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SkillWorks News: June 2013
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Policy Update: Welfare Reform, FY2014 Budget
SkillWorks, the Workforce Solutions Group (WSG) and partners have been hard at work advocating for a few key line items and legislative priorities this legislative session.
Welfare Reform - Education and Skills Training Elements
As most of you know by now, the Senate passed a Welfare Reform bill on Thursday night, June 20. SkillWorks and the Workforce Solutions Group, led by our partner the Crittenton Women's Union, was particularly interested in ensuring that the bill contained provision to help families get the education and training they need to become self-sufficient.
As passed, the bill contained several positive provisions, including a new "Full Employment Program" to be administered by Commonwealth Corporation in consultation with an advisory committee of training providers and employers; a provision that protects families by allowing for some good cause exemptions from job search requirements; allowing families to count participation in education and training toward the work requirement longer than the currently allowable 12 months; and allowing families to save money for educational expenses without having it count as income.
Stay tuned for next steps--the House takes up the bill soon, and there is more debate to come!
Read the Senate Bill (with amendments).
FY2014 budget
WSG has continued to advocate for key workforce line items including career centers, youth summer jobs, the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund, and training opportunities for individuals on public assistance. It's been another tight budget year, but we are cautiously optimistic about where things will land after the conference committee finalizes its budget.
The following priority items are still under discussion as of June 20:
1) Youthworks Jobs 7002-0012
Advocating for the Senate appropriation of $9 million.
2) School to Career Connecting Activities 7027-0019
Advocating for the Senate appropriation of $3.37 million.
3) Employment Services Program 4401-1000
Advocating for the House appropriation of $6.13 million.
4) Adult College Transition Services 7066-0040
Advocating for the House version of $250,000.
5) STEM Pipeline Fund
Advocating for the House appropriation of $1.5 million
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SkillWorks Employer Profile: Joanne Pokaski, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
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Joanne Pokaski, Director of Workforce Development, BIDMC
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Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center is one of the largest academic medical institutions in the state and has been one of SkillWorks' employer partners since Phase I. SkillWorks recently spoke with workforce development director Joanne Pokaski about her work as part of CareerSTAT, an initiative of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions.
What is your role in CareerSTAT? I am a member of the CareerSTAT Executive Committee, and I chair a subcommittee that is developing a national recognition system for employers who invest in their frontline workers.
How does CareerSTAT complement your work as part of SkillWorks? Through SkillWorks and other initiatives we offer at BIDMC, we are always working to support our employees to build their skills and advance their careers. The Career STAT initiative seeks to encourage more employers nationally to invest in their frontline workers through documenting best practices, engaging employers , and using information from current practice to help employers understand that investing in employees, when done well, is not only a nice thing to do, but makes business sense.
Why are you participating in CareerSTAT and why should others participate? Over time I have found that connecting to peer group of workforce directors at other local healthcare employers has been really helpful in terms of understanding best practices, benchmarking BIDMC practice, and asking advice from my colleagues. The Boston Private Industry Council's Boston Healthcare Careers Consortium (which Pokaski also chairs) formalized a way for employers, the workforce system and the education system to come together and share helpful information at the regional level.
CareerSTAT is building a national peer group of healthcare employers who are investing in the skills of their frontline workers. I now have more people that I can learn from and share information with. Over the next few years, I believe CareerSTAT will be able to offer a lot of information to my colleagues nationally about how and why to invest in frontline worker skills and an internal talent pipeline.
What are one or two things that you've learned so far from this process? I'll tell you two things that have surprised me. One is that there are major cities around this country that have very little going on in terms of investing in the frontline healthcare workforce. This is in stark contrast to the significant activity taking place in Massachusetts. The second thing that has surprised me is how little we know about how many employers nationally are actively investing in their workforce and what they are doing. I think Career STAT will really shed some light on this in the next few years.
