Business Leaders United

We at Business Leaders United have heard from our network about what advocacy they can take part in next as funding from BEAD and DEA are funneled into states. Well lucky for everyone my co-workers Amanda Bergson-Shilcock and Melissa Johnson have the run down of next steps for advocacy in your state to ensure workforce is kept in the forefront for the dollars that are deployed!

I love these opportunities!

Just now being able to sit and write down my thoughts from a spectacular event in Miami. From Dr. Oz to Pitbull I couldn't imagine a greater show than the one eMerge Americas put on last week. Of course the best thing I was able to see was the connection to the important conversation of workforce led by amazing leaders in the city including people who I love to follow and champion Terri-Ann Brown and Caryn Lavernia. I also want to uplift a few things I learned from this amazing workforce panel: 1. Employers need to immerse themselves in the ecosystem of community college systems. Every opportunity to gain exposure will put you that much closer to the talent. 2. Tech, like many other industries, needs diverse talent- diversity of expertise, diversity of thoughts and diversity of the actual talent. 3. And employers shouldn't be the only ones working on creating pathways Miami Dade College is a great example of an educational institution creating stackable pathways for the community from credentials and certificates to associates degrees to bachelors degrees and articulation agreements with other colleges for masters degrees. They, like many colleges, understand the needs of students for more accessible pathways that lead to high demand jobs.

Final day of hotel booking for #NSCSummit2024! Don't miss this deadline, click here and secure your stay: https://lnkd.in/gTntX9aa

“Our national coalition of state leaders will gather in Washington, D.C. at National Skills Coalition’s Skills Summit in May to urge legislators and policymakers of both parties to co-sponsor the bill. Together, we can ensure that every worker and every business has access to the digital skills they need to succeed in the 21st Century workforce.” - CEO, Robert Espinoza #NSCSummit2024 https://lnkd.in/e4UekTcS

92% of jobs require digital skills, but 1 in 3 workers lack digital skills to enter and succeed in #goodjobs. Digital Skills for Today’s Workforce, introduced this week in Congress by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), and Representatives Abigail Spanberger (D-VA) and David Valadao (R-CA). If enacted, the bill will create opportunities for workers to learn digital skills on the job and reskill when seeking employment. https://ow.ly/zi2L50RiZRA

Still time to register for National Skills Coalition's Skills Summit in Washington, D.C. https://lnkd.in/d-Rgi98S #NSCSummit2024

“Bipartisan policies that advance workforce development on-the-job training programs are critical to ensuring that disadvantaged citizens have equitable opportunities for sustainable, good paying green jobs and careers that align with federal initiatives to address the climate crisis,” said Tina White, CEO of TINA’s Green Energy Solutions. See how we are empowering the #cleanenergy workforce: https://lnkd.in/eBFijCbR

A good model attracts partnerships. Strong partnerships increase measurable results, but a coalition can be transformative. The #M7Region and MMAC industry partners consistently collaborate and harness strengths on current #workforce and future #talentpipeline needs in a state with the highest concentration of manufacturing employment in the U.S. Thank you to the National Skills Coalition and Business Leaders United for convening more than 60 business leaders, skills training experts, national associations, philanthropic partners, and federal policymakers from the White House in a conversation about current state efforts to advance state and federal clean energy skills training policy. It was my honor to represent Wisconsin in the discussion with Lindsay Blumer of WRTP | BIG STEP and James Methu of Gilbane Building Company and participate in a policy briefing with Aram Z., Jamal Jessie, MBA and Victoria Johnson moderated by Megan Evans. Proud to have shared the successful apprenticeship models Erin Cherney at Milwaukee Public Schools and Brigette Beamon, MBA, PMP at We Energies use to engage students in future careers, the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction's Regional Career Pathways collaborative highlighting high quality high demand career pathways with Kayla Correll and Eric Hill, how Katie Graf and Gateway Technical College partner with education and industry, the success of the M-Cubed | Transforming the Future of Milwaukee model and how the Vicki Turner and the Higher Education Regional Alliance (HERA) collaboration was recently awarded a grant to expand the number and type of short-term micro credentials for critical skills. Business Leaders United plans to use the momentum from this event to build support for federal and state investments in pre-apprenticeships and industry sector partnerships – particularly bringing the business voice to state-level advocacy efforts. It was a pleasure meeting, learning from and reconnecting with Jeffrey Connor-Naylor, Jeran Culina, Melissa Johnson, Matthew Muench, Jenny Taylor, Girard Melancon, Ph.D., Joanna Mikulski, Anthony Gagliardo Ed.D. and James Finney-Conlon, MPP. Dale Kooyenga Andrew Davis

Last week, I was honored to join a range of business leaders, training providers, community colleges, and philanthropic to help lead a discussion about how state investments and policy changes can build a strong clean energy workforce. Recent analysis with the PERI Center at UMass and Blue Green Alliance, found that federal infrastructure investments will likely create 19 million occupations. Most of these are available to workers without a bachelor's degree, and many are expected to have a labor shortage. Expanding pathways to this industry among women and workers of color will be critical to addressing this challenge and doing so will be a win-win for employers and workers alike as these are quality jobs. I especially want to thank Victoria Johnson and Jamal Jessie, MBA who are members of Business Leaders United's Executive Committee for participating and speaking about their experiences during a briefing on Capitol Hill.