INDIANAPOLIS — Today, February 6, 2023, EmployIndy, Marion County’s Workforce Development Board, has named Esther Woodson as its new executive director of Indy Achieves. Effective immediately, Woodson succeeds Matt Impink who has led the initiative since its launch by Mayor Joe Hogsett and his administration in 2018. Woodson joined EmployIndy in February 2019, most recently serving as senior director for Indy Achieves.
Indy Achieves is focused on closing the skills gap in Indianapolis by increasing the proportion of residents with high-quality credentials to 65% by 2027 and by eliminating the attainment gaps that currently exist for minority students. To accomplish this, Indy Achieves works to actively increase the number of individuals who apply for existing financial aid programs such as 21st Century Scholars and FAFSA, as well as provide Promise Scholarships, Completion Grants and wraparound support services for Marion County students who attend Ivy Tech Indianapolis and IUPUI.
Woodson, a native of Indianapolis, is a proud graduate of Indianapolis Public Schools and a 21st Century Scholar, attending Crispus Attucks Middle School and Northwest High School. She then went on to pursue her undergraduate degree at the Indiana University School of Journalism, followed by 15 years in secondary and post-secondary education in Indianapolis and will complete her pursuit of a graduate degree in Management and Leadership later this year. Today she attributes her personal and professional achievements to the 21st Century Scholars Program, along with a host of family, mentors, teachers and friends.
“Indy Achieves Scholars are the future workforce and leaders of Marion County,” said Woodson. “I am excited to lead Indy Achieves forward, working collaboratively with K12 and postsecondary to ensure all Indianapolis students, particularly minorities, have the education, experiences and resources needed to complete a high-quality credential that leads to good and promising jobs in our community.”
To improve access to postsecondary education, Indy Achieves processed 710 21st Century Scholars applications, accounting for roughly 19 percent of the overall scholars from Marion County in the 2021-2022 school year. To ensure postsecondary persistence and completion, Indy Achieves offers coaching services and scholarships that supported 199 graduates at IUPUI and Ivy Tech Indianapolis last year. This student success coaching model has increased postsecondary retention by as much as a13 percent over comparison groups.
“This year, as Esther takes the reigns, Indy Achieves will grow by half a million dollars in City funding,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett. “That will enable our growing program to impact hundreds of additional Indianapolis students, many of them traveling a path that Esther knows personally.”
Woodson has been recognized locally by several organizations for her commitment to education and community, receiving the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana Big Sister of the Year Award in 2015 and the Live United Volunteer of the Year Award in 2014. She was recently a finalist for both the Center for Leadership Development Minority Achievers Award in 2022 and the Inspire Awards “The Power of Mentoring” Youth Mentor in 2018. A member of The Father’s Heart Ministries Church, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Chi Chi Omega Chapter, and an active Big Sister with Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana, Woodson resides on the west side of Indianapolis with her husband and two teenage sons.
EmployIndy guides the local workforce ecosystem and makes strategic investments to remove barriers to quality employment for underserved and underrepresented residents. Our vision is for all Marion County residents to have access to services and training necessary to secure a livable wage and grow in a career that meets employer demand for talent. As the workforce development board for Marion County, guided by 24 business, civic, education and nonprofit community leaders, EmployIndy invests over $20 million in public, private and philanthropic funds for both youth and adults annually. EmployIndy stands against all forms of racism – systemic, individual, and structural – as an anti-racist organization. Learn more at employindy.org.
EmployIndy is opening a new YES Indy Re-Engagement Center (REC) at Watkins Park Community Center on the Westside of Indianapolis on January 30th. This REC location will replicate the YES Indy REC at the Finish Line Boys and Girls Club. Since its opening in 2018, the Far Eastside location has served over 2,000 Opportunity Youth and acted as an access point for re-engagement services. Over 30,000 Opportunity Youth in Central Indiana, young adults ages 16 to 24, are either disengaged from education, the workforce, or both.
The Watkins Park REC will offer free open gym basketball as a hook to engage Opportunity Youth while creating a safe space to socialize and participate in recreation. REC staff are able to create trusting and meaningful relationships with participants, and it is through these relationships that staff have the opportunity to direct participants to additional career services. With a YES Indy site neighboring the Watkins REC location, open gym participants will have convenient access to YES Indy services at Flanner House, a community-based service partner.