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Participant Profile: Mariette Bodden
 | | Mariette Bodden celebrates her graduation from Quincy College with her family |
Mariette Bodden, a clinical assistant at Boston Children's Hospital and a participant in the JVS-led Healthcare Training Institute (HTI), graduated with her Associate's degree from Quincy College in May.
Mariette started her journey as a student in HTI 's pre-college math class with the goal of becoming a nurse. After a few months, the time commitment for the class became too challenging, and she dropped it. The following year she found she enrolled in college but found she needed help and came back to HTI for academic coaching. Biology was the turning point. It was difficult, and Mariette almost didn't make it through, but working with her coach at JVS, she put together a study plan, went to the tutoring center, and persevered.
Fast forward four years. Mariette has been on the honor role for the last several semesters and was accepted to the National Honor Society. On December 15th, 2012, Mariette started her first day as a nursing student at Lawrence Memorial. She took this on while finishing her AA degree at Quincy College AND continuing her employment at Children's Hospital.
Mariette is truly on her way to accomplishing her goal, and we're grateful to have been part of her journey.
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Quick Partnership Highlights
Healthcare Training Institute: 
The Healthcare Training Institute will hold its annual graduation event for participants at Children's Hospital Boston on June 26, 2013. A few CNA class participants are shown here at the recent JVS Celebration of Achievement.
YouthBuild Boston: YouthBuild Boston participants recently took part in a carpentry challenge, taking home second prize out of 15 participating organizations! Congratulations! YBB is also recruiting for their next program cycle. Download the flyer for information |
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Weekly Workforce Roundup
Did you know that SkillWorks publishes a weekly round-up of workforce news funding opportunities, research and resources?
The blog can be found at:
http://www.skillworks.wordpress.com.
Here are a few reads and resources from our most recent round-up:
Please bookmark the new address, and thanks so much for following us!
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Capacity Building Highlight: College & Career Coaching
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SkillWorks coaches present at the CWC Conference in May.
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SkillWorks continues to host a peer learning network for career coaches, facilitated by Martha Oesch. The group meets approximately monthly and has, over the last year, released a toolkit and developed a training workshop on Coaching for College and Career. The toolkit is full of templates and other tools to help coaches working students, with a special focus on adults, transition to and complete post-secondary education.
The coaches have now presented the workshop four times, with a fifth coming up on June 25.
For information on the coaches network and future trainings, please contact us. Coaches from outside the SkillWorks network are welcome to participate. |
Mbarka's Chicken Tagine
We asked recent culinary arts graduate Mbarka Hamdi to share a favorite Moroccan recipe with us. Enjoy!
Ingredients
2 pounds of chicken legs 
1 onion chopped
3 gloves of garlic pressed
I lime (juice)
½ teaspoon of turmeric
½ teaspoon powdered ginger
½ teaspoon of black pepper
½ teaspoon butter
1/3 teaspoon of saffron
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Add salt to taste
- Mix the above ingredients and marinate the chicken legs for at least 2 hours
- Put them in the oven for about 45 minutes at 300 degrees or until the chicken is cooked through and the juices run clear.
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SkillWorks Phase III Update
SkillWorks' funders completed a strategic planning process in February 2013. Over an 8-month period we spoke with over 100 stakeholders, held numerous meetings, and came to an agreement that SkillWorks should continue, albeit with some changes, for another five years.
SkillWorks Phase III will run from 2014-2018, and we look forward to being in touch soon with details on funding and partnership opportunities.
We would like to thank and recognize the following funders who have already made funding commitments for this new phase of work:
- The Frank W. and Carl S. Adams Memorial Trust, Bank of America, N.A.. Trustee
- Bank of America Charitable Foundation
- The Boston Foundation
- The Clowes Fund, Inc.
- State Street Foundation
Read the Executive Summary of SkillWorks' Strategic Plan (2014-2018)
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Mbarka Hamdi, Hotel Training Center participant, graduated from Bunker Hill Community College on June 1, 2013 with highest honors, earning her AS in Culinary Arts. Mbarka will be continuing her education and working toward her BA this fall.
