Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Community of Practice
May 31, 2024
At a Glance
JFF is leading a national community of practice for 34 coalitions to develop, implement, and scale worker-centered sector strategy training programs in renewable energy, broadband, and transportation sectors.
Challenge
The United States workforce lacks the amount of skilled and diverse workers needed to occupy the thousands of infrastructure-related jobs resulting from the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. There is also a lack of public-private partnerships at the local and regional levels, which are necessary to develop or scale workforce training programs to prepare workers to support renewable energy, transportation, and broadband infrastructure sectors. Training and supportive services are needed to hire and provide additional career pathway opportunities for incumbent workers in infrastructure-related sectors, with an emphasis on serving people from communities that are rural or are underrepresented in these sectors.
Approach
The Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs grant program is funded by the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration, allocating $94 million across 34 public-private partnerships, spanning 25 states and the District of Columbia. Jobs for the Future (JFF) oversees the program to develop and scale inclusive training models that emphasize the delivery of training and supportive services, particularly to those from communities that are rural or are underrepresented in the infrastructure sector. JFF supports the program as the technical assistance provider, facilitating the community of practice and the Infrastructure Learning Community, and overseeing grants reporting and performance management.
Results
Since the Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs grant program first began in the fall of 2023, JFF has provided individual coaching to 34 grantees, hosted virtual events to foster collaboration among community of practice grantees, and made connections with external subject matter experts to ensure coalitions have the resources they need to succeed. The Building Pathways program will continue placing local and regional workers into quality jobs in in-demand infrastructure sectors through 2028.
This webpage was prepared by JFF using Federal funds under contract 1605C2-21-A-0007 from the U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration. The statements, findings, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Employment and Training Administration or the U.S. Department of Labor.
Funder
U.S. Department of Labor Employment and Training Administration
Partners
- AFL-CIO Working for American Institute (WAI)
- International Transportation Learning Center (TLC)
- Center for Energy Workforce Development (CEWD)
