Convened by UNITE-LA, in partnership with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Los Angeles Community College District, L.A. City Mayor, LAUSD Adult Education, L.A. City and County Workforce Investment Boards, Employment Development Department, AFL-CIO, and L.A. County Economic Development Corporation
From 2005-13, the first iteration of the Los Angeles Workforce Systems Collaborative (LAWSC) was founded under the leadership of Mayor Villaraigosa. The Collaborative’s goal was to assess the workforce development system in the Los Angeles region, and to develop recommendations for improvement that met the employment and educational needs of our region’s low-income and underserved communities.
UNITE-LA served as the convener of the Collaborative, advancing coordinated strategies between regional economic and workforce development systems. With the onset of the Great Recession in 2008, LAWSC became a key resource to coordinate efforts in order to win and implement programs with ARRA funds. From 2009–11, $44M in ARRA funding were added to WIA formula funds, which were deployed to launch new training programs, bridge programs, and reconnection academies. Upon entering into a hiatus in 2013, the collaborative was successful in shaping the landscape of workforce development in the region through a critical time in L.A.’s history.
Iin 2018, UNITE-LA helped relaunched the LAWSC and maximized outcomes directly correlated with improved economic and social mobility, including HireLA and Youth@Work with L.A. City and County officials. Most notably, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the collaborative worked diligently with one another to not only share vital resources but also successfully raise funds to support the communities of L.A. County."
From 2005-13, the Collaborative’s leaders from 21 organizations across the spectrum collaborated closely to bring together four consensus strategies to guide the group’s efforts:
- Support demand-driven industry sector workforce training initiatives across all institutions and partners
- Commit to strengthening the region’s workforce development system through integrating education systems, including co-locations, joint grant applications, joint research, and partnership wherever possible
- Connect young people to employment opportunities and career possibilities
- Jointly promoting and advocating on behalf of youth.
From 2005-14, LAWSC partners accomplished the following:
- Developed a Sector Intermediary Strategy and sourced co-investment by the City & County workforce boards.
- Co-leveraged assets to increase access to education, work, and public resources.
- Cultivated a deeper understanding of business’ and labor’s role in workforce development.
- Expanded regional youth summer job opportunities.
- Published research to support adult education expansion.
- Secured $4 billion for job training and employment services from formula grants for adult, dislocated worker, and youth services; $500 million for state grants for construction and rehabilitation of facilities for people with disabilities prepare for gainful employment; and $500 million to provide employment services for unemployed individuals in the 2009 Federal Economic Recovery package.
- United efforts to reauthorize the Workforce Investment Act, leading to the passage of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunities Act in 2014.
After making significant progress towards its collective goals, the LAWSC disbanded in 2014 after releasing a historic report on the groups efforts, titled Building a Stronger Los Angeles Workforce: Highlighting Years of Collaboration, 2005 – 2013. However, in 2018, UNITE-LA re-launched the LAWSC to coordinate and better leverage efforts to transform K-12, adult education, community college career technical education, and workforce development systems. UNITE-LA recognized the need for regional system alignment with labor market demand, positioning the group as a catalyst to California’s equitable economic recovery and jobs creation at the local, regional, and state levels, setting out to continue shifting resource flows, and relationships and connections, through:
- Creating systems alignment across funding streams and programs
- Scaling successful outcomes throughout the region
- Establishing, sharing, and distributing program data
- Cultivating systems-level solutions to meaningful employer and industry engagement.
UNITE-LA’s efforts were incredibly timely, as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic followed shortly after, and LAWSC was able to quickly mobilize coordinated marketing materials to displaced workers to educate people on how to access unemployment and pandemic relief funds. However, as the pandemic lengthened, partners had to pivot to crisis management in response to the upended work environment, leading to an indefinite pause on group convenings.
Membership (2018-22)
- California State University - Los Angeles / CSU 5
- City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Board
- City of Los Angeles, Economic & Workforce Development Department
- Foothill Workforce Development Board
- Los Angeles Community College District
- Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation
- Los Angeles County Workforce Development, Aging & Community Services
- Los Angeles / Orange County Regional Consortium
- Los Angeles Unified School District, Division of Adult and Career Education
- Office of the L.A. Mayor
- Opportunity Youth Collaborative
- Pacific Gateway Workforce Investment Network
- South Bay Workforce Investment Board
- Southeast Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board
- UNITE-LA (convener)
- Verdugo Workforce Development Board