Ohio’s Local Workforce Leadership Academy

Our Cleveland|Cuyahoga Workforce Leadership Academy is a wrap!

The Academy culminated in the Fellows presenting recommendations for their CoLab Action Group Projects. CoLab groups researched a workforce ecosystem topic and made recommendations for overcoming barriers and strengthening the ecosystem. Here are their recommendations:

The Ohio Workforce Coalition is working with local partners to replicate the Academy across Ohio - stay tuned for more information. ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Announcing the 2023 Cleveland|Cuyahoga Workforce Leadership Academy

The Ohio Workforce Coalition has been selected to lead an Aspen Institute Workforce Leadership Academy in Ohio! The Academy is a fellowship designed to engage and support current and emerging leaders committed to advancement of local workforce ecosystems. The first Academy will run in Cleveland|Cuyahoga County in partnership with the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program.

The Workforce Leadership Academy will brings together leaders from across a local workforce ecosystem for a year-long series of retreats, workshops, and action learning projects. The Academy provides a forum for local leaders to work collaboratively to identify local and regional systems-based challenges and create shared solutions for economic opportunity for all. Fellows work with leading practitioners throughout the country as they deepen networks; strengthen systems leadership skills; apply race, equity, and systems change frameworks to their work; and increase understanding of effective strategies and programs.

Alumni of the Academy become part of the Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunity Fellows Network, joining Fellows from fourteen previous Academies in eleven cities in the US and Canada.

Locally, OWC is partnering with the Northeast Ohio Workforce Coalition (NEOWC). An affiliate of OWC, the NEOWC is staffed by Towards Employment and convenes workforce stakeholders to align programming across systems, identify shared issues, and grow local capacity. “OWC is excited to have energy and commitment from partners in Cleveland. Towards Employment and The Literacy Cooperative serve on OWC’s Leadership Committee and share our commitment to system thinking and capacity building,” said Rebecca Kusner, OWC Director and lead facilitator for the local Academy. OWC hopes to offer the Academy in other locations across Ohio in the coming years.

Read the full press release here.

Academy Candidates

Academies engage senior-level managers of organizations that make up the Cleveland|Cuyahoga workforce development ecosystem. A maximum of 24 Fellows will be selected. Applicants should be:

Located and working within Cleveland|Cuyahoga
Working within nonprofit organizations, business associations, adult literacy, post-secondary education and training, union-based training efforts, community and economic development, or public agencies.
In a position of leadership and decision-making authority related to workforce development efforts, with the capacity and ability to execute strategies on behalf of their organization
Engaged in or planning workforce development efforts in Cleveland|Cuyahoga related to connecting workers to quality jobs and/or career pathways
Interested in designing and implementing effective strategies to strengthen their local workforce system
Committed to achieving equity across race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation
Eager to collaborate with others in their local workforce system, reflect on their current work, explore leadership practices, and gain feedback from colleagues

Inclusivity and diversity are core values of the Cleveland|Cuyahoga Academy. Applicants of color are strongly encouraged to apply. The cohort of Fellows will be selected to represent the diversity of organization type and focus as well as race, ethnicity, and gender.

Academy Goals

The Academy engages leaders in a yearlong peer learning cohort to:

Expand and deepen professional networks and partnerships;
Strengthen organizational and systems leadership skills;

Apply a race and equity lens to assess and improve workforce services and strategies;
Apply systems change framework to Fellows’ work;
Deepen understanding of effective strategies and programs; and
Provide a forum to work collaboratively to identify local and regional systems-based challenges and create shared solutions

What is the Cleveland|Cuyahoga Workforce Leadership Academy?

Workforce Leadership Academies strengthen Fellows' capacity to develop and sustain effective workforce strategies, collaborate more deeply with employers and other strategic partner organizations, and expand the number and quality of leaders who advance opportunities for workers while meeting the talent needs of employers. Participants in local academies work with leading practitioners throughout the country, are introduced to practical planning tools, and have the rare opportunity to reflect on and strategize about how to apply principles that underlie effective workforce strategies to their local economic and social context. Fellows bring systems thinking and racial equity to all aspects of their work, including their organizations, the labor market, and the local ecosystem. Participants also engage in leadership development activities, including a 360-degree leadership assessment. Through Collaborative Learning Labs (CoLabs), local academies provide a forum for local leaders to collaborate to identify local and regional systems-based challenges and create shared solutions. Participants are recognized as Fellows of the Workforce Leadership Academy and become part of the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Fellows Network upon completion.

The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program

The Aspen Institute is an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington DC. Its mission is to spark intellectual inquiry and exchange, create a diverse worldwide community of leaders committed to the greater good, and provide a nonpartisan forum for reaching solutions on vital public policy issues. The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program advances promising strategies and policies to help low- and moderate-income Americans connect to and thrive in a changing economy. Over its 25 years of work, the Economic Opportunities Program has focused on expanding individuals' opportunities to connect to quality work, start businesses, and to build assets and economic stability.

This initiative is made possible by the generous support of Walmart, The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, and The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr Foundation.

“Through the course of a year, it will transform how you view and leverage partnerships, advocate on behalf of disenfranchised populations, listen to dissenting views with earnest validation, along with transforming your community outcomes through an action-oriented systems thinking approach.”

— Past Academy Participant

“… an incredible learning opportunity to understand yourself as a leader, challenge yourself in discomfort, identify the major players in the local workforce space and meet great people, doing great work - all through a critical racial equity lens. ”

— Past Academy Participant

Introducing the Inaugural Cohort of the Cleveland|Cuyahoga Workforce Leadership Academy!

Angel Reyes-Rodriguez, Cleveland State University

Crystal Reed, Salus Group

Devin Cotten, Universal Basic Employment & Opportunity

Danielle Crawford, Deaconess Foundation

Erin Riffle, Greater Cleveland Partnership

Goren Dillard, Urban League of Greater Cleveland

Grace Heffernan, Northeast Ohio Worker Center & Thomas P. Miller & Assoc.

Juan Carlos Medina Santana, Spanish American Committee

Nicki Price, College Now Greater Cleveland

Kelly Camlin, Enterprise Community Partners

Melaak Rashid, Smart Development Inc.

Read more about the Fellows here.

Academy Structure

Over the academy year beginning in April 2023, Fellows participate in:

A virtual 90-minute orientation
An opening three-day retreat
Five Academy sessions and five Collaborative Lab meetings held during the same week
One leadership 360 assessment process and debrief workshop

A closing three-day retreat

Reception event for supervisors and advisors
Collaborative Learning Lab presentations at an in-person stakeholder event
Continued learning, application, and collaboration between workshop sessions

Local Advisory Council

Bethany Friedlander, New Bridge
Craig Dorn, Youth Opportunities Unlimited
Jenice Contreras, Northeast Ohio Hispanic Center for Economic Development
Jill Rizika, Towards Employment
Ken Surratt, United Way of Greater Cleveland
Laurie Atkins-Holliday, The Literacy Cooperative
Lissy Rand, MAGNET (Manufacturing and Growth Network)
Marquez Brown, AFSCME Ohio
Marsha Mockabee, Urban League of Greater Cleveland
Michelle Rose, OhioMeansJobs Cleveland-Cuyahoga County
Patrice Blakemore, Greater Cleveland Partnership
Richaun Bunton, Sisters of Charity Foundation/Cleveland Central Promise Neighborhood
Shana Marbury, Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C)
Sonya Pryor-Jones, City of Cleveland
Tania Menesse, Cleveland Neighborhood Progress