The Future Works - A Podcast for Workforce Leaders

The pandemic changed many aspects of American life from home life, to school, and of course work. Now that some time has gone by, researchers are beginning to look at the overall impact of the shift to remote work, as well as its potential impact on the future of work. We were surprised in reading the report about the variability across the country -- but also the rural vs urban impacts. For this episode of The Future Works, we are joined by Liz Farmer, Future of Labor Research Center Fellow at the SUNY Rockefeller Institute of Government. She is the author of a new report, Remote Work during COVID-19: What Can It Tell Us About the Future of Work?.  Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX. This episode was edited by Brian Finch.

Earlier this fall, Melinda Mack joined NYSAC’s Communications Manager Tom Oldfather for a cross-over episode focused on the state of New York State’s workforce,. This included potential solutions for training programs and workforce initiatives for county and municipal employers. Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX. This episode was edited by Brian Finch and the staff at NYSAC.

Laura Quigley takes over this episode of the podcast for a conversation with Melinda Mack, NYATEP's Executive Director, to reminisce about her 10 years at NYATEP. They return back to the early transition from NYATEP's founding Executive Director to the evolution of the organization. Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX. This episode was edited by Brian Finch.

Many jobs across New York continue to go unfilled due to lack of quality, affordable childcare. Parents and caregivers are piecing together care, and it is unsustainable. Compounding the issue - recruiting and retaining childcare workers is a challenge. For this episode of The Future Works, we are joined by Meredith Chimento, Executive Director of the Early Care and Learning Council. Learn more about her organization and use their childcare locater: https://earlycareandlearning.org/

It should come as no surprise that the last few years has contributed to a mental health crisis across the globe. In the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, global prevalence of anxiety and depression increased by a massive 25%, according to a scientific brief released by the World Health Organization (WHO). In this podcast we're joined by Joelle Monaco, the Director of Outreach & Business Engagement at the Mental Health Association of New York State. Joelle is who we have turned to over the last year to help us support training front line workforce staff in trauma informed practice; Mental Health First Aid Certification; and also practices for supporting overall well-being. Below are the resources Joelle shared during our discussion: Mental Health & Information Center - https://mhanys.org/explore/links-resources/ MHANYS Trainings - https://mhanys.org/products/ Working on Wellness with MHANYS - https://mhanys.org/working-on-wellness-with-mhanys/ Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX. This episode was edited by Brian Finch.

Measure of America recently released a report called A Disrupted Year focused on the spike in "Opportunity Youth" across America. The 2020 national youth disconnection rate was 12.6 percent, or 4,830,700 disconnected youth, and likely even higher as COVID disrupted so many young adult lives. (Read the full report: https://measureofamerica.org/youth-disconnection-2022/) For this episode of The Future Works, we are joined by Melanie G. Ferrer-Vaughn, Associate Director at the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative and Robert Sainz, Executive Director at New Ways to Work. They will share their progress, learning and success of the California Opportunity Youth Network (COYN) Melanie shared the following for our podcast listeners: Expanding Workforce and Career Development Pathways for Opportunity Youth: A Guide to Local Action: https://www.newwaystowork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/COYN-Action-Guide_Digital.pdf Building a Workforce and Career Development System for Opportunity Youth: https://www.newwaystowork.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Building-a-Workforce-and-Career-Dev-Sys-for-OY.pdf The episode was produced by Brian Finch. Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX  

Many workforce providers seek to maximize scarce resources and address the training and hiring needs of multiple employers in a sector through regional collaborations and partnerships. Over the last two years, NYATEP has worked closely with Atlanta CareerRise, a partnership in Metro Atlanta as they rethink their approach to neighborhood-based collaboration. In this Episode of The Future Works we will speak with John Helton who leads Atlanta CareerRise about their regional workforce system; how they have been able to create meaningful efficiencies; developed a regional continuum of services, and how they approach sector-partnerships as a region. To learn more about Atlanta CareerRise: https://nationalfund.org/collaborative/atlanta-careerrise/ Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX. This episode was edited by Brian Finch.

Political conflict, poverty, and discrimination has driven humans seeking safety and shelter across borders and into categories like "refugees" and "asylum seekers" all over the world. Considering the recent crisis in Afghanistan, and now Ukraine, thousands of these newly displaced individuals are now in need of employment. While some of these individuals are low skill, many are not -- but struggle to find work because their credentials do not translate to American credentials. That is where Jina Krause-Vilmar and the team at Upwardly Global come in. In this Episode of The Future Works we will speak with Jina about this "hidden talent" and how Upwardly Global works behind the scenes to connect real talent to meaningful work. To learn more about Upwardly Global: https://www.upwardlyglobal.org/about-us/ Music used in this episode was produced by Jason Shaw on AudionautiX.

