Happy Fall from WPTI! September has been an exciting month for WPTI, full of program launches, cohort graduations, conferences, and programming!

Highlights include:

Culmination of DTI Learning Community Second Cohort

On September 13, participants in the second cohort of WPTI’s Digital Transformation Initiative (DTI) Learning Community marked the completion of the program with presentations of their Digital Transformation Roadmap capstone projects. This year’s cohort participants included the Consortium for Worker Education (CWE), Emma’s Torch, NYCID, Osborne Association, ROC United, and St. Nicks Alliance.

Throughout the learning community, they explored critical issues at the nexus of the digital revolution, employment, and workforce development: the digital skills gap as a driver of economic inequality; the impact of automation and task augmentation on jobs in every industry; the multiplier effect of the right technology on organizational performance and outcomes; and much, much more.  Their capstone projects focused on how they could incorporate and utilize digital tools to do more, better, faster, cheaper, in several areas, including recruitment and intake, classroom training, data collection and sharing, employer engagement, and post-placement tracking and alumni support.

In the coming months, WPTI will be sharing an evaluation of our Digital Transformation Initiative and our DTI Playbook designed to help workforce organizations take on their own successful transformation.

Read more about the program and the capstone projects here.

Interested in learning more about the Digital Transformation Initiative and the DTI Learning Community? Contact Dan Salemson, Managing Director of Digital Learning and Technology, at dsalemson@wpti.org.

 

Launch of 2023-24 Mentored Internship Program (MIP)

WPTI launched the 2023-24 iteration of our longstanding Mentored Internship Program (MIP) in partnership with the NYC Administration for Children’s Services and the Pinkerton Foundation, with a two-day kickoff event. MIP brings together a collection of best-in-class NYC foster care agencies focused on providing mentored internships, career exploration, and valuable work experience to young adults on the verge of aging out of the foster care system. WPTI supports these organizations as they support young adults as they transition to independence, with the goal of college and career success. Through a grant from the Workforce Development Institute (WDI), WPTI also provided in-depth training to MIP Coordinators and staff on career pathways, labor market data, and strategies to improve post-internship placement outcomes.

Want to learn more about MIP? Email Christopher Lynn-Logue, Program Manager, at clynnlogue@wpti.org.

 

Conferences, Appearances, and Program Highlights

 

• CTE Leadership Collaborative Presentation: CEO Sherazade Langlade and Chief Learning Officer Sabeen Pirani presented at the annual convening of the CTE Leadership Collaborative, a national initiative of the ECMC Foundation, in Denver, Colorado on September 19. The theme of this year’s convening was creating Post-Secondary CTE ecosystems that foster thriving & belonging; for learners, for our colleagues, and ourselves. Sherazade and Sabeen led a session focused on Action Learning - a group coaching methodology that uses probing and powerful questions to unearth solutions and actions to a challenge.
• Employment for Asylum Seekers & Refugees: Chief Program Officer Andrea Vaghy was quoted in Preparing Today’s Asylum Seekers to Be Tomorrow’s Workforce, a new report by the Center for an Urban Future focused on how asylum seekers and refugees could meet the labor market and economic needs of New York City if given the proper training, support, and access to opportunities.
• Cannabis Industry & Workforce Development: Director of Field Building and Engagement Justin Collins joined the NYC Employment and Training Coalition (NYCETC), along with key stakeholders and experts from Lehman College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, RWDSU Local 338, the JUSTUS Foundation, Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, and more, to discuss workforce development opportunities in the cannabis industry with more than a dozen members of the New York City Council on September 14.
• Workforce Systems Leadership Program (WSLP) Strategy Day: On September 26, WPTI and partners Coro New York hosted the second Strategy Day session of this year’s Workforce Systems Leadership Program (WSLP), discussing the role of the workforce development ecosystem in addressing major citywide challenges in 2023, featuring guest panelists Angie Kamath of NYU School of Professional Studies, Gregory Morris of the NYC Employment and Training Coalition, and Eli Dvorkin of the Center for an Urban Future. WSLP participants also met and interviewed Harini Venkatesh (program alumnus) of the NYC Department of Education, Je’Nean Jones-Seo (program alumnus) of the NYC Department of Small Business Services, and Merrill Pond of the Partnership for New York City.