Workforce Development and the Fed: A brief introduction

“The Bottom Line of Disabilities: Investing in Social Change”

Salt Lake City, UTApril 1, 2016

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1977: Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) aims to improve credit access to low and moderate income communities  

1981: Federal Reserve Banks instructed to appoint Community Affairs Officers to act as community liaisons    

1993: Mission statement – Support Fed’s  economic growth objectives by promoting community development activities and fair access to credit  

2012: Strategic plan emphasizes promoting economic growth and financial stability for LMI communities by convening, sharing research,  and identifying emerging issues 

A Brief History of Community Economic Development in the Federal Reserve: Recap

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Workforce Development and the Pushmi-PullyuModel of Community Economic Development

Act as community liaisons… promoting economic growth and financial stability for LMI communities byconvening…

… sharing research,  and identifying emerging issues 

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Our Workforce Development Effort in Action:

2014:Obtained survey responses from roughly 200 workforce development service providers with activity in about 400 locations.

Only 1 in 3 providers had a working relationship with even ONE employer!

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Our Reaction (After We Got Up Off the Floor):

The Metro Atlanta eXchange (MAX) for Workforce Solutions exists to strengthen connections and promote information sharing among workforce development (WFD) stakeholders of Metro Atlanta—employers, trainers/educators, funders, and policy makers. 

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Lessons Learned From MAX Project, Apropos this Conference:

• Systems for training workers generally are often separate from systems aimed at assisting and training workers with disabilities 

• Employers may overlook untapped talent pools unless efforts are integrated with the larger discussion and efforts around community human capital and workforce development needs

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Just a Few Other Efforts:

Workforce Development and the Fed: A brief introduction