On Wednesday, December 6, board members and staff from the National Fund for Workforce Solutions experienced a behind-the-scenes tour of major workforce development projects happening in the Louisville region.
First, the National Fund group visited the Academies of Louisville at Seneca High School. They heard from leaders at Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS), which began implementing this career-themed learning model at its high schools in 2016. Current students from Seneca also shared their first-hand stories of how they selected their Academy pathway and the impact their experience has had on their career aspirations. Afterwards, the group took a student-led tour of the school’s Academies, which include Health & Education, Law & I.T., and Agriscience & Leadership.
KentuckianaWorks and Greater Louisville, Inc. have been key leaders behind the transformation of the county’s public high schools, especially around employer engagement.
Later in the afternoon, the National Fund group went downtown to The Spot: Young Adult Opportunity Center. This program, which serves vulnerable young adults who are neither in school nor working, is a partnership between KentuckianaWorks and Goodwill Industries of Kentucky. At The Spot, the group participated in a poverty simulation exercise designed to illustrate the kinds of barriers that the program’s clients are facing. They also toured the center and heard more about the curriculum from the program’s instructors and coaches.
Later, a panel of young adults and local employers discussed the challenges and barriers facing youth in today’s workforce. Representatives of Kentucky Kingdom, LINAK U.S., the Coalition Supporting Young Adults (CSYA), and YouthBuild Louisville joined the young adult participants. This was a continuation of the conversations that KentuckianaWorks has been convening as part of Generation Work™. In 2022, the Annie E. Casey Foundation selected Louisville as one of four new sites to participate in Generation Work™, which aims to improve employment outcomes for young adults of color. The National Fund is a key partner in this project.
KentuckianaWorks joined the National Fund’s network of workforce organizations in 2013 and receives funding from the organization. Michael Gritton, the Executive Director of KentuckianaWorks, also serves on the Board of Directors.
