Workforce Intermediaries for the Twenty-First Century

Confronted with businesses facing a long-term shortage of skilled workers and evaluations showing that job training for the poor over the past 25 years had produced only meager results, a number of groups throughout the country have sought to find a more effective approach. The efforts of these partnerships, which editor Robert Giloth calls “workforce intermediaries,” are characterized by a focus on improving business productivity and helping low-income individuals not just find a job, but advance over time to jobs that enable them to support themselves and their families. This book takes stock of the world of workforce intermediaries: entrepreneurial partnerships that include businesses, unions, community colleges, and community organizations. Noted scholars and policy makers examine the development and effectiveness of these intermediaries, and a concluding chapter discusses where we need to go from here, if society is to provide a more coherent approach to increasing the viability and capacity of these important institutions.

Published in association with The American Assembly, Columbia University, the book includes chapters by the following contributors: Julie Strawn, Nan Poppe, Paul Osterman, Anthony P. Carnevale and Donna M. Desrochers, Craig Howard, Jessica Laufer, Daniel E. Berry, Roberta Iversen, Laura Leete, Chris Benner, Bob Brownstein, Manuel Pastor, Sarah Zimmerman, Jobs for the Future, Cindy Marano, Rick McGahey, Scott Hebert, William P. Ryan, Chris Walker, and John Foster-Bey.

Introduction:

Bruce Katz,
Vice President and Director, The Brookings Institution Center on Urban and Metropolitan Policy

Moderated by:

Robert Giloth,
Director, Family Economic Success, The Annie E. Casey Foundation

Panel:

Cynthia Marano,
Director of the National Network of Sector Partners, National Economic Development and Law Center
Rick McGahey,
Managing Vice President, Abt Associates, Inc.
Jerry Rubin,
Vice President, Building Economic Opportunity, Jobs for the Future
Margy Waller,
Visiting Fellow, The Brookings Institution