Nomzana Augustin, The WES Mariam Assefa Fund Tell us a little bit about your background and why you joined Workforce Matters. I’ve spent the last decade of my career funding and advancing systems that create equitable access to opportunities, especially through jobs and skills building. My interest in workforce development Read more
Meaningful and scalable workforce systems change does not happen in silos. It requires coordination across employers, education providers, funders, and community-based organizations—each bringing distinct strengths to a shared goal. This premise anchored the session Leveraging Business Intermediaries and Community Colleges to Advance Inclusive Workforce Systems, which highlighted lessons from Lumina Read more
On December 10, 2025, Workforce Matters was joined by Katie Spiker and Melissa Johnson of the National Skills Coalition for our final policy briefing of the year, which was open to funders and field partners alike. In the session, Katie and Melissa focused primarily on Workforce Pell and provided brief Read more
This year, our Workforce Matters community continued to lead, learn, and collaborate in powerful ways. Here’s a look at what we accomplished together in 2025: Thank you for a wonderful 2025! We can’t wait to continue this work with you in 2026. Download our 2025 In Review Infographic
Building A Resilient Future: Aligning Climate Adaptation with Workforce Innovation During our Further Together conference this fall, we convened a powerhouse plenary conversation to discuss the intersection of climate adaptation and workforce development innovation. Moderated by Jenny LaForest of the Holloway Family Foundation, we heard from Saket Soni of Resilience Read more
Two weeks ago we highlighted six of the research posters that were shared at our Further Together conference. This week, we’re highlighting the final six posters. Take some time to review these research posters and if you’re so inspired, reach out to the researchers and presenters to learn more! Read more
Reflecting on Our 2025 Peer Learning Strategy Series Throughout 2025, Workforce Matters hosted a four-part Peer Learning Strategy Series designed to help funders navigate emerging challenges and opportunities across the workforce development landscape. Each session brought together experts, funders, and practitioners to share insights, exchange strategies, and spark collaboration. Here’s Read more
At our Further Together conference last month, we hosted our second research reception highlighting new, innovative or impactful research about education and workforce development. Twelve different workforce-oriented research projects were selected to participate in this year’s research reception, all organized around the conference’s primary themes: Advancing Worker-Centered Workforce Development Programming Read more
In the Summer of 2025, five grantmakers explored how they could further evolve their trust-based philanthropy practices in a learning lab sponsored by Workforce Matters. Each organization was already implementing at least one of the six principles of trust-based philanthropy but wanted to dig deeper so they could do better Read more
This spring, Workforce Matters partnered with Listen4Good to launch our second survey of field partners, including Fund for Workforce Equity applicants and grantees, in order to collect and respond to field partner feedback. Who responded We received complete surveys from 118 individuals representing a range of community-based organizations, community colleges, Read more