“In collaboration with the City Parks and Recreation Department, Training for Success, Central Indiana Community Foundation (CICF), and Flanner House, EmployIndy is thrilled to open the YES Indy REC at Watkins Park,” says Reverend Rodney T. Francis, Chief Programs Officer at EmployIndy. “This second REC location means that we are able to expand our education, workforce services, and job opportunities to more young people looking for a career path in the city’s Near Westside.”
YES Indy RECs bring together a network of community-based organizations as career service providers offering career navigation, including work experiences, access to training and education, and wrap-around services. After joining the REC, participants are encouraged to participate in the Power Huddle, an empowerment experience in which Opportunity Youth meet with an instructor to build confidence and employability skills. Participants engage with mentors and earn some of the Job Ready Indy badges, expanding their employability skills and self-awareness. The Power Huddle and Job Ready Indy training readies these young people to pursue career experiences or education and includes two years of follow-up services and check-ins with mentors.
Open Gyms hours of operation are every Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 10 AM to 2 PM, during the summer hours will switch to the evening and will be posted at the gym. An open house for sponsors, staff, and participants is planned for Saturday, April 22nd.
“Being in the YES Indy program with EmployIndy helped me out a lot. I was in a position in life where I didn’t know where I was headed. I learned how to be confident and speak up for myself,” said RaeSean Franklin, sitting in the breakroom at Fastenal where he works full-time on the production floor helping to create industrial and construction products.
Prior to enrolling in the training, RaeSean was working at Burger King and was living between his parents’ houses after being evicted. Having recently become a new father, he was drawn to the idea of finding stable housing and was looking for ways to increase his income. Through his participation with PACE and his interest in getting on a career pathway, he enrolled in the 13-week Advanced Manufacturing earn-while-you-learn training that consisted of job readiness, 160 hours of manufacturing theory and lab, on-the-job training, and job placement.
“I didn’t imagine myself in a manufacturing job at first but when the opportunity presented itself, I was willing to do anything as I knew I could leave with skills that I could use later in life,” said RaeSean. After completing the training, he was offered full-time employment with Fastenal, starting at $17 per hour. Now earning a livable wage, he’s been able to obtain independent housing and is on a path to career growth. Having been working for the company for six months, RaeSean even negotiated a wage increase and is now earning $18.75 per hour.
Along with building a foundation for his daughter through his new career, RaeSean also gives back by speaking to new cohorts enrolled in the YES Indy Advanced Manufacturing training.
If you or someone you know is looking to take the next step and get on a career pathway, check out available training programs at www.yesindy317.org/industry-trainings.
Dear Partners and Friends,
2022 has been a year of significant growth and transformation for EmployIndy. As the year comes to a close, we are especially grateful to our Board and to each of our local, statewide, and national partners for working with our team to make real our vision that all residents in Indianapolis will have the opportunity to achieve economic prosperity.
Creating equitable opportunities has never been more important than it is today as we work to address some of the significant challenges the pandemic left in its wake, as illuminated in our recent report, Indiana’s Evolving Labor Market, released in partnership with Ascend Indiana. In short, too few people in our community are gaining the credentials currently required by businesses with open positions across sectors, and we must be bold in our collective efforts to reverse this troubling trend.
As I look back on our work from July of 2021 to June of 2022, I am hopeful despite our current realities. I could not be prouder of the promising practices and strong outcomes of our growing education and employment programs. We had over 31,000 in-person visits at WorkOne Indy; provided nearly 23,000 career exploration experiences to K-12 Marion County students through Talent Bound; and engaged 4,677 individuals in work-based learning experiences. We also placed 1,489 individuals into good and promising jobs through Wednesdays@WorkOne and Rapid Re-Employment Response, which launched in the early days of the pandemic. All of this good work was only made possible through the engagement of 2,198 Indianapolis employers in talent development strategies and placement services; the partnership of more than 160 education, training, community-based, and service providers throughout our workforce ecosystem; the investment of over $20,216,434 in local programs and initiatives from federal, state, local, corporate, and philanthropic funds; and the dedicated EmployIndy team of 82 education and workforce professionals. In total, we served over 50,000 residents of Indianapolis, and of those who self-identified, 75% were people of color.
As we prepare to launch our new strategic plan in early 2023, EmployIndy remains focused on investing in our communities, households, and underrepresented residents. We will take what we have learned as practitioners and from our partners to build better systems that create more scalable and equitable outcomes for the people of our community. In fact, we are already engaging in systems change efforts and plan to accelerate this work in the coming years.
