The City of Los Angeles Workforce Development Board (WDB) recently convened a newly created task force. The WDB’s Task Force on Under-represented Populations is comprised of great thinkers and doers who advocate for specific Angeleno populations.
The diverse audience within the full WDB meeting room included representatives and leaders from the Black Workers Center, City of Los Angeles Commission on the Status of Women, the LA Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Center, Homeboy Industries, Pilipino Workers Center, A New Way of Life (helping formerly incarcerated individuals), Integrated Recovery Network, Downtown Women’s Center, Hollywood Homeless Youth Partnership, Korean Churches for Community Development, the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce/Unite LA, TransLatina Coalition, the City of Los Angeles Departments on Aging and Disabilities and more.
WDB Chair, Charles Woo, called for the formation of this Task Force after a robust discussion at the July 2015 WDB Quarterly meeting during which leaders from several community organizations spoke up identifying Angeleno populations underrepresented in the customer base of the City’s network of WorkSource and YouthSource centers.
Determined to take action, Mr. Woo convened the new Task Force to:
- determine the extent of under representation within various Angeleno populations
- identify specific workforce needs of these populations
- seek existing best practices to serve these populations
- identify possible partnerships to expand services
- develop recommendations for a more equitable distribution of resources and services throughout the City’s network of 17 WorkSource Centers and 16 YouthSource Centers
The December 14, 2015 inaugural meeting engendered a robust discussion on data collection and possible action steps.
The Task Force has since held additional meetings. Representatives and advocates from nonprofit and community organizations have made presentations regarding the demographics and workforce needs of various underrepresented job seeker populations within Los Angeles.
You are invited to participate in all future meetings. For details on future meetings, please visit the WDB Meeting Calendar.
In addition, the Workforce Development Board is funding a $750,000 procurement of select additional organizations specifically focused on services and assistance to underrepresented job seeker populations through the City's WorkSource Center network.