Day two of 2024 NYCETC conference discusses actionable change for workforce development

In his final speech preceding his death in 1968, activist Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said, “We’ve got some difficult days ahead,” speaking to a crowd of striking Black sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee.

Jennifer Jones Austin, CEO and executive director of the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies, echoed this sentiment when it comes to improving workforce development, programs that train and prepare people to join the workforce. The “difficult days” she said are ahead with the returning Trump presidency and an impending chaotic mayoral election cycle.

Jones Austin was the keynote speaker at the second day of the 2024 New York City Employment and Training Coalition Conference.

“Now the transition is underway to move from just talking to actually doing, to dismantling the strides that have opened the doors for countless individuals and families seeking true economic security,” she told attendees. “All while the field of workforce development already grapples with too few jobs, especially for persons without post-secondary degrees that pay living wages . . . and with workers too often not possessing the requisite skills to build better paying jobs that don’t require college degrees.”

Day two of the NYCETC Conference, subtitled, “the Workforce Agenda on Practice,” was held on Wednesday at Civic Hall, organized by City & State and sponsored by Citizens Bank, Hot Bread Kitchen and the New York State Research and Development Authority, or NYSERDA. 

The previous day’s sessions focused on policies to expand and strengthen workforce development in the state, while Wednesday’s agenda centered on more concrete ideas for change.

“The practice day has to be about what’s real,” NYCETC CEO Gregory Morris said. “At the end of the day, we know that there’s an intersection between policy and practice, practice and policy. You can’t have one without the other. They are interwoven, of course. But if what we talked about yesterday, and what we talked about today, isn’t put to what happens on a daily basis, then what difference does this make?”

The event’s welcome remarks recapped the gist of the previous day’s conversations – which included the potential of CUNY and New York City Schools to become drivers of workforce preparation and literacy – and expressed excitement for the dialogue to come.

“This day is all about rolling up our sleeves,” Debbie Roman, managing director of technology training nonprofit Per Scholas, said. “Today offers practical, action-oriented discussions, emphasizing the real-world application of workforce development strategies.”

In a session titled “Construction Meets Climate: Building the Green Collar Workforce,” NYSERDA Workforce Project Manager for Development and Training Beth Offenbacker mentioned the authority’s resources on career pathways, including the digital Energize Your Future tool that has career maps for green construction jobs. These maps lay out the skills, salaries and entranceways for “professions that are part of the green economy.”

“We don’t want to fund things just to train people; there needs to be something that happens at the end of that training,” Offenbacker said. “There needs to be either a placement into a job (that’s our gold standard), an apprenticeship, advanced formal training or a paid internship. We want people to use those skills to make a contribution. That brings their portfolio, so they have a calling card for what’s next in their career path.”

There were three fireside chats that highlighted the insights of private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice Foundation President Randy Moore, nonprofit Partnership for New York City President and CEO Kathryn Wylde and New York City Economic Development Corporation President and CEO Andrew Kimball.

Moore’s session was about the role philanthropy and nonprofits play in workforce development and in reaching the people most in need.

“Philanthropy should not just serve as the check writers, but really thought partners and do as much as we can to level the playing field,” Moore said. “Philanthropy is not going anywhere when it comes to workforce development. If anything, we need to double down.”

In the second chat, Wylde noted that tech and healthcare are the two highest growth sectors for professional jobs, both of which require specialized education and training.

“It’s preparing people to know how to make the climb up the ladder,” she said. “Because our first job is not, hopefully, going to be our last job. In the city, to keep up, you have to continue to learn and there are a number of opportunities now. Our educational institutions all offer opportunities for lifetime learning, and that’s what employers are looking for; they’re looking for people that are constantly growing.”

Overall, speakers and attendees seemed to consider the two-day conference, which ran during NYC Workforce Development Week, a success. The work is just beginning, though.

“Follow up is key,” said Jennifer Mitchell, CEO and president of The Doe Fund, a nonprofit that provides paid transitional work, housing and more for people with histories of homelessness, incarceration and substance abuse. “You can do a lot of talking here, but if you don’t follow up tomorrow with the person you connected with, then it’s all for naught.”

Coverage of the first day of the NYCETC Conference can be found here.