The San Diego Workforce Partnership had many memorable milestones, highlights and accomplishments in 2016 that helped us bring more opportunities to job seekers and businesses.
Launched new career center locations at East Mesa Reentry Facility and at Las Colinas Detention and Reentry Facility in partnership with the San Diego County Sheriff’s and Probation departments.- Hosted U.S. Department of Labor Deputy Secretary Chris Lu for two days, coordinating conversations with community leaders around veterans and youth employment, and touring our new job center at East Mesa Reentry Facility.
- Awarded a $400,000 grant from The Chicago Cook Workforce Partnership and Walmart Foundation as part of an effort to increase the economic mobility of workers in retail and adjacent sectors in San Diego County and around the U.S.
Dramatically increased support and outcomes for both CONNECT2Careers and the Life Sciences Summer Institute through partnerships and grants with the City of San Diego, County of San Diego, San Diego Foundation, McCarthy Foundation, California Career Pathways Trust and many employers.- Updated our governance structure in response to the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act calling for smaller, more strategic local Boards. We welcomed our new Workforce Development Board that provides direction and partnership as we provide job training opportunities for job seekers and thousands of regional employers.
Released six research reports at our annual Workforce Conference which brought together more than 500 educators, community-based organizations, career counselors and community leaders eager to learn about the future of work.- Invited to the White House three times — twice to present our nationally recognized human-centered design projects, and in December for the TechHire Summit where San Diego was announced as a TechHire city.
- Distributed 3,000+ Priority Sector posters throughout the region — reaching thousands of students and job seekers every single day in 12 school districts and numerous community organizations.
- Shifted over $4M in federal funding toward programs serving young adults (16-24) who are not working or in school with the goal of reconnecting “opportunity youth” to education and/or employment.
- Exceeded our goal of placing 1,000 young people in paid job experiences through our CONNECT2Careers and WIOA programs.
- Awarded $150,000 from the California Workforce Investment Board and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency’s Workforce Acceleration Fund to provide work-readiness support in partnership with Zero8Hundred to Marines at Camp Pendleton.
- Deepened national and regional partnerships through board and committee involvement and speaking roles with numerous organizations and events important to workforce development, including the Close It Summit, ASU GSV Summit, National Association of Workforce Boards, California Workforce Association, Linked Learning Alliance, TechHire Summit, California Forward, San Diego Regional Chamber of Commerce, San Diego Regional EDC, HOPE Leadership Institute, the California Workforce Development Board workgroup and many others.
- Received a grant from Third Sector Capital Partners as part of a national competition to assess the feasibility of implementing Pay for Performance to improve education, employment and recidivism outcomes for youth involved in San Diego’s juvenile justice system.
- Expanded our partnership with the County of San Diego by becoming a Live Well San Diego partner and establishing the Live Well County Internship Pilot Program, which employed 39 young adults in seven-week paid internships at more than 30 County offices from El Cajon to Oceanside to Chula Vista.