Modern Apprenticeship, in partnership with the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation and Ascend Indiana, is changing employer practices on minimum age requirements for employment both locally and nationally.
Through the Accelerate ED initiative, EmployIndy and its partners have created a blueprint for a high-quality cybersecurity pathway beginning in high school and accelerating the attainment of an associate degree in year 13.
The Indianapolis New Skills Ready Network, funded through JPMorgan Chase & Co, has partnered with state leaders to create a career advising framework that establishes standards, milestones, and strategies by K-12 grade band.
With our partners, EmployIndy is tackling dominant narratives with the Walton Family Foundation and Wonder to change the story around traditional postsecondary choices as the only quality options for economic opportunity.
Launched in 2022 as part of an Enhancing Opportunity in Indianapolis grant, the Good Wages Initiative will close the year with 60+ certified employers, representing 18 industries and nearly 25,000 workers, who have committed to increasing worker wages by $5M. As a Good Wages employer, EmployIndy’s commitment to more equitable hiring and employment practices has resulted in a staff that is 42% racially and ethnically diverse, with more work to do to mirror the community we serve.
In the new year, we will continue to work to close the opportunity gap by focusing on career-connected learning, investing in quality coaching and training, facilitating connections to good jobs, and ensuring the business community offers more good jobs across sectors.
Thank you for all of your contributions to the positive impact that EmployIndy has had, and will continue to have, across our community.
Happy Holidays and Best Wishes in 2023!
Kind Regards, Marie Mackintosh, President & CEO EmployIndy
The worker voice is becoming more and more dominate in the decision-making process for businesses. The rise of Covid created a shift in how workers view jobs and which aspects of those jobs they find important. This is especially true for workers at the entry-level or “front line.”
Ritse Erumi and Martin Whittaker, in their recent Fortune article Americans know what they want from companies. It’s time to listen, summarize this shift in saying that “what the pandemic catalyzed was a fundamental shift in expectations for workers. With wage hikes over the past year failing to keep pace with record-high inflation, many workers are also feeling more dissatisfied.”
It’s for reasons such as these that EmployIndy is creating a Marion County Employer Resource Network (ERN), in partnership with ERN-USA. This national model was created first in Michigan and has been around for more than a decade, now spanning more than 10 states and with over 20 networks. It is a member-based program that serves the employees of the members who participate. Members are the companies themselves, and the cost of membership gives each employer access to a Success Coach. This Success Coach, which will be employed by EmployIndy’s ERN, is the designated “barrier navigator” helping individual employees navigate the external issues that impact their ability to come to work and/or do their work at their full potential.
In Indiana, Johnson County is the only other community that has an active program, and their employer members are seeing a lot of impact as the program moves into its second full year. Amanda Parkhurst with Endress+Hauser shared her motivations to join the program as a founding member: “As an HR professional, it’s difficult to be all things to all people, and we saw the ERN as an extension of our benefits offered to employees. The ERN allows for focused time to be spent on and with employees with an emphasis on finding resources for their specific needs.”
So, what happens after membership? And what is the real impact? Melissa Dewey from GMI, a local manufacturer, shared one such story. One employee at GMI had been struggling to get to work on time, to the point where it was affecting the person’s performance. Dewey knew the person was a good employee. The employee met with Johnson County’s ERN Success Coach, and the details of the tardiness came out. The staff member had a parent who did not have a drivers license. The parent needed to be taken to work regularly and this was causing the tardiness. The Success Coach was able to dig deeper and learn that the parent also didn’t speak English as a first language, which was contributing to the challenge of earning a driver’s license. But with some intervention and resource referring, the parent was able to pass a drivers test and was then able to drive to work every day. The GWI staff member was retained, and with the original need met, tardiness was no longer a problem.
This is just one example. When we factor in the cost of turnover, one employee saved is literally worth thousands of dollars for a business. ERN-USA puts the current return on investment of their services at more than 700% (from the organization’s latest annual report). And in addition to retention, ERNs can have positive impacts on employer recruitment, with many employers packaging the ERN membership as an addition to their employee benefits.
If you’re a Marion County business that’s struggling with worker retention, let’s talk about how to lighten your own load by investing in future satisfied employees. To learn more, reach out to EmployIndy’s business partnerships at [email protected] and they can help get your organization on the right path to better employee retention.
