Session 4: Addressing Structural Racism in the Workforce and Economy – September 29, 2021
Summary:
The session focused on the impact of structural racism in the world of work. The event highlighted solutions and interventions that workforce systems, communities, young people, employers and training providers are implementing to improve career outcomes for students of color and foster meaning, purpose and belonging among young workers.
Session goals include:
- Highlight the practices of workforce systems in the OYF network and elsewhere that advance racial equity
- Feature stories from the OYF network on how to advance employer practices that promote belonging and job quality for young people of color, and connect these to the current opportunity in the business community for advancing a racial equity agenda.
- Tell stories of innovation that connect career development with other systems and sectors including mental health and community safety and public benefit
Session Introduction and Opening Plenaries:
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Racial Equity in the Workforce System
Dr. Michelle Wilson of the
National Fund for Workforce Solutions
and Dr. Abbie Langston of
will share learnings from the “Advancing Workforce Equity” projects, where their organizations worked with five regional workforce systems to create comprehensive analysis of long-standing racial gaps in the labor market and develop local blueprints for action. This session will highlight the importance of articulating your “why”, uncovering the drivers of inequity, and understanding the “who” in your work using disaggregated data and stories. In addition, participants will hear from Andrea Glispie of the
United Way of Metropolitan Dallas
, to unpack Dallas’s equity journey as a National Fund Workforce Collaborative.
Speakers: Andrea Glispie, Senior Director, Career Pathway, United Way of Metropolitan Dallas
Jerry Hawkins Executive Director of Dallas, Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation
Dr. Abbie Langston, Senior Project Associate, PolicyLink
Dr. Michelle Wilson, Director of Evaluation and Learning, National Fund
Mike Swigert, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions (Moderator)
Racial Equity on the Job
The swelling of support for racial justice since 2020 has seen businesses make public commitments to embrace a racial equity agenda. How can the opportunity youth field and collaboratives connect with local and national efforts to take advantage of this moment and advance employer practice change to create conditions where BIPOC young people persist, advance, and thrive?
Speakers: Cox, CEO, iFoster
Kelley-Francess Freson, Senior Manager, Programs and Engagement, JUST Capital
Keira Green and Tyree Crawford, iFoster participants
Kimberly Pham, Engagement Coordinator, Opportunity Youth United
Melissa Stirling, Hilton Worldwide
Mike Swigert, Aspen Forum for Community Solutions (moderator)
Job Quality, Equity and Belonging – Training Provider Levers for Employer Practice Change
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Summary:
Throughout the first phase of the
initiative supported by the
, the Aspen Institute’s
Economic Opportunities Program
(EOP) worked with communities to document effective practices to advance employer practice changes leading to job quality, which is inherently related to racial equity. Drawing on their recently released typology, this session highlights strategies that youth workforce training providers and intermediaries can use to influence employer partners to shift their culture and business practices so that BIPOC workers, including opportunity youth, feel more included, are more successful and experience higher job quality.
Speakers: Amy Blair, Research Director, Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP) Sam DeCarlo, Director of Workforce Development, Our Piece of the Pie (OPP)
Mobile Response – Envisioning Future Career Pathways in Mental Health at a Time of Transformation
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Summary:
Unmet mental health needs amongst youth are acute. However, there is a shortage of MH professionals to meet the service needs for all populations. a. Currently, many mental health professions require extensive postsecondary education and credentialing. What if there was a way to mitigate the shortage of mental health professionals, accessibility, and unmet mental health needs of youth?
This session highlights one model of mental health support, mobile response as an avenue to create pathways to Mental Health professions for Opportunity Youth. Mobile Response is a 24/7 service that provides a rapid response for individuals and families experiencing crises, traumatic events, or heightened emotional symptoms that have inhibited their ability to function or cope. What opportunities are there to envision new pathways to family-sustaining careers in crisis response, mental health, safety and wellness that leverage the lived experience of opportunity youth and communities through shorter-term, culturally relevant professional training as an alternative to traditional clinical models?
Speakers: Whitney Bunts, Policy Analyst,
Tim Black, Director of Consulting,
Guaranteed Income and Economic Mobility – Emerging Lessons from Foster Youth Pilots in California
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Summary:
Guaranteed income has emerged as an innovative policy lever to advance economic security for all. This session explored the growing Basic Income movement and how it intersects with youth financial capability. In Santa Clara and San Francisco,
is leading Guaranteed Income pilots supporting young people transitioning out of foster care and young parenting mothers, integrated with their financial mentoring program.
Early results are promising, as is public commitment to the approach in California, where the legislature just passed a bill to expand the pilot statewide. This model of having stable income paired with financial mentoring can also be replicated in the workforce development field. In this session, MyPath unpacked these pilots and connect them to the youth-led
(Real Youth Troubles & Solutions), a policy platform created by young leaders from their programs.
Speakers: Fahad Qurashi, Senior Director of Strategy, MyPath
Amadeos Oygata, Policy Associate, MyPath
Session 5: Reframing Environmental Justice with a Racial Justice Lens – December 15, 2021
Summary
: The last session in the 2021 Power of Place series will focus on reframing environmental justice and increasing equitable access to the natural environment with a racial justice lens. The session will bring together leaders in the environmental justice movement – including young adult leaders, grassroots and community-based organizations, philanthropy, and representatives from federal and local governments – who will help us build our collective understanding of the healing power of nature, especially for Black and Indigenous people and communities of color. We will hear from different voices in the field who will share practical examples of community-focused efforts and policy solutions at the intersection of nature and healing, protecting outdoor spaces, environmental justice, and racial justice. We appreciate the expertise and assistance of Children & Nature Network with this session! Session goals include:
- Build understanding of the healing power of nature especially for Black and Indigenous people and communities of color in the context of Arnold Chandler’s research on structural racism
- Feature different voices and practical examples (models, approaches and initiatives) that intersect nature, environmental justice and racial justice
- Address and reframe biases around white-dominant conservationist spaces and tropes to center Indigenous people and communities of color, especially as it relates to environmental justice and protecting outdoor spaces
- Grow awareness of policies and paths for advocating for policies related to securing resources for prioritizing environmental justice and healing in the outdoors
You can watch the full session via The Aspen Institute’s Youtube channel or please find individual session links below.
Arts Opening & Land Acknowledgement Intro
Watch The Video: Youtube
Speakers: Francis Mendoza, Children & Nature Network
Monica Lopez Magee, Children & Nature Network
Framing of Session & Keynote Address
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Keynote Address
Speakers:
Monique Miles, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
Dr. Carolyn Finney – Storyteller, Author and Cultural Geographer
Benefits of Nature Wheel Overview and Small Group Discussions
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Speakers:
Monica Lopez Magee – Children & Nature Network
Solutions from the Field Panel Discussion
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Speakers:
Julie Garreau – Cheyenne River Youth Project
Abiodun Henderson – Founder, Gangstas to Growers
Monica Lopez Magee – Children & Nature Network
Yelena Nemoy – Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
Sheridan Ray – CCCN
Gaby Benitez – CCCN
Reframing Tropes Small Group Discussion
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Speakers:
Francis Mendoza, Children & Nature Network
Philanthropy & Policy Panel
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Speakers:
Niobli Armah IV, My Brother’s Keeper Alliance
Jose G. Gonzalez, Founder & Director Emeritus of Latino Outdoors
Dawn Knickerbocker (Anishinaabe, White Earth Nation), Native Americans in Philanthropy
Juan D. Martinez Pineda (Be’ena’ Za, Zapoteca), Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
Closing: Love Note
Watch The Video: Youtube
Speaker:
Jamiel Alexander, Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions