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SkillWorks Spring Newsletter |
May 2015 |
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Dear SkillWorks Partners, Friends and Funders:
Spring is here and so is the next installment of our newsletter. The latest stretch of good weather reminds us that we do live in a four season climate! Speaking of the number four, I'd like to share a brief overview of SkillWorks' latest thinking on how we'd like to measure success through our "Four 'A's of Impact: Access, Attainment, Achievement and Assets."
SkillWorks has embarked on a new path to learn more about how training, education and service providers define measureable impact for the individuals and employers that they serve. Conventional metrics often only focus on the quantitative inputs and outputs of a program without always considering the various milestones or factors that show an individual's progress, a program's innovative practices or solutions, a provider's organizational accomplishments or a partners return on investment.
Through the Four 'A's of Impact, SkillWorks hopes to influence how we measure success by unpacking some of the complexities of service delivery models that require working with hard to serve populations, especially in a diverse and sometimes shifting funding climate. Data collection, management and analysis is not an easy task and sometimes even harder to find common ground. SkillWorks is moving toward considering impact in a way that is less focused on data collection as an administrative or contract requirement and more focused on creating a valuable tool to support the interactions between participants, programs, providers and partners.
It is critical to have feedback from the field as we move to best define a more meaningful structure of performance measurement that focuses on our success as a workforce intermediary and on opportunities to overcome the barriers and challenges faced by the programs we fund and the individuals we serve. We have and will continue to convene our grantees and other service providers, funders, thought leaders and stakeholders to discuss these issues and move us toward what we hope will be a sharper, more focused direction for SkillWorks. I encourage you to reach out and lend your insight and expertise as we conceive our role in influencing partners and funders across the SkillWorks Four 'A's of Impact: Access, Attainment, Achievement and Assets.
Sincerely,
Marybeth Campbell, Executive Director
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UpSkill America Summit
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On April 24, 2015 The National Fund for Workforce Solutions joined the nation's top business leadership groups and employer partners at a White House Summit to launch
UpSkill America's coalition of business, education, and workforce training organizations is dedicated to helping more businesses expand our nation's talent pipeline by: recognizing leading employers that provide expanded opportunities for their workers; promoting the widespread adoption of business practices and policies that increase economic opportunity; and cultivate the education and workforce development efforts that support and advance those initiatives. UpSkill America's work is facilitated by the Aspen Institute Skills for America's Future.
The National Fund and its more than 30 partner communities are deeply committed to industry leadership within workforce development and frontline worker investment and appreciates the opportunity to promote smart investments in frontline workers in order to increase access to family-supporting careers for millions of Americans while also helping employers find the talent they need to be successful and competitive.
 Also joining Boston and nation-wide representatives at the Summit were the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Business Leaders United, and College for America. SkillWorks and our partners are excited to align with business leaders through this initiative to work toward expanding economic opportunity for American workers. Check out the press release here, and learn more at upskillamerica.org.
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Program Innovation: Persistence Plus | 
Persistence Plus engages and motivates students to college completion through a mobile platform that uses transformative behavioral interventions. By marrying the best practices in student support, the technology that students use most, and ground-breaking behavioral interventions, Persistence Plus is uniquely able to
outreach, engage, and support students from orientation to graduation.
I have been reading and reading [the nudges]. They ask me and encourage me to tell my family about my classes and it helps encourage me while I'm studying. I remember one message about writing five mins a day before an exam: I've been trying that and it's helping...Studying with JVS for four years has been really great. It's because of JVS that I'm in college. . .
- Aguinaldo G. (Aguinaldo Gomes), student in JVS Business Services program attending Bunker Hill Community College
| JVS participants/Persistence Plus users |
[The nudges] remind me all the time about my goals and gives me a sense of triumph. In the morning I get out of bed it reminds me that I have something to achieve that day....What I like most is that every time I'm feeling a little bit down then I can look at my advice [on the phone] and it keeps me motivated. It keeps my spirit up.
- Carl C. (Carl Colas), student in JVS Bridges to College program attending Bunker Hill Community College
[The nudges] are definitely helpful. I learned [from a nudge] to write down my goals or what I want to learn. The question about how to help another student was great. I collected handouts for students who are sick.
- Hector R. (Hector Rosales), student in JVS Business Services program attending Bunker Hill Community College to become a medical interpreter.
Demographically, these students spanned ages from early 20s to late 40s.
