Attributed to: Nina M. Bershadker, Executive Director, Taft Foundation About the Taft Foundation In service of The Taft Foundation’s mission to help people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) lead fulfilling lives, we are particularly focused on expanding opportunities for young adults transitioning into adulthood and increasing access to meaningful employment Read more
Brittany Corde, Senior Program Officer, Ascendium Philanthropy 1. Tell us a little bit about your background and why you joined Workforce Matters. I currently serve as a Senior Program Officer at Ascendium Education Group, where I lead grantmaking focused on expanding high-quality registered apprenticeship opportunities. My career has centered on Read more
Central to philanthropy at the intersection of workforce development and postsecondary education, community colleges serve first-generation learners, adult workers seeking to upskill, and young people navigating the transition from high school to career. In the second meeting of Workforce Matters’ Postsecondary + Workforce Funders Affinity Group, we invited researchers John Read more
Improving access to high-quality jobs: lessons from Encuentro’s immigrant workforce model How do we improve immigrant workers’ access to quality jobs? The answer — according to workers themselves — is far more layered than workforce development programs and funders typically acknowledge. We had the opportunity to explore this question during Read more
Thanks to all members and speakers who joined us for Workforce Matters’ 2026 budget briefing and discussion on March 31. A special thanks to Economic Opportunity Funders for their always-excellent Annual Budget and Tax Briefing, which provided the foundation for our conversation, and to our speakers, Megan Evans and Melissa Read more
WORKFORCE MATTERS | 2026 PROGRAMMING UPDATE At Workforce Matters, we are privileged to convene a national network of funders who share a commitment to expanding equitable access to quality jobs and education for young people and adults. As we move through 2026, we want to share an overview of our Read more
Nina Bershadker, Executive Director, The Taft Foundation Tell us a little bit about your background and why you joined Workforce Matters. I am relatively new to workforce development and joined Workforce Matters because I’m excited to learn from this community. My professional roots are in social work – I began Read more
Interest in apprenticeship is growing across the United States—from policymakers and employers to education leaders and workforce practitioners. Yet the country’s apprenticeship system remains far smaller than those in other advanced economies. Workforce Matters members and guests explored these challenges and opportunities on our March 5 webinar, “Apprenticeship: What Funders Read more
Donna James-Harvey, Regional Director – North Texas, Holloway Family Foundation Tell us a little bit about your background and why you joined Workforce Matters. I began my career in the nonprofit sector 15 years ago, with workforce development becoming an area of special interest about 5 years ago. Up until Read more
Last October, Tameshia Bridges Mansfield, Keely Cat-Wells (Making Space), Tamiera “TC” Nash (Louisiana Opportunity Youth Alliance), and Tracy Van Slyke (Pop Culture Collaborative) joined Further Together for a powerful panel on narrative. Together, they explored how cultural stories shape how we see work, workers, and workforce systems—and how those stories Read more