Making Better Work SPRA

This week host Kristin Wolff explores O4O—an exciting effort within the ecosystem of program stakeholders, data and performance experts, and civic tech champions trying gain more value from the vast amount of data the workforce system collects. This JFFLabs’ initiative focuses on creating value at the local level. It has engaged seven workforce boards in a cooperative effort to use their collective data more effectively and share insights more widely—through analytics on the one hand, and user-generates data stories on the other. It’s an exciting vision that complements and enriches the work of the broader workforce data community and one you’ll want to learn more about. Listen now!
More on O4O, partners and team members, and current products.
For more information:
Sign up for the #MakingBetterWork Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/903537e424bb/mbwnews Community of Practice/WorkforceGPS:
https://wdqi.youth.workforcegps.org/ Email Kristin: Kristin_Wolff@spra.com @kristinwolff

Credits:
The project was produced with the help of (the fantastic) Doug Foresta and has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration under Task Order Number l630DC-18-F-00008 the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.

It's Apprenticeship Week! #NAW2021 In honor of the occasion we're speaking with Vinz Koller about apprenticeship, data, equity and a vision for the future. Vinz leads the organization’s apprenticeship portfolio.
Resources cited:
Leveraging Workforce Data Systems to Improve Programs: The Case of Apprenticeship (A WDQI Resource Brief, 2021): https://wdqi.workforcegps.org/resources/2021/08/24/17/45/Leveraging-Workforce-Data-Systems-to-Improve-Programs-The-Case-of-Apprenticeship How Apprenticeships for Opportunity Youth Stay Resilient (SPR & JFF): https://www.jff.org/resources/how-apprenticeship-programs-opportunity-youth-stay-resilient-through-covid-19-recession/ gov JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-based Learning: https://www.jff.org/what-we-do/impact-stories/center-for-apprenticeship-and-work-based-learning/ New America’s Center on Education & Labor: https://www.newamerica.org/center-education-labor/ Vinz! https://www.linkedin.com/in/vinz-koller-b83a885/ For more information:
Sign up for the #MakingBetterWork Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/903537e424bb/mbwnews Community of Practice/WorkforceGPS:
https://wdqi.youth.workforcegps.org/ Email Kristin: Kristin_Wolff@spra.com @kristinwolff

Credits:
The project was produced with the help of (the fantastic) Doug Foresta and has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration under Task Order Number l630DC-18-F-00008 the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.

Michelle is Bitwise’s Chief Workforce Officer and served as Director and launch architect of the organization’s Onward platform, first developed in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Michelle helps catch us up on Bitwise’s growth—especially in apprenticeship—and shares important lessons about data and how it can be quickly deployed to help workforce agencies design programs (ongoing!) that get workers back on their feet quickly and with confidence.
We’re really excited about this one! Have a listen!
Resources:
Bitwise Industries: https://bitwiseindustries.com/ The Onward platform: https://onwardus.org/ Digital New Deal: https://bitwiseindustries.com/about/mission/digital-new-deal/ Bitwise in the midea: https://bitwiseindustries.com/about/media/ Michelle! https://www.linkedin.com/in/michelleskoor/ For more information:

Sign up for the #MakingBetterWork Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/903537e424bb/mbwnews Community of Practice/WorkforceGPS:
https://wdqi.youth.workforcegps.org/ Email Kristin: Kristin_Wolff@spra.com

Social:
@kristinwolff
@Social_Policy
SPR on LinkedIn
#MakingBetterWork
Credits:
The project was produced with the help of (the fantastic) Doug Foresta and has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration under Task Order Number l630DC-18-F-00008 the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.

In this episode, Dr. Annelies Goger, Rubenstein Fellow at Brookings, shares her insights about workforce policy and programs and identifies practical steps we can take to improve them through better data and modern data systems.
Annelies offers a rare perspective on workforce data. As a researcher with SPR, she evaluated programs and made policy recommendations to improve economic opportunities for people and communities. Poor, outdated, or hard-to-access data was a problem she experienced first- hand. While at Brookings, she has engaged dozens of researchers and practitioners—as well as legislators, policy makers, and technologists from across sectors—to inform her growing portfolio of work in the workforce policy—with data at its heart. (Follow @annelies_goger.)
What a treat to see next generation workforce policy come to life in her work! Be sure and check out the resources cited during our discussion including:
Digital Transformation in Education and Workforce Systems (Essay): https://www.brookings.edu/essay/digital-transformation-in-labor-and-education-systems/
Accompanying webcast: https://www.brookings.edu/events/improving-labor-and-education-data-systems-after-the-covid-19-unemployment-crisis/
The Labor Market Doesn’t Have a Skills Gap, It Has an Opportunity Gap (with Luther Jackson): https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2020/09/09/the-labor-market-doesnt-have-a-skills-gap-it-has-an-opportunity-gap/
De-segregating Work and Learning through ‘Earn and Learn’ Models: https://www.brookings.edu/research/desegregating-work-and-learning/
ApprenticeSIP Meet-up Group: https://www.meetup.com/ApprenticeSIP/
Doreen Massey’s Work on spatial division of labor and economic restructuring, and employment: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doreen_Massey_(geographer)
Institutions as Conscious Food Consumers (Edited Volume): https://www.elsevier.com/books/institutions-as-conscious-food-consumers/thottathil/978-0-12-813617-1
For more information:
Sign up for the #MakingBetterWork Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/903537e424bb/mbwnews
Community of Practice/WorkforceGPS:
https://wdqi.youth.workforcegps.org/
Email Kristin: Kristin_Wolff@spra.com
Social:
@kristinwolff
@Social_Policy
SPR on LinkedIn
#MakingBetterWork
Credits:
The project was produced with the help of (the fantastic) Doug Foresta and has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration under Task Order Number l630DC-18-F-00008 the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.

