As an organization that values professional development and upskilling workers, EmployIndy recently sent six of its own to the National Association of Workforce Boards’ (NAWB) “The Forum” conference in Washington, D.C.  

According to the association’s website, it “represents and advocates for the nation's over 550 Workforce Development Boards,” of which EmployIndy is one of twelve across the state of Indiana. Workforce development boards are federally funded entities that are tasked with supporting employment pipelines across multiple industries. As a registered 501c3, EmployIndy adds a concerted focus and emphasis on making strategic investments to promote equity and remove barriers to quality employment for underserved and underrepresented residents. 

This year’s conference theme was “The Modern Workforce: Leading by Example. Led by Purpose” and featured sessions that ranged topically from engaging businesses, apprenticeship programs, Diversity Equity and Inclusion (DEI) strategies, social services and mental health, digital skills, using data effectively, and workforce storytelling.  

“Any workforce development professional would benefit from attending NAWB,” said EmployIndy’s Development Director, Robin Kildall. “It gives its attendees a broad look at the way workforce boards are set up across the country.”  

Two of Kildall’s colleagues, Tracy Murphy (Director of Business Partnerships) and Kristen Barry (Senior Director of Research and Strategy), presented at a well-attended session on “Cultivating Seamless Pathways Through Community Collaboration and Advocacy.” The discussion outlined what such a pathway might look like: from industry demand to student voice and class offerings with an eye toward career pathways and combined with wrap-around support services and a conducive policy environment.  

The presentation offered an opportunity for the EmployIndy duo to talk about Talent Bound, an EmployIndy led program that connects Indy youth and young adults to companies and industries with talent needs for career education and work-based learning opportunities.  

Murphy and Barry also emphasized EmployIndy’s recent role in putting together the Accelerate Ed “Blueprint for Cybersecurity” pilot. The program includes voices and players from government, the private sector, local nonprofits, and educational institutions all vying to produce the win-win of creating opportunity for under-represented youth to fill legitimate talent gaps in tech.  

One EmployIndy partner in particular, TechPoint, has been bringing attention to this challenge with its ongoing Mission41K initiative, which encourages skills-based hiring as a method for diversifying tech workplaces and growing the Indiana tech workforce as a whole.   

Problem-solving at this magnitude and level of collaboration is what workforce development is all about. If you would like to learn more about an EmployIndy led program or initiative, or you’re interested in collaborating with EmployIndy in the workforce development space, reach out to our Business Partnerships team at businesspartnerships@nullemployindy.org or visit https://employindy.org/business-partnerships to learn more.