FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Peter Panepento at peter@turn-two.co, (202) 531-3886
NEW YORK (January 16, 2024) — The New York City Workforce Development Fund today announced $910,000 in new grants to six nonprofits that are working to improve access to high-quality jobs for low-income New Yorkers and to support research and advocacy to inform workforce policies, programs, and investment.
This new round of grants from Fund — a funder collaborative housed at The New York Community Trust — also supports efforts to shape the city’s workforce agenda, unlock more public funding, and develop protections and policies for workers.
“We believe these kinds of investments in research, advocacy, and systems-level initiatives are critical to connecting more low-income New Yorkers to good jobs,” said Cass Conrad and Roderick Jenkins, co-chairs of the NYC Workforce Development Fund. “These projects will shape the city’s workforce policy and programmatic priorities, address job quality in the social services and childcare sectors, and deepen partnerships between labor unions and community colleges.”
Grantees include:
- The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School, which will continue to inform workforce policy through research and labor market analysis.
- The Center for an Urban Future, which will conduct research on, and make recommendations for City funding of, wraparound services for vulnerable jobseekers.
- The Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College, which will lead an effort to help CUNY’s seven community colleges expand training partnerships with labor unions.
- The New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals, which will continue to advocate at the state level for a more effective workforce development system.
- The New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, which will bring childcare advocates together to develop a mutual agenda to improve wages in the childcare sector.
- Project Renewal, which will study in-demand occupations in the social service sector and propose ideas for improving training and retention in the field.
Descriptions of the projects follow.
These investments come at a critical time — supporting nonprofits that are committed to building a stronger workforce and creating meaningful career opportunities for New Yorkers.
“LaGuardia Community College is grateful to the NYC Workforce Development Fund for its support of Pathways to Partnerships,” said Kenneth Adams, President, LaGuardia Community College. “This initiative will identify opportunities for CUNY community colleges to develop workforce training programs in collaboration with NYC unions in order to open up career pathways for underserved New Yorkers into family-sustaining, union jobs.”
“The Center for an Urban Future is thrilled to use this investment to undertake a timely new research project, which will examine how policymakers can step up creative investments in wraparound services to make workforce programs more inclusive and effective,” said Jonathan Bowles, Executive Director, Center for an Urban Future. “We are grateful to the NYC Workforce Development Fund for supporting research and advocacy that can help spark lasting policy change and build pathways to well-paying jobs for thousands more New Yorkers.”
Below are more detailed description of each grant:
The Center for New York City Affairs (CNYCA) at The New School, $100,000: CNYCA’s economic and policy briefs will provide insight into the current and emerging labor markets for workforce practitioners and policymakers and will advance public policies and worker protections that benefit historically disadvantaged workers.
Center for an Urban Future (CUF), $60,000: CUF will produce a research report on strategies to integrate and expand wraparound supports to improve the outcomes of workforce development programs, including a set of actionable recommendations for city and state policymakers.
Fiorello H. LaGuardia Community College, $200,000: LaGuardia will establish and lead a coalition of seven community colleges with a goal of expanding successful partnerships between the City’s many labor unions and CUNY’s community colleges and to build out new training pathways to high-quality jobs.
New York Association of Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP), $200,000: NYATEP will lead a state-wide advocacy effort to advance the policy, funding, and structural reforms from its economic recovery agenda—A New Way Forward: Bold Actions to Reshape New York’s Labor Market.
New York Early Childhood Professional Development Institute, $200,000: The Institute will build a coalition of leading childcare organizations and advocacy groups to produce a feasible path to increased compensation for childcare workers and a more expansive early childhood career pathway.
PROJECT RENEWAL, Inc., $150,000: Project Renewal will partner with 10 peer social services agencies to conduct an analysis of social service career ladders and produce a recommendation paper outlining career pathway maps, recommended salary bands for specific social service roles, and case studies of agencies that pay higher-than-average wages.
About the New York City Workforce Development Fund
Established in 2001, the New York City Workforce Development Fund works to promote an effective and coherent workforce development system in New York City. The contributors to the Fund act as its advisors. Twelve foundations and corporations currently participate. They include the Altman Foundation, Capital One, CD&R Foundation, Ira W. DeCamp Foundation, Deutsche Bank Americas Foundation, The New York Community Trust, The Carroll and Milton and Petrie Foundation, The Pinkerton Foundation, Siegel Family Endowment, Solon E. Summerfield Foundation, Robin Hood Foundation, and The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.