Policymakers

First Lady Michelle Obama describes the Social Innovation Fund this way: “By focusing on high-impact, results-oriented nonprofits, we will ensure that government dollars are spent in a way that is effective, accountable and worthy of public trust.”

The 22 sites of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions are working at “ground zero” of a national crisis: unemployment that appears stuck at almost 10 percent. More and more, local media are searching for innovative, local solutions. What they are finding is the National Fund.

San Diego Site in the News for Changing Lives

New evaluation data reveals that the National Fund for Workforce Solutions is helping to redefine how America can prepare low-wage workers for careers.

Keisha Monique Blake, from Baltimore, tells us what the numbers really mean.

Today, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions was presented the highest award bestowed by the Council on Foundations: the Distinguished Grantmaking Award for Collaboration. It speaks to the leadership role that philanthropy must take in helping America’s workers and businesses succeed in a post-recession economy. Even more important, it speaks to how the National Fund operates.

Today, Fred Dedrick, most recently the Deputy Secretary for Workforce Development in Pennsylvania, takes over as the first Executive Director of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions.

Day two at Rx for the Health Care Workforce, and the goal today is to think about the way the 90 leaders here—representing employers, labor, government, philanthropy, and the nonprofit sectors—think about scale up and sustainability. In other words, public policy.

The opportunity is great: as yesterday showed, future investments in building a skilled health care workforce can draw on many promising models from the education and workforce development sectors—on the job, in higher education, and in our communities.

Today is the start of a two-day meeting that both draws on the experience of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions and could provide important suggestions on how the Fund and its affiliates could move forward on a policy agenda to help low-wage employees succeed and businesses compete. Called Rx for the Health Care Workforce, the meeting’s goal is to address a central challenge to the potential of the nation’s health care system to deliver affordable, accessible care: the need for a skilled health care workforce, particularly on the front lines of care.