In San Joaquin County, CA, WestEd led a regional workforce pathway mapping and design process with workforce, community college, adult education, and industry stakeholders to design a set of new educational bridge training programs leading to living wage occupations in manufacturing and transportation, warehousing, and distribution.
This project involved multiple strategies and convenings over six months, including:
- Engaging with system leadership, faculty, and practitioners from every workforce segment
- Conducting an analysis of occupational and industry growth trends in the county and broader region
- Identifying occupational skills to strengthen pathways into entry level jobs and for transition from entry level into middle skill jobs
- Analyzing common skill sets across the two industry clusters
- Leading a planning process centered in principles of human centered design and focused on priority populations including participants in adult education, English language learners, and disconnected youth and young adults
The outcome of this process was agreement across community college, adult education, and workforce development leadership and faculty to implement three bridge programs focused on individuals with barriers to employment. Each bridge pathway included access to entry level employment within a few weeks, comprehensive career development, transition planning to continue education in the community college after initial training, and agreements from employers to support work based learning and direct involvement in the training pipeline.