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Director's Remarks | |
It's graduation season! And though it may be cliche to speak about the meaning of commencement as a beginning and not an end, it's really hard not to feel the truth of the cliche at a commencement event for job training graduates and adult learners, many of whom are starting over in a new country or field of study and who have overcome significant obstacles to be at this place in their lives.
It's always the student speakers that leave the deepest impression. I never fail to be humbled by their drive, determination and enthusiasm. And in their kind words about the support of family, friends, classmates and teachers, I am reminded that there are so many people behind each success story.
So CONGRATULATIONS, graduates! And THANK YOU teachers, coaches, mentors, friends, and family for all you do. This work would be impossible without you.
Loh-Sze Leung
Director
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Madeline Snow, report author and professor at UMass Lowell, facilitates a panel discussion on training and jobs in the water industry
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Industry Spotlight: Water
Last July, SkillWorks released a report on jobs in the water industry in Massachusetts. As a follow-up to that report, SkillWorks has helped convene a focus group of employers, industry representatives and training institutions, led by Madeline Snow of UMass-Lowell and Deborah Mutschler of the MA Workforce Association.
The group met at the end of February at the MA Tech Collaborative and brainstormed ways to collaborate on improving and expanding training and pathways into the water industry.
For more information or to participate, please email
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Watch this short student-produced video on SkillWorks' college navigation efforts!
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SkillWorks Funders
The Frank W. and Carl S. Adams Memorial Trust, Bank of America, N.A.. Trustee Bank of America Charitable Foundation The Barr Foundation BNY Mellon The Boston Foundation Chorus Foundation The Clowes Fund, Inc The City of Boston's Neighborhood Jobs Trust The Commonwealth of Massachusetts The Garfield Foundation The Hyams Foundation Mabel Louise Riley Foundation Microsoft Corporation National Fund for Workforce Solutions Nellie Mae Education Foundation Perpetual Trust for Charitable Giving, Bank of America, N.A., Trustee A.C. Ratshesky Foundation State Street Foundation Surdna Foundation United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley U.S. Department of Labor, through Jobs for the Future SkillWorks would like to thank the Clowes Fund, Frank W. and Carl S. Adams Memorial Trust, State Street Foundation, and the City of Boston for renewing their funding commitments since the last newsletter! |
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SkillWorks Partnerships
Chinatown Green Collar Career
Pathways Initiative
Emergency Medical Careers
Partnership
Energy Efficiency Technician
Apprenticeship Program
Healthcare Training Institute
Hotel Training Center
Partnership for Automotive
Career Education
Workforce Solutions Group
Year Up Financial Services
Partnership
YouthBuild Boston Green
Construction Program |
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Upcoming Events
SkillWorks is celebrating its 10th Anniversary on September 18, 2013. Please let us know if you'd like to receive a formal invitation!  |
The 4th Annual Jobs and Workforce Summit will take place at Devens Common Center on October 9, 2013. We look forward to seeing you there. More details forthcoming!  |
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SB 193: An Act to create and maintain jobs in the Commonwealth
The Joint Committee on Economic Development and Emerging Technologies will hold a hearing on SB193 on Wednesday, June 26 at 11 am in State House Hearing Room A-1. You are encouraged to come and testify on this bill, filed by Senator Karen Spilka, which includes several provisions pertaining to workforce training. Written testimony is also welcome. Please email Aaron.Carty@masenate.gov with any questions.
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About SkillWorks: Partners for a Productive Workforce
SkillWorks is an ambitious effort on the part of philanthropy, government, community organizations, unions, and employers to respond to Massachusetts' workforce crisis. SkillWorks' goal is to create a workforce development system that helps low-skill, low-to-moderate income residents move to family-sustaining jobs and helps employers find and retain skilled employees. It is the largest public/private investment in workforce development in Boston's history.
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