Welcoming Workforce Hub
At Rise Together, we believe creating a Welcoming Workforce is the key to meeting the labor market's demands while building thriving communities. As an impact consulting firm, we partner with civic, public, private, and nonprofit organizations to create ecosystems that enable and empower international newcomers to join the local workforce.
How it works
1. Local/Regional/State Government partners with Rise Together
Systems change must be led by the makers and maintainers of the system. From influence to implementation, we believe governments are the lynchpin to local change.
2. Together build a Welcoming Workforce Coalition
True change happens when the right people are at the table. Convening business leaders, elected officials, faith community members, international newcomers, community organizers, nonprofit organizations, and young professionals from across the community, the WWC brings together the community’s strongest assets.
3. Launch the WWC
Utilizing the collective impact model and Rise Together’s three-step process (Embrace, Strategize, Act); the WWC meets over the course of a year to better understand the newcomer experience, strategize how to match the communities' needs to those of newcomer communities and act on those ideas by launching several pilots.
4. Create a Welcoming Workforce through the Pilots
These pilot programs will be crafted around the community's unique needs and developed using Rise Together's strategic triangle.
Capacity
Carrot
Collaboration
By ensuring the pilots have the proper capacity (both staffing and financial), carrot (incentive to be utilized), and collaboration (use of existing skills and resources within the community), the community will be able to launch pilots that are scalable and sustainable.
Proven Approach
Rise Together first established the WWC model while working in the Office of the Governor in Connecticut. In response to the fall of Afghanistan in August 2021, a public, private, nonprofit collaboration was established. Due to the collaborative's work, Connecticut tripled its capacity to attract and retain Afghans. Connecticut shares the challenge that Northeast Ohio and many other regions face–population decline and talent shortages–and has since begun exploring how to expand these efforts to attract, retain, and place international newcomers across the state.
By ensuring international newcomers are welcome in our workforce, together, we will create a future where everyone can thrive, not just survive.