EmployIndy’s Modern Apprenticeship Program (MAP) offers an avenue for employers to build their own employment talent—especially in areas where they might be having a hard time finding qualified enough candidates for needed positions—and for young talent and future workforce to gain access to high-demand career areas.
Apprentices are supported throughout the program by EmployIndy Youth Apprenticeship Managers (YAMs) and participating businesses by Account Managers on EmployIndy’s Business Partnership team.
EmployIndy recently sat down with Joy Coates, Markle Foundation’s Senior Manager of National Delivery Partnerships, to learn more about how the experience of a cohort one apprentice, Fatoumata, has been progressing. Fatoumata is now a senior at Pike High School, and part of Coates’ role includes supervision over Fatoumata’s apprenticeship experience.
Markle, which been focused on workforce development since 2013, is working to expand access to quality jobs for all Americans.
“We’re always looking for ways to make a lasting impact,” Coates said, with MAP apparently fitting that bill for cohort one and again for cohort two.
Coates mentioned that Fatoumata’s role as a project coordinator “may be more complicated than the average apprenticeship,” and emphasized the need for intentionality in trying to connect tasks like business writing, “tactical” projects, and which meetings to include Fatoumata in on. Through this apprenticeship, she has honed her occupational and foundational skills and gained valuable work experience that will hopefully support Fatoumata in her goal of becoming an immigration lawyer in the future.
“Fatoumata has always been willing to learn,” Coates said, and it doesn’t hurt that Coates has a coaching background herself. Coates admitted that her apprentice is, by nature, a reserved person and that one of the initial challenges was in working with her to feel comfortable enough to speak up, especially when she needed help.
It should be noted that these dynamics can be true about new employees anywhere, but that’s even more reason to pay attention to the experience of a high school student who may be facing her first meaningful professional experience. Coates cautioned that this is not the same as assuming a high school student doesn’t know anything, which of course they do, even in their initial nervousness.
As evidence that the program is working for both her organization and for its apprentice, Coates emphasized Fatoumata’s increasing “self-agency.” A great example of this, Coates notes, is how Fatoumata has become more confident in building relationships and taking on new projects with different team members.
Part of the initial design of a MAP experience involves the creation of competencies that will drive the skill development of an apprentice, and Coates has witnessed Fatoumata “scaffolding” in the right direction and even holding herself accountable to the framework.
Coates is optimistic that this growth in Fatoumata will pay dividends in the future, and that by completion of the program, Sylla may just be ready to take the lead on small projects herself.
EmployIndy is currently recruiting for its third cohort of businesses who want to be involved in MAP; interested parties can reach out to Wendy Parker, Senior Business Development Manager for Modern Apprenticeship, at [email protected].
The Heritage Group is a fourth-generation, family-owned, Indianapolis company that manages a diverse portfolio that specializes in heavy construction, environmental services, and specialty chemicals. They also intentionally invest in the communities where they operate.
“At The Heritage Group, we think in generations, not quarters,” said Lucy Wehlage, The Heritage Group’s Early-In-Career Talent and Program Coordinator. “And young talent…is essential for so many reasons.”
Many EmployIndy programs are aligned with The Heritage Group’s focus on outreach to such talent, and EmployIndy’s Business Partnerships team was recently able to coordinate a collaborative meeting with their talent acquisition team and representatives from Indy Achieves and Talent Bound, both EmployIndy programs.
In 2018, Mayor Joe Hogsett and the City of Indianapolis launched Indy Achieves to respond to Indianapolis’ rapidly-changing labor market with the goal of ensuring that every Marion County resident can pursue and complete a postsecondary degree or credential. The program provides scholarship money to IUPUI and Ivy Tech students and connects them with employers like the Heritage Group for job shadowing opportunities, mentorships, internships, and potential job placement.
The Heritage Group’s Early-In-Career Talent Specialist, Lexie Seward, participated in an Indy Achieves event last spring and has maintained contact with some of the students she met there. “We are committed to mentoring and developing our early-in-career talent. We know the work we put into young professionals will make a difference in the future success of our company.”
Talent Bound is one way that EmployIndy connects Marion County students to a network of engaged businesses for career education and work-based learning opportunities. This is also, of course, a great opportunity for places like The Heritage Group to get in front of, and to spread awareness of their own brand, to high school students who are starting to think about post-graduation plans.
