On February 5-6, Workforce Matters co-directors and many of our Steering Committee members attended the National Skills Coalition’s annual Skills Summit. It was a good way to set the tone for our annual leadership retreat.
We are still reflecting on a few key themes that emerged over the course of Summit:
- The importance of the skills and contributions of working people to helping our country reach its longstanding goals and address strategic challenges
- The importance of finding new ways of working together, across sectors and organizations, not just returning to the status quo
- The importance of narrative – telling the stories of what is working, how it’s working, and how workforce development impacts communities and helps people attain the shared desire for meaningful and dignified work
- The opportunity to treat workforce development as a first choice investment, not a second chance system
In the Skills Summit as well as in our retreat, we spent time thinking about what it means for workforce development policy and practices to be truly worker-centered and address the needs and pain points that people have while providing the skills and quality jobs that people want and need in today’s economy. We wrestled with the impacts of AI on entry-level work even as it has the potential to free up resources and be used to provide more customized services and training. We considered the importance of safety net programs and wraparound supports, and we were sobered by the reality that the math is not adding up for families who are facing an affordability crisis, with rising prices added to the already high costs of child care, health care, housing, and college.
The scale of the challenges at hand require imagination, boldness, and collaboration, as well as a shift in thinking, particularly salient for funders, from “how much will this all cost” to “what will be the future benefit of this investment?”
We look forward to continuing these discussions with our members and helping to inform your workforce investments over the course of the next year. We have a series of conversations planned with the National Skills Coalition for our members where we can dive into these themes as well as current policy topics. Sign up to learn more, and share your interests with us to inform these program offerings!
For more on the Skills Summit, check out the highlights from the National Skills Coalition.
