America’s best-kept future of work secret

How modernizing workforce boards can support workers experiencing low wages

When we explore solutions to train and place workers in higher-wage jobs, the focus is often around what individual companies or programs are doing to close the gap and reach workers. However, there is another — often overlooked — resource that is a powerful complement to these initiatives. Workforce boards, located in all regions across the United States, identify the labor needs of local communities and direct public funding to programs that connect workers to training, jobs, and other resources.

In many ways, these boards are America’s best-kept “secret” in the future of work. As research from Jobs for the Future shows, workforce boards are in a “prime position to drive impact at scale.” These organizations represent the niche needs of local communities, reaching historically disinvested communities through public-private partnerships.

As COVID-19 dramatically redefines employment and education opportunities, workforce boards have a unique opportunity to shape the lives of overlooked talent. Cedric Williams, an Engineering Tech at Proterra Inc. and a member of New Profit’s XPERTS worker advisory board, is one of the millions of Americans who has applied the resources and knowledge of workforce…