According to Matt Simpson, Associate Director of Talent Bound, “A lot of today’s students are interested in sustainability, so it has been good for some of those students to learn that places like The Heritage Group are trying to make those ideas and interests a reality.”
If your company is looking for innovative ways to engage with young and future talent, but is not yet involved with Talent Bound, reach out to EmployIndy’s Business Partnerships team, who would be happy to help get your questions answered and your next steps moving.
Two-and-a-half years after the world shut down for Covid-19, and well into what has become known as The Great Resignation, as well as the trend of “quiet quitting,” many employers and even whole industries are scrambling to figure out how to close historical and new talent gaps.
Meanwhile, Chief Personnel Officer at Indianapolis’s Plastic Recycling, Chad Smith, is a military veteran, and it is that background that shaped his conviction that focusing on leadership development and recruiting a diverse workforce can produce the kind of creative thinking that leads to innovation at a company like the one he works for, which he says has “grown from a mom-and-pop business to a much larger operation.
Smith’s words are backed up by Plastic Recycling’s participation from the employer side in an Advanced Manufacturing program that EmployIndy and PACE have partnered together on to help “opportunity youth”—18-to-24-year-olds—get on a career pathway. Participants in the program earn an ADVA credential and are placed in a short-term work experience at a local employer before hopefully beginning full-time work in what can become a career. Six program participants recently visited Plastic Recycling early on in the course for what EmployIndy’s Talent Bound program calls a “talent tour.”
It’s not Talent Bound’s only connection to Plastic Recycling. The company is also a participant in the second cohort of the Modern Apprenticeship Program, which provides high school students from Marion County high schools with the opportunity for a paid, three-year apprenticeship in an industry they’re interested in, and which provides area employers an opportunity to build some of their own diverse talent.
“We couldn’t be more thrilled with our three apprentices so far,” Smith said. He also mentioned that Plastic Recycling was so impressed with the candidates for those positions that the process of narrowing them down was quite difficult.
Plastic Recycling’s participation and partnership with EmployIndy is off to an enthusiastic and promising start, but putting on an Advanced Manufacturing program requires more than one employer, and Peerless Pump also hosted the program’s participants for a talent tour.
“The Talent Bound program offers us a unique avenue for providing people with exposure to our company, as well as a different way to connect with talent,” said Peerless Pump’s Human Resources Director, Tammy Poulson.
Peerless Pump produces products that contribute to water cleanliness around the world, and Poulson mentioned that the company is coming up on a big 100th anniversary of doing business, for which there will, of course, be a big celebration for its employees.
Like Plastic Recycling, the fall Advanced Manufacturing program is not Peerless Pump’s only connection to EmployIndy. The Marion County company was recently approved for a Next Level Jobs Employer Training Grant, which will provide a number of current employees and new hires the opportunity to upskill via a Machinist Advancement program. As a workforce development board, EmployIndy is one of the state entities that distributes this funding.
Is your business interested in learning more about one of the opportunities highlighted above or exploring a partnership with EmployIndy? You can reach out to our Business Partnerships team via [email protected] to begin strengthening your talent pipeline today.
On Wednesday, November 2nd, 72 JAG students gathered at the Indianapolis National Guard Armory for the 2022 Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) Indy Leadership Development Conference (LDC), supported by over 30 staff members from JAG, EmployIndy and the National Guard. JAG is a state-affiliated program based on a national model, available to juniors and seniors in high school that teaches resume building, career exploration and creates available tools for students to explore different curricula. The LDC is an event for JAG Chapter Officers to attend Career Association training, serving as a hands-on method to display and acquire team building, leadership and employability skills. The LDC also offers students a broader perspective on their involvement in the Regional, State, and National network of JAG programs and partners.
The LDC provided JAG students with the opportunity to engage in teachings and activities to build their teamwork and independent skills together. “It was nice meeting new people and, overall, my favorite part about the LDC was being an emcee and being able to enjoy the activities!” said Decatur Central High School Senior Eleny, who emceed the event.
Every year JAG allows 4 students from each of the 19 JAG Indy programs to attend the LDC and this year JAG students were tested with physical, mental, and problem-solving tasks throughout the event. “Throughout the day, you will be challenged to think outside the box, work as a team, meet new people and expand your comfort zone,” said Crispus Attucks JAG alum James Vann-Mincy, who also emceed the event.
