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Press Releases
LAWFC Receives $2M Green Jobs GrantLOS ANGELES, January 13, 2010 - The Los Angeles Workforce Funders Collaborative (LAWFC) has been awarded a $2million national grant to increase job training opportunities in green industries for low-income adults. A total of 38 projects were chosen to receive funding from a national pool of over 700 applications. At $2million, the LAWFC grant is almost double the size of the other awards. LAWFC Chair Marguerite Womack said the money would be invested in preparing people for jobs in green industries such as energy efficiency and waste management. “Green industries are growing in Los Angeles and this money will help create a pipeline of qualified workers from low-income communities to meet those needs,” says Womack. The grant, which was awarded by Jobs for the Future, is part of a Department of Labor initiative to revitalize economies and get people back to work. Low-income neighborhoods targeted for this investment include: South Los Angeles, South Bay-Harbor, Wilmington, Long Beach, and Southeast San Fernando Valley. Training will be offered in the following industries: Energy-Efficient Building, Construction and Retrofit; Renewable Electric Power, Water Conservation and Remediation, and Residential Energy Auditing. Los Angeles Workforce Collaborative Funds Local Organizations to Create Thriving Workforce System in Los Angeles$1.3 Million in Grants Distributed to Local Organizations
LOS ANGELES, September 16, 2008 – The Los Angeles Workforce Funder Collaborative (LAWFC), a public-private partnership led by United Way of Greater Los Angeles that is focused on implementing long-term systems improvement, new funding streams and effective policies to serve Los Angeles businesses and our local workforce, today announced over $1.3 million in grants to support community partners. Designated to Los Angeles County organizations providing job training and workforce development within the healthcare, construction, logistics (including the Los Angeles Ports, which take in 43% of all imports brought into the US) industry sectors, the grants will serve to drive the LAWFC’s goal of creating the necessary pathways to ensure a skilled and financially stable workforce. The announcement is made in conjunction with today’s release of The Allied Health Workforce Analysis by The California Endowment, an LAWFC member, and a grant reception at The California Endowment’s Center for Healthy Communities in Los Angeles, CA. Job Training grants recipients include: Healthcare and Allied Health:
Construction and Building Trades:
Logistics/Goods Movement:
Workforce Development Systems Change grantees include:
"The ongoing success of the Los Angeles economy is dependent upon the strength of our local workforce and, to achieve success, we need to invest in the individuals that make up that force. Local residents are faced with increasing economic demands and an underfunded public system, and the Workforce Collaborative aims to alleviate these pressures by bringing important projects to scale to serve a greater number of Los Angeles residents and businesses,” said Elise Buik, President and CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles, the charitable organization that leads the Collaborative. “By enabling more people to move into the local workforce, we are addressing the three main factors at work impacting poverty in Los Angeles: providing greater financial stability, education and enabling basic needs to be met for all Angelenos." Following the Workforce Partnership Model, the LAWFC was launched in 2007 to develop a more skilled workforce, free employees from low-wage jobs that do not provide for families, and increase the capacity of the existing workforce development system. The LAWFC includes United Way of Greater Los Angeles, Bank of America, the California Community Foundation, Kaiser Permanente, National Fund for Workforce Solutions, S. Mark Taper Foundation, State of California, Employment Development Department and The California Endowment. "The Workforce Collaborative brings together leaders within the public and private sector to advocate for Los Angeles residents who need the crucial skills to succeed in today’s workforce," said Antonia Hernández, president and CEO of the California Community Foundation. "We are proud to expand our grantmaking portfolio to help ensure strong employment opportunities and make way for a thriving economic future for Los Angeles." About the Los Angeles Workforce Collaborative Eight different organizations make up the Los Angeles Workforce Funder Collaborative (LAWFC), with one common vision - to create a thriving workforce system which meets the needs of all in Greater Los Angeles. The LAWFC was launched in 2007 to address critical challenges facing our workforce development system by leveraging funding to invest in workforce development and working together to affect policy and systems change. The LAWFC has chosen a sector approach to ensure its investments prepare people for employment in industries where jobs exist, are not likely to be outsourced, and provide good incomes and opportunities for career advancement. These sectors are: Healthcare and Allied Health; Logistics/Goods Movement; and Construction and Building Trades. By investing in these three sectors, LAWFC aims to create a regional environment in which job security and career advancement opportunities are readily available to low-wage workers while also meeting the workforce needs of those key industry sectors. For more information, go to http://www.laworkforcefunders.org. About United Way of Greater Los Angeles United Way of Greater Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization that creates pathways out of poverty by focusing on meeting basic needs, improving educational achievement and increasing financial stability for the most vulnerable in our community. Through its research work, United Way identifies the issues and works in partnership with community leaders and supporters to solve them by funding targeted programs and advocating for change. For more information, visit www.unitedwayla.org. |
