Advancing Equity and Upward Mobility Through Community College-Employer Partnerships

Just Released: ACE-UP College & Employer Partnership Action Guide

How can community colleges and employer partners create upward mobility for learners and workers? Learn about strategies implemented by Advancing Community Equity & Upward Mobility (ACE-UP) community of practice members in the newly published, “College and Employer Partner Action Guide.”

Join the accompanying upcoming webinar on December 11, 1-2:30pm ET, The ACE-UP Action Guide: How Community Colleges are Driving Equity and Upward Mobility:

Both the action guide and the webinar focus on ACE-UP’s five elements of success:
✅ Advancing institutionalized equity
✅ Aligning policy & practice
✅ Optimizing employer partnerships
✅ Enhancing student services
✅ Making data-driven decisions

About the Community of Practice

Community colleges are a key entry point into the workforce ecosystem for job seekers historically excluded from economic advancement. Strengthening the capacity of community colleges to address equity gaps and meet the skill development needs of employers in in-demand industries and career pathways, as well as the skill development needs of marginalized and underrepresented workers, matters more than ever, as communities across the nation seek to increase access to relevant credentials and skills that lead to economic sustainability.

January 25, 2024: CSW Receives $550,000 from Lumina Foundation to Extend ACE-UP Community of Practice

Advancing Institutionalized Equity: Develop tools and strategies that identify and address equity gaps that directly or indirectly impact labor market access and outcomes for underrepresented and marginalized populations.

Aligning Policy & Practices: Align, apply and connect with business policies and initiatives to better student/job seeker/incumbent worker and employer conditions that support improved longer-term outcomes.

Cultivating Employer Partnerships: Engage employers in providing insights into industry and workforce needs; collaborate on design, implementation, and investment of resources; provide value added connections and resources; apply and provide feedback on equitable programs, strategies, and practices; and develop longer-term relationships that go beyond customer to strategic partner.

Enhancing Student Services: Design and employ an interconnected continuum of processes and services that enables effective recruitment of targeted populations; assesses the needs of each individual; delivers training to prepare participants for work in quality jobs; coordinate job development and job placement services to match the skills of participants with the requirements of employers; and, collaborate with a range of partners to provide supportive services to address barriers to job retention and advancement.

Making Data-Driven Decisions: Effectively utilize disaggregated data related to labor market, industry and occupational trends, program assessment and learner outcomes to inform and guide key decisions regarding program investments, planning, implementation, and improvements.

A CoP is a group of practitioners that come together on a regular basis around a shared passion or concern in a process of collective learning.

CoPs provide participants with connections to people and resources, relevant topics and information, tangible insights and ideas to put into practice, and a safe place to share and reflect directly with peers. The ACE-UP CoP is focused on working with a set of community college-employer partnerships to advance strategies for employers to create workplace environments that lead to greater equitable outcomes for worker success.

Primary Objectives

Customized to meet the needs of participating community colleges and their industry partners, ACE-UP is led by experts at Corporation for a Skilled Workforce, alongside nationally recognized researchers, professionals, and practitioners to support member learning. ACE-UP will involve a series of bi-monthly workshops, as well as coaching, and technical assistance sessions through Summer 2024. Participants will work with peer community college and industry partners from across the country, gain exposure, employ practical planning tools, and reflect on and plan for applying the principles that underlie effective strategies at their colleges and industry partner workplaces. Ultimately, participating institutions will leave ACE-UP with an actionable plan to implement at their institutions. 

01.

To address equity gaps to increase full access to educational and economic opportunity, particularly for individuals from historically underrepresented and marginalized populations and communities.

02.

To support community members in addressing equity gaps and reaching identified equity focused goals.

03.

To advance employer equity workplace policies and practices that support industry partners in engaging with broader talent pools, becoming sustainable employers of choice.

Register for More Information

Interested in joining the ACE-UP Community of Practice or just learning more about the project? Register for more information and we’ll be in touch.

Sign Up

ACE-UP is a creation of Corporation for a Skilled Workforce (CSW). To learn more about CSW and their role in catalyzing change in educational and labor market systems to increase economic mobility, particularly for people of color and others historically excluded from success, visit their website at www.skilledwork.org