The Aspen Institute

Description

In a surprise burst of bipartisanship in late 2023, the House Ed & Workforce Committee advanced legislation reauthorizing the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). Unfortunately, the compromise bill does little to re-balance our employer-dominated workforce development system or help workers navigate a labor market in which they have little power, few protections, and limited access to family-sustaining jobs. It is time for a new approach to workforce development policy and practice that addresses the structural challenges facing low-wage workers, particularly workers of color. As the Senate takes up the reauthorization process, federal policymakers have the opportunity to broaden the conversation around workforce development and hear from workers and their advocates about how to build a system that puts the needs of workers first.

Please join us on March 12th from 10:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. ET for the launch of the Good Jobs Collaborative, a new policy coalition of worker advocates, researchers, and policy experts committed to crafting a new approach to workforce development—one that is worker-centered. The event will take place at: New America, 740 15th St NW #900 Washington, D.C. 20005, and will feature a lively discussion with labor leaders, workforce experts, and workers on what’s gone wrong with our approach to workforce development policy and how to fix it. Lunch will be provided.

Agenda

Welcome
Mary Alice McCarthy, Senior Director, Center on Education and Labor, New AmericaThe Good Jobs Collaborative: Background and Principles
Teófilo Reyes, Chief Program Officer, Restaurant Opportunities Centers United

Discussion: Labor Leaders and Workforce Development
Leslie Frane, Executive Vice President, Service Employees International Union
Erica Smiley, Executive Director, Jobs With Justice

Research: “Unleashing Worker Power: Case Studies in Building Good Jobs Beyond the Traditional Workforce System”
India Heckstall, Senior Policy Analyst, Center on Law and Social Policy

Worker Perspectives
Moderator: Kayla Elliott, Director, Workforce Policy, Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies
Panelists — TBD

Concluding Remarks: Alí R. Bustamante, Deputy Director, Worker Power and Economic Security, Roosevelt Institute

Lunch

The Good Jobs Collaborative includes the following organizations:

• Advancing Black Strategists Initiative (ABSI)
• The Aspen Institute, Economic Opportunities Program (EOP)
• Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP)
• New America, Center on Ed & Labor
• Healthcare Career Advancement Program (H-CAP)
• High Road Strategy Center, U-Wisconsin
• Jobs to Move America
• Jobs with Justice
• Joint Center for Political & Economic Studies
• Restaurant Opportunities Centers (ROC)
• Roosevelt Institute
• Service Employees International Union (SEIU)