News & Stories

This conversation on race, equity and worker power in San Diego County covers topics like what keeps policymakers from addressing racism and equality, what justice and equity look like in a modern police force, the role of business as an engine for change, education as a tool for economic mobility, worker power through organized labor, action steps you can take and so much more.

Time and time again employers from all over San Diego County, of every size and from every industry, tell us one thing:  they struggle to find employees with essential skills for workplace success. In response, the San Diego Workforce Partnership has partnered with the San Diego County Office of Education (SDCOE) to make sure people have opportunities to practice and develop these skills early. 

Started in 2010 with a collaboration between Arizona State University (ASU) and Global Silicon Valley (GSV), the annual ASU+ GSV Summit connects leading minds focused on transforming society and business around learning and work. Its north star is that ALL  people have equal access to the future. Here are just a few of the idea that came out of this year’s summit.

Xavier Martinez is a business partnerships specialist at the San Diego Workforce Partnership. Here he tells a little bit about himself, both personally and professionally.

Business For Good San Diego is a nonprofit on a mission to unite local business owners to drive policy that improves our community. The San Diego Workforce Partnership spoke with Business For Good to learn more about how they are bettering our community through business voices.

As the national dialogue continues to fuel the spotlight on racial equity you may, like me, be finding yourself in discussions of race hearing: “We donated to NAACP but what more can we do?” “I believe in equity. I believe in change. What do I do next?” “I’m just one person, how could I have an impact on systemic racism?”

A new hub for tools, resources and learnings around new and innovative outcomes-based funding models called the Outcomes Center is now available. It is maintained by the San Diego Workforce Partnership and Jain Family Institute and supported by Lumina Foundation.

Unemployment rate decreases to 12.3% in July San Diego’s job recovery stumbled in July as the County was placed on California’s COVID-19 watch list. While employment increased after adjusting for seasonal swings, July’s gain was a fraction of June’s encouraging advance.

The history of systemic racism in America—and San Diego in particular—has created a regional economy in which people of color do not have access to the same opportunities as white San Diegans. As a result, even controlling for age, gender and education, Black San Diegans make $10,500 less than their white peers.

Prior to joining the Workforce Partnership’s UCSD Tech Certificate program, Ari Emdur was working as a stagehand and wasn’t getting the hours he needed at his job to support his family. He thought the program might just be the perfect way to break into tech. It turns out he was right.