Workforce Development Symposium Highlights

Written by: Chris Warland | Public Policy Panel at Chicagoland Workforce Development Symposium Highlights 

Points of Resilience in a Challenging Policy Environment.

On October 23rd Chicago Jobs Council co-hosted the 4th annual Chicago Workforce Development Symposium in partnership with the Chicagoland Workforce Funders Alliance. Among the many great sessions of the day was a panel focused on public policy that I had the privilege to moderate. 

The panel included leaders in workforce development policy and advocacy at the city, state, and national level: Trenity Dobbey, Director of Workforce Development at City of Chicago Mayor’s Office, Torrence Gardner, Policy Manager at The Chicago Community Trust, Megan Evans, Senior Government Affairs Manager at National Skills Coalition, and Christina Warden, Vice President of Policy and Programs at Women Employed. 

The workforce development field is facing a number of challenges in the current policy environment, which the group was compelled to address: current and proposed cuts to federal workforce funding, the impacts of work requirements on vulnerable populations, and actions taken against the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion that threaten programs’ ability to focus services on marginalized communities of jobseekers. 

However, in keeping with the symposium’s theme of resilience in a time of change and uncertainty, we made sure to highlight recent policy victories for workforce development and reasons to be optimistic about the future of our field. These included positive outcomes such as the passage of the skills-based hiring ordinance in Chicago, the inclusion of “Workforce Pell” in the recent budget reconciliation act, and progress toward the establishment of a Chief Workforce Officer for the State of Illinois, as well as strengths such as the collaborative nature of local workforce advocates and workforce development champions among our local and state political leadership. 

It was an honor to host this group of policy professionals. The discussion was a reminder that however dire the current policy outlook may be, the workforce development field has many dedicated, resourceful, and smart advocates representing the interests of the communities and jobseekers we serve, which is reason enough to remain optimistic.