During the event, JAG students were honored with inspiring words from key guest speaker House District 98, Representative Robin Shackleford who spoke about her journey and being a leader of change.
Employers are finding innovative ways to build their employment pipelines, and one of those is by hiring youth apprentices. In Marion County, the Modern Apprenticeship (MAP) program– led by EmployIndy and Ascend Indiana– has set a goal of 60 employers hiring a total of 100 apprentices for 2023-24.
Modern Apprenticeship is a 3-year work-based learning program that begins during a student’s junior year in high school. The program offers students paid employment, which is critical to making the program a sustainable solution to address inequity in Marion County. Students also participate in on-the-job learning that contributes to actual job tasks and aligns with role competencies and related academics.
Businesses struggle to find the talent they need in today’s world of work, yet, at the same time, postsecondary graduation rates are declining, and young people are searching for quality jobs without the credentials or skills to be successful. Over ¾ of Indiana’s employers cannot find qualified candidates for their open positions.
“Modern Apprenticeship brings together employers, students, and educators to build a sustainable employment pipeline,” says Marie Mackintosh, President & CEO at EmployIndy. “These pipelines address employer talent challenges, create a path for student work experience, and provide industry input into education standards and curriculum.”
When students graduate from the Modern Apprenticeship program, they earn industry credentials as well as tangible skills that will stay with them throughout the duration of their careers.
“The healthcare industry is having a great challenge in not only finding highly qualified talent but retaining them, as well. All the Marion County healthcare systems are competing for the same, small supply of candidates,” says Michelle Mitchell, National Manager of Early Talent Development at Ascension. “Ascension has had to rethink how we have defined and pursued talent, and the Modern Apprenticeship program has helped us to create a custom talent pipeline where students are actually looking to create a career.”
The Modern Apprenticeship program also furthers crucial diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, as 90% of our current Youth Apprentice are people of color and/or female-identifying. This statistic alone defies the perceptions of traditional apprenticeships and speaks to the diverse talent available within our own community.
“Traditionally, the financial services industry is dominated by only a particular demographic,” says Eduardo Nieto, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Director at OneAmerica. “Modern Apprenticeship has helped us expand and go beyond the traditional hires we normally have and diversify the talent in our workplace.”
Modern Apprenticeship works as a talent solution for businesses of all sizes as apprentices are able to develop on-the-job skills that are tailored to the company’s needs. Employers can develop their own, diverse talent and create opportunities for growth while engaging young people and improving retention through this new way of hiring.
“The Modern Apprenticeship program has found a lot of success in giving young leaders within an organization the opportunity to manage apprentices. It is a great way to grow the next generation of leaders within a company,” says Stephanie Bothun, Vice President & Co-founder of Ascend Indiana. “And there’s no better time than now to join Modern Apprenticeship.”
Additionally, Modern Apprenticeship registers apprenticeship experiences with the U.S Department of Labor via Register Apprenticeship programs (RAPs). Registered Apprenticeships enable more employers to participate in apprenticeships while, simultaneously, increasing their access to quality talent pools.
Interested in becoming a Modern Apprenticeship employer? Visit indymodernapprenticeship.com or email [email protected] to begin your organization’s journey with Youth Apprenticeship today!
City of Indianapolis celebrates apprenticeship programs in partnership with the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Apprenticeship Week
INDIANAPOLIS – 14 November 2022 – Today, Mayor Joe Hogsett recognized the second annual “Apprenticeship Week” in Indianapolis. This week-long celebration, occurring the second full week of November and in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Labor’s National Apprenticeship Week (NAW), will be lifted up by stakeholders who strive to promote both Registered and Youth Apprenticeship throughout Marion County.
“Our city recognizes that apprenticeships can train our workforce and build a pipeline into good, quality jobs in order to address our city’s pressing workforce challenges,” said Mayor Hogsett. “We continue to support programming like Registered and Youth Apprenticeship, a proven and industry-driven training model, to connect employers with talent.”
Apprenticeships prepare people of all ages and backgrounds for sustainable careers by providing them with in-demand skills and relevant job experience so they can prepare for and thrive in a fast-changing job market. Youth Apprenticeships, in particular, provide young people with a model of success for introducing our future workforce to expanded career pathways.
