The lifecycle of a grant-funded program is usually predictable: funding is announced, a plan is built, work gets done, and reports are written. Then, everything ends. Too often, funders move on and so does the work. For communities, that abrupt…
How a National Workforce Innovation Pilot Transformed a Small-Town Restaurant When Jessica and Matt Borza signed their family restaurant up for a new pilot program promoting open-book management, they were searching for a way to survive. Pondi’s, a 100-year-old restaurant…
One of the greatest strengths of our incredible national network is the constant reminder that collaboration isn’t just a value, it is a strategy that makes all of our work more impactful. Every day, we see how relationships across communities,…
Dig into the latest episode of State of Our Workforce: Unpacked The restaurant industry is one of the toughest places to talk about job quality. Low margins, unpredictable schedules, and challenging work have long made it difficult for employers to…
Dig into the latest episode of State of Our Workforce: Unpacked In our latest episode of State of Our Workforce: Unpacked, we turn to Chicago for an inspiring, challenging conversation about what it means to truly center the voices of…
Reflections from Our Visit to Baltimore At the National Fund, we know that the most effective solutions start with the people closest to the work. Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative (BWFC) is a powerful example of what’s possible when workforce solutions…
Why structural barriers are costing us far more than we realize Every day, headlines point to a tight labor market—millions of job openings and not enough people to fill them. But the real story is far more complex. While some…
Peer learning is a core tenet of the National Fund’s work. We believe that there is power in sharing experiences, resources, and practices with one another in a cohort setting. That is why the Activating Industry Leaders team leads the…
And Why That Matters for the Future of the Economy Across the country, two trends are sounding alarms for our economy: fewer young people are entering the workforce, and entire industries—like manufacturing—are struggling to fill critical roles. While these may…
Many organizations across the country are struggling to maintain morale and production. Employee engagement is in decline, while burnout is surging across the U.S. workforce. However, there is a critical — and often overlooked — solution that addresses both problems:…