Fostering Collaboration and Partnerships in Workforce Development and Job Creation
“Having a region-wide workforce strategy that considers employer needs is critical to getting our unemployed and underemployed residents started on the path toward a family sustaining career,” shares Dena Frith Moore, Director of Strategic Initiatives at the Community Foundation. “In 2019, we really saw a need to help develop systems and collaboration among the regional workforce partners and local employers. Now, with the rollout of Network2Work by the Greater Richmond Workforce Coalition, we are really seeing progress that everyone can get behind.”
As of early September, there were nearly 300 employers using the Network2Work site to post open positions and nearly 50 service partners engaged to assist job seekers in addressing their specific barriers to employment. The Coalition is now focusing on getting the word out to jobseekers across the region and identifying ways they can more easily access the website. In addition, local community colleges are stepping up to help fill the workforce gaps with training programs in high demand fields. This year, the Community Foundation supported an expansion of the Brightpoint (formerly John Tyler) “Pathways to Healthcare” program and the development of automotive and welding programs at Reynolds, as well as an initiative to build a Lab Tech talent pipeline.
“Our support for small businesses and entrepreneurs is really shaping up too,” shared Dena. The Fund for Entrepreneurial Growth held its first grant cycle, providing $200k in support to eight organizations and another round of grants will go out at the end of this year. Providing funding is only one way that we’re trying to support these organizations, however. In both the spring and the fall, we convened youth entrepreneurial program providers to create connections and shared learning. The group is now meeting quarterly to discuss curricula, best practices and working to create a continuity of content for students participating in programs from elementary school to high school.
“I think these initiatives really demonstrate how we want to show up in this space, beyond grantmaking,” Dena adds. “This work is extremely complex, but also infinitely rewarding. The only way we can truly make progress and get people to a place where they can thrive is by working collaboratively and cooperatively across sectors. It takes all of us.”