High school students who complete Modern Apprenticeship, a youth apprenticeship program, have the opportunity to participate in hands-on work experience that complements their traditional coursework, in growing fields such as business, advanced manufacturing, healthcare, and information technology (IT). Afterward, they can continue on to a college degree or jump right into the workforce. Youth apprenticeships offer young people the rare opportunity to get paid to learn while multiplying their options after high school.
EmployIndy is also celebrating our commitment to strengthening and diversifying Registered Apprenticeship programs during this year’s National Apprenticeship Week. As one of more than 200 industry, labor, and community-based organizations– as well as educators, employers, and workforce intermediaries– among the inaugural cohort of the Biden-Harris administration’s Apprenticeship Ambassador Initiative, EmployIndy will leverage this designation and additional funding to scale innovative apprenticeship practices in Marion County and Central Indiana, including Registered and Modern Apprenticeship.
“EmployIndy is eager to continue to expand Apprenticeship programs for all Marion County residents, including underserved and underrepresented populations,” said Marie Mackintosh, EmployIndy president and CEO. “As we work to increase the accessibility of Registered and Youth Apprenticeship programs, we will create more economic equity for all workers in our community.”
Registered Apprenticeship is a high-quality, equitable earn-and-learn model that provides workers with immersive learning experiences, job-related instruction with a mentor, and a clear pathway to a good-paying job. The programs include a nationally-recognized credential system that helps employers hire a more demographically diverse workforce across 40 in-demand industries.
As employer demand for highly-skilled talent continues to grow, it is necessary to establish a system of career-connected learning that will create equitable opportunities for all Indianapolis students. This National Apprenticeship Week, we celebrate the strides of apprenticeship in Marion County thus far while looking forward to the progress ahead.
Partner organizations and apprenticeship stakeholders throughout Central Indiana can celebrate Apprenticeship Week by accessing our media toolkit. Tune into in EmployIndy’s social media platforms throughout the week to learn more about #NAW2022.
Modern Apprenticeship was launched in 2020 by EmployIndy and Ascend Indiana for Indianapolis high school students to prepare them for the future in high-demand industries. This program is a three-year work-based learning experience with local employers, where students will emerge with a high school diploma, college credits, relevant credentials, and professional experience. Learn more at indymodernapprenticeship.com
About EmployIndy
EmployIndy guides the local workforce ecosystem and makes strategic investments to remove barriers to quality employment for underserved and underrepresented residents. Our vision is for all Marion County residents to have access to services and training necessary to secure a livable wage and grow in a career that meets employer demand for talent. As the workforce development board for Marion County, guided by 24 business, civic, education and nonprofit community leaders, EmployIndy invests over $20 million in public, private and philanthropic funds for both youth and adults annually. EmployIndy stands against all forms of racism – systemic, individual, and structural – as an anti-racist organization. Learn more at employindy.org.
INDIANAPOLIS (Nov. 3, 2022) – A new report from Ascend Indiana and EmployIndy shows that as the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions began to ease over time, a vast and permanent shift emerged showing that highly skilled, highly educated workers were the most in-demand, while at the same time, Indiana was seeing significant declines in postsecondary enrollment by Indiana residents. In addition, the report shows that equity gaps in postsecondary education are reflecting those found in the workforce.
“As the labor market continues to change at a rapid pace, it is more important than ever for Indiana to produce and retain more college graduates with relevant and marketable knowledge, skills and abilities in order to obtain high-demand jobs being offered in growing numbers by employers,” said Jason Kloth, president and CEO of Ascend Indiana. “It is even more evident that additional steps need to be taken to assist Black and Hispanic/Latino students, who experienced the sharpest 2020 postsecondary enrollment declines during the pandemic, a trend that jeopardizes economic well-being for all.”
The report, Indiana’s Evolving Labor Market: How the Pandemic has Accelerated Misalignment in Talent Supply and Demand, was produced by Ascend Indiana, the talent and workforce development initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), and EmployIndy, the workforce development board for Marion County. The report is intended to capture major changes in the supply and demand for talent in Indiana and in Central Indiana (Indianapolis-Carmel-Anderson MSA).
This report highlights the increasing importance of long-standing macroeconomic trends related to globalization, automation, and digitization and their impact on Indiana’s labor market. Many of these trends existed long before the pandemic began, but the events of the last two-and-a-half years have escalated the misalignment in the Indiana labor market.
Several key findings of labor market misalignment were found in the analysis with the following being the most prominent:
The COVID-19 pandemic rapidly accelerated demand for degreed talent and slowed demand for non-degreed talent.
