About SkillWorks › Green Collar Career Pathways Initiative

With generous support from the Barr Foundation, the Garfield Foundation, the Surdna Foundation, and the Chorus Foundation, SkillWorks is launching a Green Collar Career Pathways Initiative.

Building pathways to green collar jobs fits squarely within the SkillWorks model of creating opportunities for low-income, low-skilled adults to access jobs in industries with growing regional importance. Through this new initiative, SkillWorks will utilize its expertise and collaborative infrastructure in sectoral workforce development to help shape the development of green collar career pathways in Massachusetts.

The overall goal of SkillWorks' "Green Jobs Initiative" is twofold:

  • to support emerging workforce development efforts in "green" industries; and
  • to ensure access to green collar career pathways by lower skilled, low-income adults.

We will strive to achieve these goals by:

  • building the capacity of community-based green job training programs;
  • building a community of funders to coordinate investments in the green sector;
  • engaging in advocacy to ensure green sector policies and public investments foster job creation and are influenced by sound workforce development principles;
  • supporting research efforts in order to provide the community with labor market information and best practice models; and
  • increasing training opportunities for lower-income, lower-skilled adults that lead to employment in green collar jobs.

What’s New at SkillWorks

 


Governor Patrick's State of the State address focuses on middle-skill jobs. The Governor proposed sweeping changes to the community college system , focusing on how colleges can help address the state's middle-skill gap, which the Skills2Compete MA has highlighted for the past 18 months. Read more.

Thanks to everyone who testified or submitted written testimony on behalf of the Middle Skills Solutions Act (SB921/ HB2713) at our recent hearing before the Joint Committee on Labor and Workforce Development . We had a great turnout, with committee members in attendance expressing their full support for the bill. Read more about the hearing and stay in touch with our efforts to pass the bill!

Join the Skills2Compete-Massachusetts campaign to ensure that every Massachusetts resident has access to the equivalent of at least two years of education or training past high school and the support they need to complete such training.
Read more about the campaign