SUMMER 2022

September is Workforce
Development Month

CWFA is celebrating Workforce Development Month in September, and we want you to join us in letting everyone know about practices, policies, and investments that enable workers to succeed in good jobs, provide employers with a skilled workforce, and build more prosperous communities. We welcome you to actively post on social media and engage with us throughout the month - tweet us @Chi_WF_Funders and use the special hashtag #WkDevMonth. 

In honor of Workforce Development Month and our 10-year anniversary, we produced a video to highlight our impact in the Chicagoland area. Check it out here

Have you registered yet for the September 23rd inaugural Chicagoland Workforce Development Symposium at Malcolm X College? We partnered with the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership, Cook County Bureau of Economic Development, World Business Chicago, and Chicago Jobs Council, to create a day where workforce practitioners will examine local and national trends in policies, practices, and partnerships that impact workforce development. It will be a day of learning with sessions dedicated to the discussion of the current workforce landscape. Registration closes September 21st. Hope to see you there!

Click here to register for the September 23rd Symposium

Secure Jobs Act Campaign

Raise the Floor Alliance and Workers Center for Racial Justice have launched a campaign around the Secure Jobs Act which prohibits the unjust discharge of an employee. This campaign is essential to the fight to end racialized firings and unjust workplace retaliation. Their Secure Jobs Act Report presents background on the growing movement to replace at-will termination with “just cause” employment protections, and recommendations for policy reform in Illinois. 

FSP Initiative Intern Career Conference Event Recap

On July 13th-14th, the Financial Services Pipeline (FSP) conducted its Ninth Annual Intern Career Conference. Hosted by the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, the virtual event gathered more than 250 interns, students, and business leaders from approximately 23 unique Chicago-area financial services firms and nonprofit partner organizations. The theme of the conference was “A Positive Path Forward to a New Normal: Plan, Visualize, Achieve." A post-conference survey indicated that over 91% of attendees felt that the conference had an impact on their growing journey for a successful career in the financial service industry.

Check out the event recap video here
Additionally, FSP has hired its first full-time Director, Karen Riley. In her most recent role as Executive Director of the Business Leadership Council, Karen convened Chicago’s public and private sector leaders to collaborate with Chicago’s leading Black owned business owners to increase opportunities for economic success that would benefit the community with jobs, investments and improved social impacts.

She holds a JD from John Marshall Law School and a BA in Political Science from Wayne State University. To learn more about FSP, contact Karen at

karenr@fspchicago.org

ICYMI

McKinsey & Co. published a joint national study with Cara Plus, Bridging the Advancement Gap: What Frontline Employees Want—and What Employers Think They Want. In this study – one of the largest of its kind – they surveyed 2,100+ frontline workers and 300+ employers across the country to understand frontline worker priorities around career advancement, where there are gaps, and what employers can do to increase economic mobility and diversity within their ranks. The study went public through an exclusive with Forbes. Click here to read their story.

City of Chicago officials awarded $24 million to the Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership to serve as the lead organization for a new initiative to promote health and wellness dubbed the Community Health Response Corps. The corps will assemble a team of community health outreach workers who will focus their efforts on communities hit hard by COVID-19. It will also leverage the expertise and infrastructure the city, Chicago Department of Public Health, and community partners developed to respond to the pandemic. 

Thank you!

Thank you for your continued interest in the Chicagoland Workforce Funder Alliance. We truly appreciate your support. For the most up-to-date info on all Funder Alliance news, be sure to follow us on Twitter, check us out on Linkedin, or visit our website

Matt Bruce
Executive Director

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