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Spring Grantees |
SkillWorks is proud to add the following organizations and projects to our list of grantees this past quarter:
- MassBudget: $10,000 to maintain the Massachusetts Jobs & Workforce Budget tool and hosta series of workshops to educate audiences about the state workforce development system, how effective workforce development programs can benefit our overall economy, and how the system can be improved.
- YouthBuild Boston: $50,000 in Year 2 funding for their pre-apprenticeship training program.
Click here to learn more about our Phase III Workforce Partnership grantees. |
Other Initiative Updates |
Youth/Industry Partnership Initiative (YIPI) This past quarter, SkillWorks went to Chicago to meet with other regional collaboratives that are participating in the YIPI project, including: SkillUP in Seattle, WA; Workforce Solutions Collaborative in Metro Hartford, CT; and learning communities: Central Iowa Works in Des Moines, IA; and Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative in San Francisco, CA. Also participating in the meeting were national funders - the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Jobs for the Future, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. During this meeting, YIPI collaboratives and learning communities shared lessons learned from this project, as well as challenges and best/promising practices. On March 18th, SkillWorks also presented at the Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC)'s March meeting on the goals, strategies, and progress of the YIPI project so far. Program staff from YouthBuild Boston, Year Up, and AACA's BEEMS program shared their organizations' learnings as part of the YIPI project as well.
SkillWorks Coaches Group
has recently been in conversations with the United Way of
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SkillWorks College Navigator/Coach, Zeida Santos
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Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley around holding joint meetings of SkillWorks' coaches and United Way's Financial Stability coaches in order to grow the network of coaches and facilitate additional learning and sharing of best practices. The first joint meeting, was held on May 12th, included 35+ coaches and was be facilitated by SkillWorks' facilitator Martha Oesch and Tammy Gooler Loeb of United Way.
SkillWorks' coaches have also been working on developing representative participant case scenarios and coaching timelines that describe each participant's demographics, presenting issue(s), coaching activities/strategy applied, support services provided, and what achievements each participant experienced along the way to better present and understand the continuum of services offered, the varying degrees of support and time needed by different participants, and ultimately, to present a clearer and qualitatively and quantitatively measureable picture of the impact of coaching services. Coaches from BEST Corp's Hospitality Training Center, and IMPACT Employment Services at Pine Street Inn presented their case scenarios at SkillWorks' grantee convening on May 5th.
Career Readiness Initiative
During this past quarter, participating organizations, including SkillWorks grantees have been submitting user agreements and workplans detailing how they plan to incorporate the Career Ready 101 suite into their programs/curricula. Additionally, after a lengthy process, the Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development's (EOLWD) contract and statement of work with ACT
has been finalized, signed, and duly executed. Now EOLWD can begin setting up the Career Readiness Initiative learning labs, and rolling out the rest of the ACT Career Readiness tools. EOLWD has also begun activating Career Ready 101 licenses for those organizations that have submitted their Career Readiness Initiative User Agreements.
CWC Conference
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Public Policy Advocacy |
FY 2016 Budget
After losing $15 million in spending for job training due to 9C cuts earlier this year, work on restoring this funding in the FY16 state budget continues. SkillWorks partners and other workforce development stakeholders have been holding legislative and Administration meetings focused on increasing appropriations for Sector-Based training, School to Career Connecting Activities, YouthWorks, Employment Services Program, One Stop Career Centers and Adult College Transition Services.
The Workforce Solutions Group held their State House legislative briefing on January 13th, which was attended by Representative Wagner, Senator Wolf, and other key legislators. On April 8th, WSG hosted the Youth Pathways Advocacy Day at the State House, emphasizing the importance of allocating funding toward efforts that prepare teens for college and career success.
The Job Training Alliance held their legislative briefing on March 5th to advocate for increased funding for training providers. The JTA also continues to work with a consultant to develop and implement a policy strategy focused on the recapitalization of the Workforce Competitiveness Trust Fund (WCTF), and increasing the Boston linkage fee, which supports the Neighborhood Jobs Trust (NJT). JTA is also working with another consultant that continues to work on an SROI emphasizing the benefits and cost savings of industry-driven job training. This report should be complete and submitted to SkillWorks by this Summer.
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It's been a busy few months! We're looking forward to continuing our work to ensure that every resident has the opportunity to get a good job and make a good living, and every business has a skilled workforce.
Sincerely,
Marybeth Campbell, Executive Director
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Thank You to Our Phase III Funders | |
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Participant Spotlight: Josue Morales | |
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The Connection Center is OPEN! | |
Congratulations to Friends of SkillWorks! | |
Check out our NEW fact sheet! | |
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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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