Lack of access to quality jobs is a key contributor to widespread economic insecurity and the inability to pursue economic mobility. Race, gender, and place all play a critical role in who has access to quality work and economic mobility. Workforce development has long recognized the importance of a quality job to a person’s life and has well-developed tools and strategies for preparing people to succeed in quality jobs. But what role can workforce leaders play on the demand side of the labor market equation to improve the odds that a quality job will be there for a qualified worker?
This conversation explores how workforce development leaders can encourage improved job quality in their communities. In this conversation we hear from innovators from different types of organizations and engaged in very different local labor markets. We consider the role workforce organizations play with respect to influencing public systems, incentivizing changed business practice, empowering worker constituencies, and leveraging their own organizational practices. Our session emphasizes tools, tips, and lessons learned – and tackles questions from you!
This webinar is the third in our Job Quality in Practice series. The panel includes Mandy Townsend (Vice President of Employer Engagement, JVS Boston; Job Quality Fellow, The Aspen Institute), Janice Urbanik (Senior Director for Innovation and Strategy, National Fund for Workforce Solutions), Brooke Valle (Chief Strategy and Innovation Officer, San Diego Workforce Partnership), Caryn York (Chief Executive Officer, Job Opportunities Task Force; Aspen Institute Job Quality Fellow), and moderator Maureen Conway (Vice President for Policy Programs, The Aspen Institute; Executive Director, Economic Opportunities Program).
The Job Quality in Practice series is designed to support practitioners across fields – including workforce development, economic development, capital deployment, policy, worker advocacy, and business – to address job quality in their work. Webinars share actionable tools and approaches, highlight leading practitioners’ work, and create connections across disciplines. We are grateful to Prudential Financial for its support of our Job Quality in Practice webinar series and our ongoing efforts to advance a job quality field of practice.
The Economic Opportunities Program advances strategies, policies, and ideas to help low- and moderate-income people thrive in a changing economy. We recognize that race, gender, and place intersect with and intensify the challenge of economic inequality and we address these dynamics by advancing an inclusive vision of economic justice. For over 25 years, EOP has focused on expanding individuals’ opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and build economic stability that provides the freedom to pursue opportunity. For more information, visit our website at as.pn/eop. Learn about new events and activities by joining our mailing list (as.pn/eopmail) and following us on social media (as.pn/eopsocial).