Each year during Black History Month, I’m always energized by all the ways we celebrate the myriad accomplishments of Black Americans and the Black community’s contribution to building the foundations of this nation. But I also recognize that it is a time to shine a light on the unique, systemic challenges that still plague Black communities and to take stock of what we should be doing to eliminate barriers to progress.

Almost half of U.S. workers earn low wages, and Black workers, women and other people of color are overrepresented in this group. While some will move up by gaining new skills and credentials, most low-wage workers don’t see much economic mobility. Beyond that, the unemployment rate for Black people has persistently been twice as high as the rate for the white population for more than 60 years. Sixty years. For those of us whose work centers on fostering racial equity in the workforce, statistics like this make it clear that we need new, better ways of making work work for everyone.

Here at the National Fund, we want to make sure that every job is a good job. We know that making jobs better not only means understanding what’s holding workers back, but also ensuring jobs are designed with people — not just job functions — in mind from the start. That’s why one of our major focus areas centers on collaborating with employers to ensure workers have a voice in shaping their jobs and building better workplaces.

To this end, I’m excited that we recently launched our latest Centering Workers in Job Design initiative in eight communities across the country, including:

• Atlanta, Ga.
• Cincinnati, OH.
• Hartford, Conn.
• Wichita, Kan.
• Baltimore, Md.
• Cleveland, OH.
• Indianapolis, Ind.
• Pittsburgh, Pa.

The National Fund and our Network Partners will work with employers to improve job quality and business results in infrastructure industries (construction, energy, and manufacturing), and on improving career navigation in healthcare. Working with employers in these large industries offers a great opportunity to create better jobs for workers who have been historically crowded in low-wage jobs.

Next month we are hosting a symposium to delve deeper into this work and discuss what we’re learning so far. Registration for the event starts next week, so be sure to stay connected to for more details!