Results for America’s State and Local Workforce Fellowship
The Fellowship
RFA’s State and Local Workforce Fellowship works with data- and evidence-driven state and local government leaders to make tangible progress in improving workforce outcomes. The State and Local Workforce Fellowship offers workforce leaders the opportunity to:
- Expand their professional network
- Gain new skills through trainings and resources and
- Catalyze projects in their jurisdictions through direct technical assistance.
The 2024 Fellowship Cycle
Ready to join? Visit our sign up page.
Beginning in July 2024, RFA will kick off a Rapid Cycle of the State and Local Workforce Fellowship, a 6-month intensive, to provide participants with foundational knowledge about job quality and evidence-based workforce spending initiatives they will need to implement effective projects.
Working with RFA staff, subject matter experts, and peers, participants will move through the educational components of training, technical assistance, and peer connection, in a virtual setting. Participants will then have the opportunity to apply these learnings by developing an action plan that aligns with their organization’s goals to either 1) advance job quality, or 2) improve workforce outcomes through evidence-based workforce spending. This action plan can be implemented with support from RFA through a longer-term 18-month Fellowship Cycle beginning in February 2025.
Core Fellowship Components
- Training delivered by subject matter experts to develop the skills and knowledge to implement evidence-based strategies. Examples from past trainings include defining and prioritizing evidence in grants and contracts, active contract/grant management, outcomes-based contracting, job quality and equity measurement and improvement, and evaluation and evidence-building.
- A peer network of top government innovators from around the country, offering new ideas and approaches and providing direction and motivation when challenges inevitably arise.
- Spotlighting and celebrating Fellows’ successes to drive public and political support and build demand among a broader group of workforce development decision-makers, through articles, speaking opportunities, op-eds, Congressional staff briefings, meetings with U.S. Department of Labor officials, and public events.
- Access to a curated repository of action-oriented tools such as sample RFPs, legislative language, toolkits, and strategies for leading organizational change.
You might be a fit for the workforce fellowship if you:
- Are an individual or team of colleagues who work for a workforce board, economic development agency, or service provider (must partner with an agency or board as part of a team)
- Want to improve your grants and contracts OR are interested in implementing a job quality initiative
- Care about equity and justice for marginalized communities
- Want to make your organization more data-driven
- Are interested in growing your professional skillset
- Enjoy getting to know other workforce development professionals