Policy & Practice | Summer 2023

sector partnerships are too broad for rural, small-business employers. And we heard from small employers that they need help finding workers, espe cially those trained in the hard and soft skills required to succeed. Workers are actively looking for training opportunities to get skills that will make them competitive for good-paying jobs, which will help them to build the lives they want. And employers need employees to stay on the job; otherwise, the employer must deal with the high cost of turnover. The second lesson is that we must connect workforce development to existing public systems, espe cially human services agencies, and public funding streams to sustain sector strategies over time. Doing so ensures we can support individuals who are furthest from opportunity to complete their training and remain employed in high-demand careers, breaking the cycle of low-wage jobs and poverty. Our solution in Texas was to identify specific strategic partners, including nonprofits, places of worship, food Employment and Training providers and case managers at county-based American Job Centers, which could serve as recruitment centers for com munities that are underserved. These targeted recruitment strategies help translate broad outreach frameworks into an action-oriented plan. Since these worker-first sector strategies are rooted in the specific needs and chal lenges facing rural Texas workers, I’m confident in their potential as a guiding model for our future efforts in Texas and in rural communities everywhere. Our concurrent work in Boston initially seems wholly separate from our work in Texas because the work in Boston focuses on the plights of early child care workers in a sprawling urban setting. However, the hard ships afflicting Boston early child care workers are symptomatic of the same systemic inequity that stymied worker recruitment and retention in rural Texas—inability to pay competitive wages and inequitably distributed resources—which con tribute to a workforce of primarily banks, as well as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program

At a time when we are making heavy investments in our economy via sector strategies, it’s incumbent upon the leaders in the nonprofit space to show that these investments fundamentally impact our communities. It can’t just be up to the individuals receiving the funding.

their communities achieve greater economic mobility. At a time when we are making heavy investments in our economy via sector strategies, it’s incumbent upon the leaders in the nonprofit space to show that these investments fundamentally impact our communities. It can’t just be up to the individuals receiving the funding. Those helping to direct sector strategies and human services agencies need to demonstrate a unified vision for how these seeds might spread and lead to improved education rates, family-sus taining wages, a responsive workforce, and a more robust, thriving economy. This is how we’ll unlock possibility, confront inequity, and catalyze change for our workforce together. Jess Praphath is the Managing Director of Economic Mobility at Third Sector. Reference Notes 1. https://www.eda.gov/funding/programs/ american-rescue-plan/good-jobs-challenge 2. https://www.whitehouse.gov/build/ Workforce%20Development%20for%20 Infrastructure%20Jobs&text=The%20 Bipartisan%20Infrastructure%20Law%20 includes,be%20used%20for%20that%20 purpose 3. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/ articles/2023-04-25/biden-set-to-launch 11-billion-chips-program-r-d-centerpiece 4. https://www.thirdsectorcap.org/news/ third-sector-joins-teams-in-massachusetts and-texas-to-implement-workforce programs-through-the-u-s-department-of commerces-good-job-challenge resources/equitable-infrastructure workforce/#:~:text=Equitable%20

Black, Indigenous, and People of Color women commuting to a city where they can’t afford to live. Third Sector recognized that achieving our goal in Boston to fill 850 unoccupied positions by 2025 requires a clear understanding of what early child care workers need to build the fruitful careers this industry is currently lacking. Therefore, we’re bringing together implementers across four ini tiatives for a workforce roundtable on how to leverage time-bounded funding to support and sustain the child care workforce. This strategy helps us ensure that we adopt the best possible worker first solutions to ongoing inequity in the child care sector. This leads to the last lesson, which is the inescapable fact that com mitted partners are essential to launching and maintaining effective sector strategies. Those working on sector strategies must cultivate strong relationships and roundtables with human services agencies, employers, training partners, workforce boards, and other strategic partners committed to creating thriving communities and investing in human capital. Businesses cannot fill their hiring needs without reaching into communi ties that are underserved and represent a significant portion of the labor force. When there are explicit connections between workforce development entities and human services organiza tions, there will be clearly articulated referral pathways for individuals with low income into high-quality training and good jobs in high-demand indus tries, helping these individuals and

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Summer 2023 Policy & Practice