www.workforcealliance.org Translating the BIG QUESTIONS into strategies Skills2Compete Agnes Balassa, Regional Field Director
The Workforce Alliance - Skills, Messaging & a Great Campaign
Dec 07, 2014
Agnes Balassa's presentation to CSW's inaugural WorkforceCamp in April 2009, in San Diego, CA.
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www.workforcealliance.org
Translating the BIG QUESTIONS
into strategies
Skills2Compete
Agnes Balassa, Regional Field Director
www.workforcealliance.org
THE BIG QUESTION of the 1990’s
• What is the role of training in workforce development?
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The federal response: Work First• The notion that “training
doesn’t work” drove most policy debates.
• Workforce policies had few champions, and the skills issue had no political profile.
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Our response: TWA• A national, non-partisan, privately funded
advocacy coalition…– of employers, labor, education and training
providers, workforce investment boards and public workforce officials.
– devoted to expanding access to training in the publicly funded workforce system.
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Our scope• WIA – including Adult Basic Education &
Family Literacy Act, Rehabilitation Act)• TAA (Trade Adjustment Assistance)• TANF (Temporary Assistance to Needy
Families)• FSET (Food Stamp Employment & Training)• Carl Perkins• Higher Education Act (includes Pell grants)• Federal Funding• Green Jobs • ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment
Act)• SECTORS (Strengthening Employment
Clusters to Organize Regional Success – newly introduced)
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START A NEW CONVERSATION
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• A unifying message
• Measurable goal • Connects with
larger debates about economy and education
OFFERS THE FIELD
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Every U.S. worker should have• access to the equivalent of at least
two years of education or training past high school
• leading to a vocational credential, industry certification, or one's first two years of college
• to be pursued at whatever point and pace makes sense for individual workers and industries
• And access to the basic skills needed to pursue such education.
Skills2Compete
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Research based messages
• The largest segment of jobs in our economy require more than a high school diploma, but less than a four year degree.
• These jobs in the middle are the forgotten core of labor market.
• The workforce of today is the workforce of tomorrow.
• Multiple pathways.
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Demand for Middle-Skill Jobs is Strong,
Will Remain Strong in the U.S.U.S. Jobs by Skill Level,
2006U.S. Job Openings by Skill
Level, 2004-2014
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A Middle-Skill Gap
America’s Jobs & Workers by Skill
Level, 2004
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WHAT S2C OFFERS TWA
Opportunity to rethink how we do our work:• Presence• Projects• Staffing • Resources• Metrics
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S2C: building stakeholder buy-in
• Strategies to move from policy platform to campaign– Create new leadership council– Create a new advocacy tool kit– Expanding our base
• Statewide campaigns
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the Skills gap
Tool Kit: The Report
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Tool Kit: New brochure with
key talking points
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www.Skills2Compete.org
Tool Kit: New Website
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Expanding the base
• State campaigns–S2C creates state policy opportunities.–Puts the local back into local organizing.–Creates a new allies and a greater
buzz…
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• 3 campaigns launched
• Thumbs up from our stakeholders
• Media coverage
Results
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Results
SECTORS ACT INTRODUCED TO CONGRESS
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Results
“…I ask every American to commit to at least one year or more of higher education or career training. This can be community college or a four-year school; vocational training or an apprenticeship. But whatever the training may be, every American will need to get more than a high school diploma.”
President Barack Obama, State of the Union Address, February 24, 2009
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National lessons applied to the local level.
Examples from the Enterprise for Employment and Education and the Lane Workforce Partnership.
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Lessons learned
• Messaging matters.• It pays to be media savvy.• Persistence pays off.• Those who bridge networks matter most• Think carefully about branding up front.• Always lead with a compelling story.
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Agnes BalassaRegional Field Director (West)
The Workforce Alliance
503.991.5853
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