RWJF develop this national initiative. RWJF retained Putnam to clarify program direction, draft the Call for Proposals, convene a national review group, and organize a series of regional conferences to prepare the field for this Initiative.
Four National Workforce Initiatives You Can Learn From
Foundations across the country have partnered together to support workforce development.
1. SkillWorks
SkillWorks seeks to rethink the way labor markets operate in Boston so that workforce needs can be met by building the skills—and thereby increasing the incomes—of low-skilled and under-employed entry-level workers. SkillWorks accomplishes this through a partnership of philanthropic foundations, government, community organizations, labor, and employers, focusing on the health, automotive and hotel industries.
2. Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative
The Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative is a new public/private partnership formed by The San Francisco Foundation and the State of California’s Employment Development Department to encourage philanthropic investments in efforts to increase the skills of low-wage workers seeking family-sustaining jobs in the healthcare and life sciences sectors. For more information about this collaborative, click here.
3. Investing in Workforce Intermediaries
A project of the Annie E. Casey, Rockefeller and Ford Foundations, Investing in Workforce Intermediaries supports workforce intermediaries (organizations that organize key labor-market stakeholders and resources) in Austin, Baltimore, Boston, New York City, San Francisco, and Pennsylvania. These projects improve access to good jobs through education and training, build career ladders, strengthen business competitiveness, and link workers’ skill improvements to economic development.
4. Jobs Initiative
Launched in 1995, the Annie E. Casey Foundation Jobs Initiative provides funding and support for community-based initiatives in five cities in order to help young, low-income workers find meaningful jobs and to identify national employment and training models. Jobs projects have been launched in the construction, health care, manufacturing, and teleservices fields. To learn more about the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s support for workforce development, click here.
Four Workforce Resources To Guide Your Planning
1. Business Value Assessment
The Aspen Institute created a toolkit to assess the business value of workforce development services.
2. Publications produced by Workforce Innovation Networks (WINs)
This initiative of Jobs for the Future produced many useful how-to documents on topics such as career ladders; how to involve business in workforce development; mentoring; and hiring, retaining and advancing frontline workers.
3. A Guide to Federal Funding for Workforce Development Initiatives
The Finance Project developed this useful guide to identifying federal funding opportunities.
4. Defining the Frontline Workforce
The frontline health and health care workforce is characterized by education levels at or below a bachelor's degree, median annual wages below $40,000, and a high level of direct care and services. To learn more about RWJF’s sponsored research on the frontline workforce, read "Defining the Frontline Workforce." (NOTE: Adobe Acrobat 6.0 or higher is needed to view)
Four Intermediary and Research Organizations To Support Implementation
1. Jobs for the Future
JFF, a non-profit research, consulting, and advocacy organization with goals to build economic opportunity for adults and improving youth transitions to adulthood.
2. Public/Private Ventures
P/PV manages and evaluates initiatives aimed at improving the policy and practice of workforce development.
3. NEDLC
NEDLC is a national research and consulting organization dedicated to building economic health and opportunity in vulnerable communities. One of its projects, National Network of Sector Partnerships supports sector-specific initiatives as tools to enhance employment and economic development opportunities for low-income individuals and communities.
4. Health Workforce Solutions
HWS is a research-based strategic consulting and management firm focused on workforce issues in health care.
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