September 6, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
Four foundations have teamed up with the U.S. Department of Labor on a workforce-training project with the goal of helping 50,000 low-income people acquire skilled, career-oriented jobs by 2012.
The National Fund for Workforce Solutions, announced here today, has already received a combined $20-million from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, in Baltimore; the Ford Foundation, in New York; the Hitachi Foundation, in Washington; the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation, in Baltimore; and the federal government.
Additional national partners are being sought, with the hope of using the money to help raise an additional $200-million from local and regional sources.
The money will pay for local workforce-development programs that bring together charities, businesses, and government. A pilot program already underway is SkillWorks Boston, a collaborative worker-training program that has helped over 500 low-wage workers expand their skills and earn promotions or raises.
The program aims to assist as many as 30 such efforts around the country, with 10 programs already selected to receive grants of $450,000 each over the next three years, including the Baltimore Workforce Collaborative and Job Ready Pennsylvania.
“This national fund is part of broad strategy to combat poverty in America,” said Ralph Smith, senior vice president of the Annie E. Casey Foundation, during an event announcing the program. “We believe one of the great challenges of our time, for our nation, and for philanthropy is strengthening American competitiveness in an emerging global economy.”
Said Barbara Dyer, president of the Hitachi Foundation: “We envision a world in which at least 50,000 people who now view themselves to be in dead-end jobs have careers with a future.”
