Foundation Launches Initiative to Boost Skills of Midwest Workforce
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The Joyce Foundation today launched its "Shifting Gears" initiative, a three-year, $10 million effort to improve the education and skills training of the Midwest workforce and promote regional economic growth.
As part of the initiative, the Foundation issued a request for proposals from Midwest states to provide stronger links between the often-fragmented systems of education and job training, so that workers get postsecondary credentials that qualify them for jobs in today's economy.
For example, the funding would support work to link remedial studies, community college courses, and community and employer-based job training programs, so that workers could gradually gain skills over time.
Coordinating these now-disparate services would enable workers with low-skill entry-level jobs in such industries as health care to move up to higher-level jobs where demand is high and postsecondary qualifications are essential.
Both initiatives are part of the Foundation's Employment Program, which supports development of public policies that help low-income workers get jobs, enable them to move up the job ladder, and increase the incentives and benefits of staying employed.
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