issue areas

Workforce Matters announces $50,000 grants to Three Tribe-led  Workforce Coalitions

Native Workforce Partners (Albuquerque, NM) Native Workforce Partners (NWP) is a Tribe-led coalition, fiscally sponsored by New Mexico Community Trust, bringing together Tribal and urban leaders from the state’s 19 Pueblos, three Apache Tribes, and the Navajo Nation to align workforce strategies, build capacity, and expand career pathways for Native communities. Read more

By Workforce Matters, ago

Recap: Worker-Centered Strategies Affinity Group

Between May and August 2026, Workforce Matters convened funders from private philanthropy, regional foundations, and corporate philanthropy for the Worker-Centered Strategies Affinity Group – a four-session learning journey designed to explore the meaning of worker-centered strategies and what it could mean to support them more intentionally through our grantmaking, communications, Read more

By Workforce Matters, ago

Webinar Recap: Self-Determination and Innovation: Keys to Transformative Workforce Development in Native Communities

What does it mean to put self-determination and innovation into practice in workforce programs built by and for Native nations and communities? On June 30, Workforce Matters hosted the second webinar in our 2026 Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities (WGNNC) series, and asked practitioners whose organizations are doing Read more

By Workforce Matters, ago

Webinar Recap: Centering Tribal Sovereignty in Workforce Systems

What does it look like when Tribal Nations don’t just participate in workforce systems, but lead them? On April 28, Workforce Matters hosted a conversation through the Workforce Grantmaking in Native Nations and Communities Initiative featuring two compelling examples from Indian Country where collective governance, data sovereignty, and strategic philanthropy Read more

By Workforce Matters, ago

Recap: Postsecondary + Workforce Funders Affinity Group Meeting #2

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

By Workforce Matters, ago

Economic Inclusion Funders Roundtable — Session One Recap

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

By Workforce Matters, ago

Webinar Recap: What Philanthropy Needs to Know About Apprenticeship Right Now

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

By Workforce Matters, ago

Rewriting Who Belongs — Narrative, Disability, Youth, and the Role of Funders

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

By Workforce Matters, ago