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California's EDGE Campaign: Bridging Community Colleges and the Business Community

Learn about the non-partisan California EDGE Campaign's efforts to align workforce development and education systems, bridge the gap between community colleges and the business community, and ensure California's future economic growth.

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California's EDGE Campaign: Bridging Community Colleges and the Business Community

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  1. Getting Down to Business: Community Colleges and the Business Community Working Together California’s EDGE: Keeping California Competitive, Creating Opportunity Palmer House Hilton, Chicago Illinois June 27, 2007 Community Colleges Bridges to Opportunity

  2. The California EDGE Campaign • Origins in the 2006 election cycle – particularly the Governor’s race • Diverse set of stakeholders convened to elevate workforce development on the policy agenda. • Leadership is needed to forge the state’s impressive education and training infrastructure into an integrated system of talent development that addresses the needs of all California workers and employers. “California lacks an economic and workforce investment strategy that focuses on regional strengths and opportunities, and connects state and local efforts for maximum impact.” California Economic Strategies Panel:

  3. We vehemently agree . . . • California’s EDGE Campaign is a non-partisan coalition of groups with diverse and even divergent outlooks but united in the belief that: • California’s future economic growth rests in large measure on the skill base of its workers. • The state is now at serious risk of losing the competitive advantage of a highly trained workforce and lags other states in responding to this challenge • Long term focus on policy change and system alignment

  4. Campaign Endorsers Include:For a full list, go to: http://www.californiaedgecampaign.org • Bay Area Economic Forum • The Boeing Company • California Budget Project • California Manufacturers and Technology Association • California Workforce Association • California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO • California Space Authority • Community College League of California • State Building and Construction Trades Council of California • Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce • San Francisco Chamber of Commerce • United Way of Los Angeles • The Workforce Alliance

  5. The Policy Agenda • Invest in regional workforce and economic development strategies to build prosperous communities and competitive industries. • Provide all Californians access to high quality postsecondary education and skills training. • Provide working youth and adults with opportunities to move up the skill ladder. • Link workforce programs and institutions to create pathways to high wage jobs. • Align program goals and measures to achieve a shared vision of California’s future and to ensure accountability.

  6. Moving forward . . . • Establish a solid Campaign infrastructure • Build deeper understanding of issues and solutions • Build broad consensus around specific policy reforms • Engage in policy and funding advocacy

  7. The California Community Colleges • Community college perspectives and challenges • Bridge programs; contextualized approaches; learning community cohorts; career ladders; partnerships to move students to high wage/high demand careers. • Local examples – of “EDGE-iness” • The Career Ladders Project (Foundation for CCC) • The Community College League (CCLC) • The System Strategic Plan • Career Advancement Academies

  8. California Manufacturers & Technology Association (CMTA) • Why CMTA supports the EDGE Campaign • Key priorities/challenges facing CMTA in this period, and how these link to partnerships w/ community colleges. • Business/community college partnerships that speak to solutions for the future

  9. California Workforce Association (CWA) • CWAs role in and hopes for the EDGE Campaign • CWA central challenges and concerns • CWAs perspective: the state of relations between workforce boards- community colleges - business • Potential roles of workforce boards in that interface • Workforce partnerships that exemplify EDGE-iness

  10. With thanks to our funders . . . • The Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative • The Walter and Elise Haas Fund • The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation • The James Irvine Foundation • The San Francisco Foundation • The Women’s Foundation of California

  11. Thank you Linda Collins, Executive Director, Career Ladders Project for California Community Colleges Executive Committee, California EDGE Campaign Lcollins@CareerLaddersProject.org http:// www.CareerLaddersproject.org Bruce Stenslie, Deputy Director, California Workforce Association bstenslie@sbcglobal.net http:// www.calworkforce.org Willie Washington, Consultant, California Manufacturers and Technology Association http://www.cmta.net Wwashington@cmta.net

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