Making Workforce Development Systems More Racially Equitable and Inclusive

The Annie E. Casey Foundation launched the Generation Work initiative in 2016 to connect more of America’s young adults—especially those of color from low-income families—with the knowledge and experience necessary to succeed in today’s job market. Partnerships in Cleveland, Hartford, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, and Seattle are implementing the initiative. The partnerships comprise organizations serving young adults in the workforce development system that share a vision and are working together to achieve it. The initiative seeks to address structural inequities in local workforce development systems and asks the partnership organizations to examine their practices with a view to changing them to better serve young people and advance racial equity and inclusion (REI). This Issue Focus highlights a few promising strategies that the Generation Work partnerships have pursued to foster awareness of REI among the organizations and their staff and to translate this awareness into changes in organizational practices.