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Skip to main content Visit Our Equitable Recovery Hub right What We Do Impact Stories About Staff & Board Where We Work Jobs at Our 35th Anniversary Diversity at Resources Events Point of View Search Submit search Toggle search Toggle Donate Search Search Driving Economic Advancement for All Previous left Next right 1/3 Horizons 2020 June 8-11 | A Free Virtual Experience Horizons: 's National Summit See more right Black Lives Matter Why We Work for Equity and Racial Justice In the midst of our nation's rightful outrage, we condemn acts of violence and aggression against Black people. And we commit to using our organizational positions, privilege, and power to work for racial justice and equity. See more right The Coronavirus Pandemic An Equitable Recovery: Our Shared Responsibility See more right Who We Are is a national nonprofit that drives change in the American workforce and education systems to achieve economic advancement for all. Browse Our Work right Meet Our Experts right See Our Impact by State right Latest From We stand a better chance at recovering quickly and equitably if we deal with it in a sustainable way. In the News Quick Unemployment Fix From Congress Won’t Stop Second Wave of Layoffs Crisis Post Wanted: A Bipartisan Stimulus That Invests Heavily in Workforce Development calls on Congress to include significant funding for worker retraining programs in next package of COVID-19 economic stimulus legislation. By Mary Gardner Clagett Outcomes for Opportunity Two-year pilot program enables workforce development boards and nonprofit job training providers to make better use of outcomes data. Post Court Gives New Hope to DACA Recipients: Don’t Let It Stop There The Supreme Court’s ruling is a hopeful sign for DACA recipients. Now Congress must take the next step and build a permanent pathway to citizenship for Dreamers. By Erica Cuevas This grant reflects our confidence in as a bold, creative facilitator of the system-wide collaboration needed to create a more equitable economic recovery. In the News Receives $6M from Walmart to Boost Economic Mobility Recover Stronger We’re bringing together America’s largest companies in a shared commitment to business values and practices that prioritize the economic well-being and mobility of their people. Join us to #RecoverStronger. Highlights Catch the energy and urgency of our 2020 virtual experience Post Why We Work for Equity and Racial Justice In the midst of our nation's rightful outrage, we condemn acts of violence and aggression against Black people. And we commit to using our organizational positions, privilege, and power to work for racial justice and equity. Post COVID-19 Highlights the Need to Support Immigrants Now and Into the Future It’s time to extend the social contract to the many immigrant frontline workers who are risking their lives during this pandemic. They deserve access to health care, fair wages, sick leave, and other basic rights. By Erica Cuevas , Sarah Hooker Report/Research Breaking Ground: A First Look at American High School Skilled Trades Education This report is a national landscape analysis of secondary-level, skilled trades education. We analyzed data from 37 states to understand what trades education programs are offered, who participates in them, and what outcomes students experience. We also reviewed promising practices and challenges to the field and made recommendations to stakeholders in education, workforce, and industry for improving access to quality trades programs. By Lisa Soricone , Raymond Barbosa , Pieta Blakely, Blakely Consulting, LLC This no longer is ‘business as usual,’ but a crisis. And the livelihoods of millions of Americans depend on our adjusting quickly. In the News Maria Flynn, “We Can't Let Student Debt Hold Pandemic-Displaced Workers Back,” The Hill Post A $2 Billion Lesson in Getting People Back to Work After the last recession, helped implement a $2 billion federal recovery effort that retrained 400,000 adults for new jobs. In the post-COVID economy, we’ll need more than good programs—we’ll need transformative change. By Jennifer Freeman Post As Unemployment Grows, So Grows Our Need to Invest in America’s Workers The next stimulus package must fund the U.S. workforce development system, whose specialized services will be more important than ever as the economy recovers from the effects of COVID-19. By Mary Gardner Clagett Post Record Job Loss Heightens Need for Job Centers to Go Virtual The federally funded job center system needs a massive push to get all services online immediately to support the fast-growing ranks of the unemployed. By Josh Copus Post This Crisis in Learning Requires Lasting Solutions Strategies to address extensive learning loss caused by COVID-19-related school closures should aim to permanently strengthen educational opportunities for low-income students. By Joel Vargas Post Let’s Seize This Moment to Reimagine K-12 Education for All As parents and professional educators, we see systemic inequities in stark relief as we help our kids school-at-home during the COVID-19 crisis. We all must act now. By Amy Loyd , Kyle Hartung Impact Story Financing the Future Invest Design Scale Influence ’s new Financing the Future initiative aims to reimagine the way we finance education and skills development. Post We Must Sustain Apprenticeship in a Post-Pandemic Downturn One of our nation’s most successful job training strategies is at risk of losing momentum. Supporters must take action to maintain apprenticeship gains if the pandemic leads to recession. By Eric M. Seleznow Post Public Colleges Can’t Wait Long to Face Post-COVID Challenges Higher ed leaders trying to serve the needs of vulnerable students must also look ahead to a trio of challenges in a post-pandemic world. By Michael Collins Post CARES Act Is a Break for the Hardest Hit examines provisions of the $2 trillion stimulus package that provides relief aid to the students, workers, families, and communities that are grappling with the fallout of the COVID-19 crisis. By Mary Gardner Clagett , Taylor Maag Event #ImpactAcceleration Series: Startups Stand Up to COVID-19 Labs is featuring mission-driven startups building innovative tools and resources to help workers and businesses adapt in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. By Tyler Nakatsu , Stephen Yadzinski Post As COVID-19 Surges, Help Nursing Students Finish Training Now With a spike in demand for medical care, state health care and education officials must ensure that emerging talent doesn’t sit on the sidelines. By David Altstadt Post COVID-19: What Congress Needs to Do Next has five ideas that address the continuing fallout as the nation struggles with the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. By Lexi Barrett Post COVID-19: Our Shared Responsibility As the coronavirus pandemic exposes societal fault lines, calls on business, education, and government leaders to look out for low-income individuals and families. Post Celebrating African American Contributions to U.S. Life We celebrated Black History Month 2020 with daily commemorations of the contributions African Americans have made in all spheres of life in this country. Here are just a few of the highlights. By Nia Yisrael Case Study/Profile Better Careers for Californians: Innovations that Build the Talent Pipeline Millions of working Californians are unable to fulfill their families’ basic needs. Automation is likely to eliminate many of their jobs by 2022, and higher-paying jobs that require specialized skills, while plentiful, are beyond their reach. Therefore, there’s an urgent need to redesign the state’s education and training systems to help people get the skills they need to secure family-supporting jobs. This brief—the second in a series—describes innovations advanced by organizations participating in the James Irvine Foundation’s Better Careers initiative. Developments that help connect California workers to good jobs and advancement ...