Inclusive Regional Economic Development

Despite alarming projections of an economic downturn and state budget shortfalls this year, leaders in California are starting to see progress stemming from pandemic-era investments focused on building and strengthening regional collaboration.

How California K-16 Collaboratives are leveraging regional partnerships and initiatives to achieve equitable outcomes.

A group of community-based organizations in the Inland Empire are on a mission to shift the narrative about what it takes to do workforce development in a way that centers equity. These leaders have proposed a set of investments needed to achieve equitable economic empowerment in their communities.

The Framework is designed to support workforce boards in building regional data capacity to identify, coordinate, and track the impact of regional activities. In addition, the Framework outlines how workforce boards can strategically align to statewide goals focused on increasing equitable upward mobility. Demonstrating equitable economic growth requires the identification of key terms including equity, inclusion, and job quality, as well as associated metrics and a data infrastructure plan to ensure sustainability across mutually reinforcing investments. The California Framework for Regional Plan Implementation breaks down key decisions and provides conversation guides, a menu of metrics, and case studies to support workforce boards and their state leaders in implementing inclusive economic advancement for all Californians.

California has a history of investing in regional strategies to support the educational attainment and economic growth of its many regional economies. These include the Strong Workforce Program, California Career Pathways Trust, to name a few, and now new programs like the Community Economic Resilience Fund. In this brief, we share recommendations to state leaders for what is needed to ensure these significant regional investments can build a foundation for shared prosperity as well as close economic and educational equity gaps.

Cluster-based economic development can be an effective strategy for regions to generate economic growth that benefits all residents, provided that equity and inclusion are at the center of the approach. JFF explores an emerging case study in the Inland Empire region of California, examining what it takes in practice to implement a cluster strategy towards the triple bottom line goals of job quality, environmental sustainability, and inclusive growth.

The Fresno K-16 Collaborative is a signature initiative of the California Governor’s Council on Post-Secondary Education that aims to increase college degree attainment in high-demand industries, align educational preparation with the demands of regional employers, and close race and equity gaps by developing an integrated system and seamless set of educational experiences across the region’s K-12 districts, community colleges, and four-year universities.

This report describes the process of participatory design and asset mapping facilitated by JFF from July 2021 to March 2022; lays out a set of recommendations for deepening, scaling, and sustaining the progress that has been made by the engineering pathway during the pilot period; and offers lessons for other stakeholders interested in launching K-16 regional collaboratives.

Equitable economic growth requires inclusion at every step of the way, from how we design our education and training systems to how we use collaborative strategies and coordinated investments for regional economic development. JFF presents a vision for growing our economy differently, prioritizing asset-based, cross-sector approaches to build community resilience.

JFF and Turning Basin Labs are engaged in a multiphase initiative to identify and invest in high road employment models in California. This update documents the results of Phase 1 of this project, which include the worker-led development of a new framework for assessing job quality and an interactive tool that employers can use to design rewarding and fulfilling jobs that reflect worker experiences and perspectives.

Competency-based education (CBE) offers a model for flexible, outcomes-focused learning that empowers learners and provides clear signals to employers.

English learners have tremendous potential but too often are held back from participating in the courses that lead to postsecondary degree completion and career success. Dual enrollment can be a powerful tool to increase college enrollment and success rates, especially if implemented with attention to English learners’ unique assets and needs. This brief explores the current state of dual enrollment participation for English learners, highlights promising practices, and provides recommendations for creating a more seamless transition between high school and college for this group.

The Blueprint is designed to support community college leaders in launching a direct assessment competency-based education (CBE) program. Direct assessment CBE requires significant changes to teaching, learning, and business operations that must be addressed strategically. The Blueprint breaks down implementation into seven distinct phases, outlines key activities for each phase, and provides curated resources and frameworks to support site-level work. The document also highlights areas in each phase where state or system leaders can support institutions through specific actions.

This work was designed in collaboration with and in support of the California Community Colleges.

This initiative aims to identify, seed, and support employers that have found creative ways to advance worker power, improve job quality, and support career development for low-wage earners.

Millions of working Californians are unable to fulfill their families’ basic needs. Higher-paying jobs that require specialized skills are beyond their reach, and many entry-level jobs are likely to be automated by 2022, so there’s an urgent need to redesign the state’s education and training systems to help people get the skills they need to secure family-supporting jobs. This brief—the third in a series—examines the need for a more equitable balance of influence and power among the key stakeholders—employers, workers, and training providers—in the workforce development system

Millions of working Californians are unable to fulfill their families’ basic needs. Automation threatens entry-level jobs while higher-paying jobs require skills that are out of reach. The state’s education and training systems must be redesigned to help fill the skills gap. This brief—the second in a series—describes innovations advanced by organizations participating in the James Irvine Foundation’s Better Careers initiative, including substantive investments by employers, emerging avenues for entering and connecting with growing industries, and intermediary efforts to scale innovative approaches.

Many communities are embracing "inclusive economic development" as a way to address inequity that persists even as the economy grows. In an effort to spark a national conversation about the conditions needed to achieve inclusive economic development, this report gives an overview of what JFF has learned about the topic through our research and in the field.

JFF highlights work to increase economic advancement for youth and adults in California by creating strong, unified education and workforce systems across the state. The regional cross-sector collaboratives have focused on helping more low-income young people graduate high school and earn valuable postsecondary credentials. Their efforts, which integrate rigorous academics, high-quality career-technical education, and work-based learning, have generated critical lessons about how to lead positive, inclusive change at scale.

Dual enrollment has long been recognized as a powerful strategy to increase college enrollment, success, affordability. Yet compared to many other states, California has been slow to embrace this proven approach. With support from the College Futures Foundation, JFF and Career Ladders Project have conducted research on the evolution and current state of dual enrollment policy and practice in California. Together we have developed joint recommendations for expanding dual enrollment in California and expanding its impact.