In this episode we are joined by Van Ton-Quinlivan, a nationally recognized catalyst and CEO of Futuro Health.  She is known for creating inclusive social and economic mobility and has recently released WorkforceRx: Agile and Inclusive Strategies for Employers, Educators and Workers in Unsettled Times, a playbook for workforce leaders. She discussed what she has learned throughout her career around partnership, innovation and getting to scale.  To purchase your copy: https://mastercatalyst.org/

September is here and as the federally funded Pandemic Unemployment Benefits come to an end over 8 million Americans will be out of money and need to get back to work.  Despite the growth in job openings across the country, many Americans and New Yorkers don't have the necessary skills or supports like childcare, to get a good paying job. Unfortunately, Congress continues to put funding for job training, adult education and upskilling on the back burner.  Rumors are that funding once thought to be as high as $100 Billion could be cut completely from negotiations.  Katie Spiker from the National Skills Coalition gives us the run down on what is happening in D.C. and why we need to keep up the advocacy on investing in workforce.

Rebecca Lurie is on faculty with the Urban Studies Department and the founder of the Community and Worker Ownership Project at the City University of NY School for Labor and Urban Studies. She is a founding member of the worker-owned cooperative, New Deal Home Improvement Company.  She joins the Future Works to discuss worker cooperatives across New York, how the worker focused approach is growing opportunity and can aid in statewide economic recovery. Interested in learning more: International perspective on cooperative models Report from NYC Initiative The Working World financing and training  

Apprenticeship is all the rage, but it still isn't catching on as the "new school" model to support young adults transition to careers. In honor of apprenticeship month - we'll head back in time to a year ago to hear New York's reflections on the German apprenticeship model.  Then we'll chat with with innovator Barbara Chang, Executive Director of CareerWiseNY  to hear how they are taking on the "modern youth apprenticeship."

New York has an opportunity to learn from the last recession, and reshape its regional economics by understanding and focusing on growing better jobs across the state as it recovers. Back in 2014, the National Employment Law Project found that the Great Recession wiped out high-wage and middle-wage jobs across the county, only to be replaced with low-wage work. Pre-COVID, in New York, 9 out of the top 10 fastest growing occupations paid less than $32,000 in 2019.   For Episode 8 of The Future Works, we are joined by Mark Popovich, Director of the Good Companies, Good Jobs Initiative at the Aspen Institute who breaks down what it means to engage in job quality, the business proposition for employers and what workforce professionals can do, now.  

Along with the rush of facts about the COVID-19 health crisis - has come a tidal wave of information about the impact the pandemic is having on the economy. For workforce providers, as we work to understand immediate hiring needs and forecast the future, our ability to find, analyze and understand data is critical.  For this episode of The Future Works, we are joined by David Williams from Harvard's Opportunity Insights, home to a treasure trove of information and real time COVID Recovery tracker. David joins us to share what Opportunity Insights is learning, and how you can access their data to support your work.

This episode of The Future Works explores the unique challenges facing the community of providers supporting individuals with disabilities across New York and the uphill battle to get this untapped talent employed. To help the broader workforce field and partners understand the current landscape, the stark difference in employment rates, and health challenges we are joined by Michael Seereiter, President and CEO for the NY Alliance for Inclusion and Innovation

The clock is ticking down for a massive federal stimulus package to support Americans and businesses as much of the country continues to struggle with the impacts of COVID-19.  For this episode we are joined by Stephanie Martinez-Ruckman, Legislative Director for Human Capital at the National League of Cities and Katie Spiker, Director of Government Affairs for the National Skills Coalition who will break down: what the debate is, where there is agreement, and just how far we need to go before job training and workforce services are included in the package whether it be HEROES or the new HEALS acts.

COVID-19 has dramatically reshaped the labor market, leaving many young adults, especially the most vulnerable, scrambling to figure out what is next. This episode of The Future Works will feature clips from a panel discussion from the NYATEP Youth Learning Lab on June 4, featuring national experts on youth policy, trauma informed care and vulnerable youth.  Featured speakers include, Kisha Bird, CLASP; Dr. Nina Aledort, NYS Office of Children and Family Services; and Christine Salazar, Puerto Rican Family Institute.  We'll also be joined by rising college junior Jorge Morales who shared his perspective on living through a worldwide pandemic and the Black Lives Matter movement.

As the country debates re-opening the economy, the workforce field is preparing to handle the millions of Americans who will need to get back to work.This episode of The Future Works features Dr. Anne Kress, President of Northern Virginia Community College, Plino Ayala, President and CEO of Per Scholas and Michael Gritton, Executive Director of Kentuckiana Works to hear what they learned during past downturns and how they are preparing to be the next line of response.

Amidst the economic fallout of COVID-19, this episode of the Future Works features noted labor market experts James Parrot, The New School and Laura Schultz, Rockefeller Institute, who will share their perspectives why this crisis is unlike anything they have ever seen. We'll also get a local take from Andrew Kennedy, Center for Economic Growth and David Coryer, Coryer Staffing on how businesses across the state are making it through this crisis or struggling to stay afloat.

The Future Works podcast joins the Invest in Skills NY Advocacy Day at the Capitol.  Featuring remarks from Sen. Jessica Ramos, and Assembly Members Crespo and Mosely, as well as interviews with Len Statham, Pat Dowse, Brian Williams and Katie Geise.