State of Our Workforce

National Fund for Workforce Solutions
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State of Our Workforce

Welcome to State of Our Workforce, where every month, National Fund director of learning and evaluation, Michelle Wilson, Ed.D., takes us on a journey into the heart of workforce innovation.   Join us for a deeper dive into the diverse, groundbreaking solutions our network employs to tackle local challenges nationwide. We're changing the very paradigm of workforce development, focusing on equity, empowerment, and the creation of good jobs for all.   From expert insights to real-world stories, we explore how to build an equitable workforce where race doesn't determine outcomes and every job is a pathway to success. Our guests, ranging from network leaders to academic thinkers, share their insights and strategies, driving us toward a future where everyone thrives.   Tune in to State of Our Workforce and be part of the movement shaping the future of work. https://nationalfund.org/state-of-our-workforce/

  1. Episode 38 - Advancing Workforce Equity: Five Years Later feat. Abbie Langston, Sarah Treuhaft, and Jonathan Osei (January 2025)

    JAN 24

    Episode 38 - Advancing Workforce Equity: Five Years Later feat. Abbie Langston, Sarah Treuhaft, and Jonathan Osei (January 2025)

    The year 2025 marks a momentous anniversary at the National Fund. It has been five years since the Advancing Workforce Equity project got off the ground, in which we dug into the root causes of inequities using deeply disaggregated data. This project was extremely impactful for the National Fund and our network partners and has been essential in our direction since then. We are joined by three key collaborators who worked on this project at that time. Vice President of Research at PolicyLink; Sarah Treuhaft, Director of Policy and Partnerships at The Institute on Race and the Political Economy at the New School; and Jonathan Osei, Workforce Development Fellow at the Project for Pride in Living. The four of us will take a journey back five years and consider what it was like to begin the difficult, messy work of equity at a time when equity was still a “dirty word.” We consider the lasting impact of our work and how we can continue to move it forward now to create a truly equitable economy where all workers, businesses, and communities are thriving. Read the Advancing Workforce Equity Reports here: https://nationalfund.org/advancing-workforce-equity-reports/

    1h 1m
  2. Episode 37 - Bridging Successes to New Horizons feat. Michelle Rafferty (December 2024)

    12/20/2024

    Episode 37 - Bridging Successes to New Horizons feat. Michelle Rafferty (December 2024)

    In our final episode of State of Our Workforce in 2024 we close out our series on the Anthropology of Work. We are joined by National Fund Chief Program Officer Michelle Rafferty to reflect on a year filled with milestones and progress. Michelle recounts key achievements from 2024 and shares an inspiring vision for the future of workforce equity.

    24 min
  3. Episode 36 - Closing the Equity Gap for Native American Workers feat. Natasha Hale (November 2024)

    11/19/2024

    Episode 36 - Closing the Equity Gap for Native American Workers feat. Natasha Hale (November 2024)

    On this episode of State of Our Workforce we continue our series on the Anthropology of Work. In honor of Native American Heritage Month, we explore the systemic barriers Native American workers face and the strategies needed to build a more inclusive workforce. We are excited to be joined by Natasha Hale, Project Lead for Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities at Workforce Matters, who will share insights into the cultural, economic, and historical contexts shaping Native workforce inclusion today. Explore what it means to close the equity gap, creating pathways to opportunity and resilience for Indigenous communities across the nation. Supporting Native Workforce Development: A Guide for Funders

    22 min
  4. Episode 35- LIVE From SHIFT! Career Journeys Redefined Part 3: Mentors feat. Guest Host Juvilee Hernandez (September 2024)

    10/15/2024

    Episode 35- LIVE From SHIFT! Career Journeys Redefined Part 3: Mentors feat. Guest Host Juvilee Hernandez (September 2024)

    This is the third of three conversations we hosted LIVE from the National Fund's premier, biennial convening, SHIFT Toward an Equitable Future. A large part of our work at the National Fund is identifying ways in which we use our national platform to drive regional change on issues such as occupational segregation. As part of that work, we identified career navigation as one such lever. We believe that it must be addressed at a systems level because the impact of occupational segregation goes beyond the worker. It impacts every facet of the workforce ecosystem from companies, education, human welfare, generational wealth opportunities, cities, towns and states because we know that inequities in our systems costs us in a myriad ways. So, we decided to take a deep dive into career navigation to identify opportunities to better support equitable opportunities for all. Today we'll be talking with some of our amazing collaborators who participated in this work. In this conversation, Michelle Wilson and special guest host Juvilee Hernandez talk to a couple of employers and an educator. They occupy a really unique space in the workforce ecosystem and were also named as mentors by our participants during our research. We were excited to be joined by: Clifton Phelps, co-owner of JCP Construction, a Black-owned construction company in Milwaukee; Anita Andrews-Hutchinson, the co-founder of a network of Black-led early learning centers in Chicago; and Dave Mullins, the Director of the Business and Industry Institute at Hutchinson Community College, who also works in a very unique space as a community college educator who dedicates time with justice-involved individuals.