From 2011 to 2019, most new jobs in Indiana required a high school diploma or no formal education credential. Due to the disproportionate impact of the pandemic, prior year gains in these jobs were erased. Postsecondary-level jobs, that were minimally impacted in 2020 during the pandemic, now account for a larger share of job growth.
Too few high school students are pursuing postsecondary education, persisting, and graduating with a degree.
Postsecondary enrollment rates once stood at 65% of Indiana high school graduates, but declined to 59% in 2019, and hit a new low in 2020 of 53%.
Equity gaps in postsecondary education reflect those found in the workforce.
Postsecondary outcomes diverge significantly by race/ethnicity and gender. These disparities carry over into workforce outcomes where people of color are underrepresented in high paying, fast growing careers that drive Indiana’s economy.
In Marion County, post-pandemic demand has shifted significantly toward workers with postsecondary education and degrees.
Post-pandemic job projections for Marion County indicate continued growth in jobs requiring a bachelor’s or higher degree levels, but a notable decline in jobs requiring a high school diploma or no formal education credential. The misalignment between job growth and educational attainment in Marion County will likely present significant short- and long-term challenges associated with deepening poverty levels.
“Increasing education and employer partnerships is foundational in changing some of these trends, with employers of all sizes providing career awareness and work-based learning experiences beginning in middle school and extending beyond high school,” said Marie Mackintosh, president and CEO, EmployIndy. “Engaging students and offering quality work-based learning opportunities including in-class and real-world experiences, has shown to be successful in supporting career readiness and workforce alignment, but more needs to be done to adopt data-driven strategies to expand on these learnings.”
Several opportunities outlined below are intended as recommendations that address alignment gaps and provide equitable opportunities to obtain quality jobs. Additional key recommendations can be found in the full report.
Education and employer partnerships: These are foundational to initial development and successful implementation of aligned learning systems. As co-creators of talent, employers can and should actively engage in education processes to train their employees of tomorrow, including curriculum development, instruction, and experience delivery. Employer engagement with education systems must improve to meet accelerating and changing labor market conditions. Employers of all sizes should provide career awareness and exposure experiences beginning in middle and extending beyond high school.
21st Century Scholars automatic enrollment: Indiana’s 21st Century Scholars program provides income-eligible students up to full tuition and enumerated fees at Indiana postsecondary institutions. The current policy requiring sign up before the end of 8th grade contributes to under half of eligible students enrolling in the program. Students who meet 21st Century Scholar income and academic performance requirements should have access to scholarship funds and program benefits. A policy of automatic student enrollment would encourage more high school students to pursue college and help address Indiana’s declining postsecondary enrollment trends.
Certificate research and analysis: A comprehensive study and evaluation of certificates programs and training providers is needed to understand Indiana’s certificate landscape. The state’s certificate landscape is rapidly expanding and changing, with significant activity not captured in established reporting processes. An analysis of this kind should capture these changes and critically evaluate industry value, stack-ability, job placement and wage growth.
The report also shows that a majority of Indiana’s leading industries including Healthcare, Transportation/Warehousing and Accommodation/Food Services have rebounded from the pandemic and are expected to continue to add more jobs through 2028. The sectors showing the most job posting levels through 2020 and 2021 are Professional/Scientific/Technical Services and Ambulatory Healthcare Services, which stand out for both high wages and high growth projections.
About Ascend Indiana
An initiative of the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership (CICP), Ascend Indiana is committed to making Indiana a place of economic opportunity for all. Ascend connects job seekers to good and promising career opportunities through an innovative job matching platform, the Ascend Network; catalyzes partnerships and provides consulting services to meet high-demand workforce needs through Ascend Services; and conducts research through Ascend Insights to enable systems-level change that positively impacts individuals throughout the state. To learn more, visit ascendindiana.com.
About EmployIndy EmployIndy guides the local workforce ecosystem and makes strategic investments to remove barriers to quality employment for underserved and underrepresented residents. Our vision is for all Marion County residents to have access to services and training necessary to secure a livable wage and grow in a career that meets employer demand for talent. As the workforce development board for Marion County, guided by 26 business, civic, education and nonprofit community leaders, EmployIndy invests over $20 million in public, private and philanthropic funds for both youth and adults annually. Learn more atemployindy.org.
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