As announced last year, KentuckianaWorks is partnering with Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, YouthBuild Louisville, the Coalition Supporting Young Adults, and Metro United Way to implement Generation Work™. Generation Work™ is a project, funded by the Annie E. Casey Foundation and delivered with the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, to center young adult worker voices in employer practice change.
Louisville Generation Work™ partners traveled to Chicago in June of this year to join teams from the other seven Phase Two sites for some training and peer learning. The local partnership was limited to sending four attendees, so we sent a delegation that included:
the grant lead, Aleece Smith, KentuckianaWorks
a lead for young adult programming, Evelyn Woock, KentuckianaWorks
a young adult, Sage Heath, temporary staff with KentuckianaWorks
a representative from a youth-serving organization, Tahiesha Howard, Goodwill Industries of Kentucky
Our representative from Goodwill Industries, Tahiesha Howard, experienced a shift in perception of the initiative that we hope to see in all of our partners, including employers, who feel they are too close to capacity to take on this work:
“When I was told that I had to go to Chicago for the Generation Work™ trip, I must admit, at first, I was not happy about it. I was scheduled to start my peer support training the week of the Chicago trip. I had been waiting to get in since February.
Now I am so grateful that I did. I learned the importance of teamwork and inclusivity. I was able to network with many different people and get insight on what it was that was expected of me in order to be of service to our young adults. Seeing how each person has different gifts and talents to bring to the table is awesome.”
Clockwise from top left: Evelyn Woock, Director of Youth and Young Adult Programs at KentuckianaWorks, Aleece Smith, Director of Inclusion and Sector Strategies at KentuckianaWorks, Tahiesha Howard, RISE Instructor at Goodwill Industries of Kentucky, Sage Heath, Project Assistant at KentuckianaWorks
The trip was an opportunity to celebrate successes like the youth-employer forum the partnership convened last year. Sage found it interesting to see how other partners in other parts of the country were developing their projects. They were excited to learn and talk about our project development and how far we’ve come and how far we are pushing to go.
Exercise completed by the Louisville Generation Work™ representatives visualizing our activities so far on the project (left).
The meeting also pushed attendees to think critically about working with employers to incorporate the principles of positive youth development and racial equity. Sage’s take on the experience was that it, “was very insightful on how to professionally address these topics and how to expand our horizons to strengthen the young adult voice and prepare the employers for these discussions.”
Evelyn Woock expands on that take:
“The convening opened my eyes to the strength of our knowledge base about racial equity, the importance of supportive employer leadership as well as reminding me personally that the resistance experienced within our local community is part of change. Having young adults, as well as adults with lived experience who are willing to be vulnerable and share their stories and experiences is vital to this work. Oftentimes we allow our own biases to supersede the information presented to us, without thinking about the how or why.
In the workforce the demand is often that we need bodies to fill positions and have to make profits, not considering how investment in employees is a crucial piece to loyalty and improved productivity. Young adults have had the opportunity/experience with Covid of being forced to slow down and with that have given thought to what employment is and what it could be. Young adults are tired of waiting on promises made by older generations (rightfully so) and are demanding equity and to be heard.“
While the Chicago sessions were, on balance, a positive experience for each attendee, the Louisville team couldn’t help but notice the almost complete lack of young adult voices in the room. This observation highlights the challenge of truly planning with young adults and the intentionality needed to make it happen. Each team in the room was convinced of the value young adult workers bring to the workforce. Even among that group, the hurdles on the path to inclusion still stood in the way. Another takeaway from Sage highlights the importance of including young adult perspectives in the work:
“I was excited and nervous about this trip because I still felt fairly new to this project and I was scared I would look foolish or uneducated but I couldn’t have been more wrong. I walked in with open ears and an open mind and I learned so much more than I could have ever imagined. I got insight and tips first hand and it has been so helpful to me. I also became aware that I am one of the youngest people working on this project and as scary as that seems, it gives me hope for the future of the workforce knowing that the younger generations getting more involved and I think that will save us in the long run.”
Are you an employer interested in making intentional, targeted changes to your employment practices as part of the Generation Work™ cohort? There’s still time to join us! Contact Aleece Smith at aleece.smith@kentuckianaworks.org to learn more about the project objectives and timeline.