In this episode, we speak with Dr. Sean Simone, Director of Research and Evaluation at the Heldrich Center for Workforce Development (Rutgers University) in New Jersey. We cover traditional workforce data topics – like NJ’s evolving training provider data systems (ETPL) – and what it means to build for the future.
Sean understands the power of data to inform good strategy and practice, improve NJ residents lives and livelihoods, and rectify past injustices—and he’s doing everything in his power to bring these elements to the design and implementation of data systems, strategies, research, and consumer-facing tools in NJ and across the emerging Eastern States Data Collaborative.
What a treat to speak with him! And of course, he shared resources galore.
NJ Resources:
· NJ Education to Earnings Data Systems https://njed2earndata.org/ · NJ ETPL https://njtrainingsystems.dol.state.nj.us/ and https://www.nj.gov/labor/lwdhome/coei/etpl_procedures.html
· Heldrich Center for Workforce Development https://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/work/projects
· Data for the American Dream (at Heldrich) https://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/work/data-american-dream
National Resources: · Clearinghouse for Labor Evaluation and Research (CLEAR) https://clear.dol.gov/about · Workforce GPS https://wdqi.workforcegps.org/
· Commission on Evidence-based Policy (archive) https://bipartisanpolicy.org/commission-on-evidence-based-policymaking-archive/
· The Failure of Big Data to Address Problems in the Workforce during the COVID-19 Era, Sean Simon, for the Atlanta Federal Reserve (2021) https://www.atlantafed.org/cweo/workforce-currents/2021/04/16/the-failure-of-big-data-to-address-problems-in-the-workforce-during-the-covid-19-era · Future legislation? https://sites.ihep.org/postsecdata/data-at-work/better-data-horizon-analysis-evolving-student-level-data-legislation
For more information:
· Sign up for the #MakingBetterWork Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/903537e424bb/mbwnews
· Community of Practice/WorkforceGPS: https://wdqi.youth.workforcegps.org/
· Email Kristin: Kristin_Wolff@spra.com
Social: @kristinwolff @Social_Policy SPR on LinkedIn
#MakingBetterWork
Credits:
The project was produced with the help of (the fantastic) Doug Foresta and has been funded, either wholly or in part, with Federal funds from the Department of Labor, Employment & Training Administration under Task Order Number l630DC-18-F-00008 the contents of this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement of same by the U.S. Government.

In this episode, we talk with Dr. Julia Lane, cofounder of the Coleridge Initiative—a program that aims to transform the way governments access and use data for social good. It’s a wide-ranging discussion covering major themes in Julia’s new book, Democratizing Our Data: A Manifesto, new public data demands sparked by the COVID crisis, as well as strategies for meeting urgent needs in the short term while building better systems infrastructure over time. Julie sees both critical urgency and limitless potential for using data more effectively to inform public policy, program designs, and the sequence and timing of interventions to produce better outcomes for people and communities.
So many references! And we’ve got you covered:
Democratizing Our Data: A Manifesto (2020) The Coleridge Initiative/Administrative Data Research Facility (ADRF) Training ADRF Collaborators National Convening: Jobs Data for Evidence-Based Policy (Information & Registration) Origins of the Unemployment Rate: The Lasting Legacy of Measurement without Theory, David Card (2011) Burning Glass Jobs Data NASWA Breaking New Ground Foundations Catalyzing Change in the Public Data Space: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Schmidt Futures Overdeck Family Foundation Morrill Act and Land Grant Colleges/Agricultural Extension Programs For more information:
Sign up for the #MakingBetterWork Newsletter: https://mailchi.mp/903537e424bb/mbwnews Community of Practice/WorkforceGPS:
https://wdqi.youth.workforcegps.org/ Email Julia: lane@coleridgeintiative.org Email Kristin: Kristin_Wolff@spra.com

Social:
@kristinwolff
@Social_Policy
SPR on LinkedIn
#MakingBetterWork
Credits:
Produced with support from the US Department of Labor’s WDQI Technical Support Project and (fantastic) Doug Foresta.