People Need Jobs & Companies Need People
San Diegans need good jobs to provide for their families, but too often lack the opportunity to receive the education or training required to earn a livable wage. At the same time, some of our region's major employment sectors-like healthcare and biotechnology-are struggling to fill openings because of a shortage of trained workers. The San Diego Workforce Funders Collaborative (SDWFC) solves both problems. By linking unemployed and underemployed individuals with education and training programs, the collaborative helps local youth and adults improve their quality of life through career advancement in growing industries. These efforts also ensure that employers have the supply of trained workers they need.
A Public/Private Partnership with Leverage
Before the formation of SDWFC in 2006, numerous public agencies and private funders were separately dedicating time and money to various workforce programs. Private programs were rarely coupled with the millions of federal grant dollars coming from the San Diego Workforce Partnership. SDWFC has coordinated these efforts, ensuring that resources go farther and services aren't duplicated. The group connects philanthropic foundations and corporations, public agencies, nonprofits, employers and educators, and has forged strong relationships between the private and public sectors to meet their common goals.
Greater Investments in Our Community
In 2008, SDWFC pooled $598,000 from private and public sources to fund four projects. Several North County community clinics are working together not just to meet their missions, but also to support the career advancement of their own employees. San Diego City College is creating a workforce pipeline from high school to the biotech industry, and other initiatives will help people in lower-income southeastern San Diego communities enter healthcare careers. For 2010, SDWFC has raised nearly $1.3 million (including $475,000 in federal Workforce Investment Act funds made available through the SD Workforce Partnership) to create a healthcare career pathway partnership that focuses not just on job training, but industry solutions and systems change. For the first time, public funds will be matched by private funders, allowing the more flexible private monies to fill in gaps left by federal funding limitations. Because of this public/private collaboration, SDWFC has also attracted national funds into our community through grants from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and the Wal-Mart Foundation.
What Does This Mean About Philanthropy?
SDWFC has multiple levels of positive community impact: on people who receive training and access to better-paying careers, on employers who have a stronger pool of workers, and on organizations brought together to serve these populations. Erin Spiewak, Program Officer with The Gary and Mary West Foundation and chair of the collaborative, notes that "When private foundations and public agencies work in silos, the result is not systemic in its impact. This funder collaborative doesn't just put funding on the street; it's helping reshape how workforce and economic development can better support the creation of greater opportunities for workers and economic prosperity for our region."
SDWFC members: The California Endowment, The Gary and Mary West Foundation, Girard Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, Life Technologies, San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation Foundation, San Diego Women's Foundation, San Diego Workforce Partnership, State of California Employment Development Department, United Way of San Diego County, WebMD Health Foundation. SDWFC is a funding collaborative of San Diego Grantmakers.
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