    26 min
  5. Episode 34 - LIVE From SHIFT! Career Journeys Redefined Part 2: Mid-Career Professionals (September 2024)

    10/08/2024

    Episode 34 - LIVE From SHIFT! Career Journeys Redefined Part 2: Mid-Career Professionals (September 2024)

    This is the second of three conversations we hosted LIVE from the National Fund's premier, biennial convening, SHIFT Toward an Equitable Future. A large part of our work at the National Fund is identifying ways in which we use our national platform to drive regional change on issues such as occupational segregation. As part of that work, we identified career navigation as one such lever. We believe that it must be addressed at a systems level because the impact of occupational segregation goes beyond the worker. It impacts every facet of the workforce ecosystem from companies, education, human welfare, generational wealth opportunities, cities, towns and states because we know that inequities in our systems costs us in a myriad ways. So, we decided to take a deep dive into career navigation to identify opportunities to better support equitable opportunities for all. Today we'll be talking with some of our amazing collaborators who participated in this work. This conversation focuses on mid-career professionals who were forced to make unexpected shifts. We met these folks last summer during our Career Navigation interviews. We were excited to be joined by: Brianna Rogers, Initiative Officer at ReWork the Bay; Andrew Shepherd, Senior Pipeline Technician at Northern Natural Gas; Tracy Carson, Project Manager at JCP Construction; and Shay Rainey, Project Manager at AYR Wellness.

    24 min
  6. Episode 33 - LIVE From SHIFT! Career Journeys Redefined Part 1: Young Workers (September 2024)

    10/01/2024

    Episode 33 - LIVE From SHIFT! Career Journeys Redefined Part 1: Young Workers (September 2024)

    This is the first of three conversations we hosted LIVE from the National Fund's premier, biennial convening, SHIFT Toward an Equitable Future. A large part of our work at the National Fund is identifying ways in which we use our national platform to drive regional change on issues such as occupational segregation. As part of that work, we identified career navigation as one such lever. We believe that it must be addressed at a systems level because the impact of occupational segregation goes beyond the worker. It impacts every facet of the workforce ecosystem from companies, education, human welfare, generational wealth opportunities, cities, towns and states because we know that inequities in our systems costs us in a myriad ways. So, we decided to take a deep dive into career navigation to identify opportunities to better support equitable opportunities for all. Today we'll be talking with some of our amazing collaborators who participated in this work. This conversation focuses on young people who are just starting out in their careers. We met these folks last summer during our Career Navigation interviews. We were excited to be joined by: Juvilee Hernandez from Chicago where she is a youth organizer at Northwest Center; Reginald Bridges is also from Chicago, and he's an assistant kindergarten teacher with It Takes a Village early learning center; and Kayla White, an IT worker in Birmingham, who is also currently working as an intern with AlabamaWorks!.

    17 min
  7. Episode 32 - SHIFT Toward an Equitable Workforce feat. Hollie Marston (August 2024)

    08/29/2024

    Episode 32 - SHIFT Toward an Equitable Workforce feat. Hollie Marston (August 2024)

    Join us for the next episode of State of Our Workforce where we will continue our series on the Anthropology of Work. The National Fund will host its premier, biennial convening SHIFT Toward an Equitable Future in Memphis, TN, September 24-26. We are so excited to dig deeper on workforce equity, systems change, job quality, and more. We are excited to be joined by Hollie Marston, Network Director at the National Fund, to talk about what you can expect at SHIFT this year. Hollie and the National Fund team have been hard at work putting together a learning agenda that will help us amplify voices that need to be heard, activate new solutions to persistent problems, and accelerate change needed to achieve an equitable workforce. Plus, we'll have a very special announcement about September's State of Our Workforce. Tune in to learn about SHIFT and more!

    23 min
  8. Episode 31 - Pride at Work: Fostering LGBTQ+ Equity at Work feat. Janell Thomas (June 2024)

    06/18/2024

    Episode 31 - Pride at Work: Fostering LGBTQ+ Equity at Work feat. Janell Thomas (June 2024)

    On this episode of State of Our Workforce, we continue our series on the Anthropology of Work and celebrate Pride Month. We dig into how employers can create safe, equitable environments for LGBTQ+ employees and allow people to thrive authentically. We are excited to be joined by Janell Thomas, founder of My CoLab Partners, who shared her insights on building and sustaining inclusive workplaces. Take advantage of this opportunity to learn how to support LGBTQ+ workers and ensure your workplace is a space where everyone can thrive. Learn more about My CoLab Partners here: https://www.mycolabpartners.com/

    23 min
See All (39)

About

Welcome to State of Our Workforce, where every month, National Fund director of learning and evaluation, Michelle Wilson, Ed.D., takes us on a journey into the heart of workforce innovation.   Join us for a deeper dive into the diverse, groundbreaking solutions our network employs to tackle local challenges nationwide. We're changing the very paradigm of workforce development, focusing on equity, empowerment, and the creation of good jobs for all.   From expert insights to real-world stories, we explore how to build an equitable workforce where race doesn't determine outcomes and every job is a pathway to success. Our guests, ranging from network leaders to academic thinkers, share their insights and strategies, driving us toward a future where everyone thrives.   Tune in to State of Our Workforce and be part of the movement shaping the future of work. https://nationalfund.org/state-of-our-workforce/

Information

  • Creator
    National Fund for Workforce Solutions
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2025
  • Episodes
    39
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © National Fund for Workforce Solutions 2024
  • Show Website
    State of Our Workforce

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