There are four pillars that make up the solutions necessary to create prosperous communities, says Amanda Cage, CEO and president, National Fund for Workforce Solutions.

WorkingNation sat down with Cage at Presented by JFF Horizons – See Beyond 2022 in New Orleans. 

She says, “We believe in equipping workers for success through job training, but really focused on what are the supports workers need to be successful in those programs. We believe in activating employers to make jobs better. Employers have an important role to play in social mobility.”

Cage continues, “We believe in change systems knowing that there are systems that either serve our communities well or not so well. How can we improve those dynamics? We do all of that through a co-investment model saying that together, we need to align our resources around a shared vision of what workforce development looks like in communities.”

Social capital is critical, adds Cage. “It’s one of those elements of mobility that we don’t talk about a lot. And we don’t have a lot of processes and programs to facilitate that. We know that the way people get jobs is by who they know, what they have access to, and what they see as possibilities.”

Learn more about National Fund for Workforce Solutions.