Between November 2022 and February 2023, Workforce Matters partnered with Listen4Good to launch a survey of our members in order to collect and respond to your feedback. We heard from a total of 95 members, including 33 who attended the Further Together conference in Washington, DC.
What was shared
- Members highly value Workforce Matters’ role in helping them keep up with key issues, content, and research and in supporting collaboration with other funders
- Members highly value Workforce Matters’ efforts to help them convene and connect both in person and virtually and especially appreciated being able to meet at our first national convening last November.
- The main reasons for participating in Workforce Matters are to keep up with key trends and to identify ways to collaborate with other funders.
- Members value Workforce Matters’ focus on justice, equity, diversity, and inclusion and want us to support more conversations, accountability, content, and learning in this area.
- Supporting membership has its benefits. Those who contribute to Workforce Matters are twice as likely to say that Workforce Matters broadened their networks and amplified the visibility of their organizations. They are ten times more likely to say that participating in Workforce Matters enhanced their collaborations with other funders. Supporting members also overwhelmingly note that Workforce Matters has helped them increase their investments in equitable workforce strategies.
Our response
- The most frequently cited areas for improvement were learning and engagement opportunities.
- This year, we will continue to develop more opportunities for in-person and small-group virtual conversations that build member connections.
- We will also continue to develop and host webinars and other learning opportunities that benefit a wider audience.
- We will continue to build out and invest in our communications capacity to ensure that members are able to keep up with new opportunities and developments in the field and identify opportunities to partner.
- We are developing programming with your interests in mind. Survey respondents shared the following key interests: equitable workforce development practices and grantmaking; career pathways; apprenticeships; community colleges; workforce policy; and worker voice and power.
- You asked for a way to share information and announcements with your colleagues. We are now including a prompt in our newsletter to email newsletter@workforce-matters.org with any items you’d like to share!
Finally, we remain committed to continuing to seek and respond to your feedback. We welcome open communication with all the members of our network. Please share concerns, ideas, and feedback at any time. We will continue the practice of regular surveys and will use the information you share to fuel change and improvements.
