FORGING EQUITABLE CAREER PATHWAYS
Every job should be a good job.
That’s why CJC works to ensure that people seeking to expand their basic skills — specifically those from economically disadvantaged groups — can access education, training, and supportive services.
Learn more about our current initiatives below.
Career Pathways
A job should provide fair wages and opportunities for professional growth. We work to ensure that people seeking to expand their basic skills can access education, training, and supportive services. We worked with diverse workforce partners across Illinois to put forth the Skills for Good Jobs Agenda, a set of policy recommendations that would invest in the state’s workforce development system and help move Illinois towards an equitable economic recovery.
In partnership with Young Invincibles and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, we released a report called The Third Pillar of Apprenticeship, which outlines strategies to make apprenticeships in Illinois more diverse and equitable.
CJC is a member of the Illinois Apprenticeship Collaborative Steering Committee, where we push for policy solutions that promote more equitable apprenticeship strategies for Illinois.
We partner with Women Employed and the Chicago Citywide Literacy Coalition to increase the use of the Career Foundations curriculum in adult education and workforce programs. See our work with the Pathways to Careers Network here.
We helped develop the statewide definition of “career pathways” in Illinois, in order to better align resources and ensure access. View the Career Pathways Dictionary.
Learn more about WIOA, the largest federal source of workforce development funding.
Clean Energy Jobs
As we adapt our economy to a changing climate, it must also benefit those who have historically been excluded from economic growth. We must ensure jobs specifically for economically disadvantaged groups.
We support the passage of the Clean Energy Jobs Act as members of the Climate Table coalition.
We’re soliciting input and feedback from the workforce field about the most important components of economic justice policy for our clean energy future as part of the Listen, Lead, Share campaign.
In 2020, we released a report entitled Building Pathways to Clean Energy Jobs in Illinois, which highlights the importance of investing in the future clean energy workforce as part of public investments in clean energy infrastructure. The report is informed by interviews with clean energy employers, workforce development practitioners, policy experts, and uses publicly available labor market and job posting information.