Keeping America in Business: Advancing Workers, Businesses, and Economic Growth
Topic(s)
In 2003, seventy-five national experts from business, labor, government, education, philanthropy, non-profit organizations and workforce development gathered at the 102nd American Assembly, “Keeping America in Business: Advancing Workers, Businesses and Economic Growth.” The group discussed how to advance the nation's workforce development goals by improving workforce intermediaries, those institutions that address the needs of both employers and less-skilled workers; integrate funding streams from public and private sector programs; and reduce turnover and increase economic mobility for workers.
Testimonial from Bob Giloth, Director, The Annie E. Casey Foundation and Workforce Intermediaries Project Director:
The National Fund for Workforce Solutions (NFWS) received the Distinguished Collaborative Grantmaking Award from the Council on Foundations in April 2011. NFWS is the direct outgrowth of the American Assembly we convened on workforce intermediaries several years ago. It now includes 8-9 national foundations, 100 local foundations, and 23 sites. The NFWS has captured a lot of imaginations about philanthropic partnerships and the important role of workforce partnerships or intermediaries.
We played a key role in shaping the thinking behind the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act legislation (2009's Stimulus Package) -- and continue to invest in policy advocacy. And the NFWS is just at the beginning of its development.
Our Workforce Intermediaries for the 21st Century continues to be widely distributed and cited as a key, foundational book for the field. I continue to get glowing reviews as I travel the country. So, our American Assembly gathering really has made an impact -- and the conversations and leaders we convened continue to be a touchstone for guiding the effort.
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Tamar Shapiro
Tamar Shapiro is the President and CEO of the Center for Community Progress, where she promotes neighborhood revitalization through the creative reuse of vacant and abandoned property. Previously the Senior Director of Urban and Social Policy at the U.S. German Marshall Fund, she focused on land use, housing, transportation, and the environment in the U.S. and Europe. A former staffer at Smart Growth America, she attended the Assembly on "Reinventing America's Legacy Cities" in Detroit and is an important contributor to the Assembly's urban policy work.
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