Expanding the Capacity of Key Workforce and Economic Development Organizations to Use Data to Inform Regional and Local Economic Decisions
August 30, 2024In August 2024, CREC received a two-year grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to increase the capabilities of data users and data providers to inform education and training investments that strengthen regional economies. CREC will work to create a pipeline of organizations – including economic development organizations, community colleges, and workforce boards – to improve their regional data systems by providing learning and assessment opportunities via eLearning, live instruction, webinars, and technical assistance. This builds on a previous initiative aimed at helping to provide workforce development professionals the data they need to build more equitable career and education pathways for Black and Latinx youth.
Through this and related efforts, CREC will work closely with field leaders to describe and advance data sharing models that address input, access, and interpretation challenges, ultimately identifying a few regional hubs for further exploration. Through this work, CREC hopes to identify a regional solution that provides access to restricted wage data and helps strengthen post-secondary pathways.
Contact SVP Allison Forbes for more information on the Gates Foundation project or any workforce and economic development questions you might have: aforbes@crec.net.