"Inclusion and equity are key components of economic development. As pointed out by the Fund For Our Economic Future's 'The Two Tomorrows' report, our region — like most of the country — has grown more unequal in recent decades. For years, large swaths of our community have felt excluded from the gains in economic growth we've seen," writes Rebecca Maurer in this op-ed in Crain's Cleveland Business.
KeyBank is supporting a comprehensive workforce training program, building on lessons of Fund-supported WorkAdvance, which "found that in Northeast Ohio a comprehensive program of social services, education and training could create better job candidates for employers in the manufacturing and health sectors."
Inside Philanthropy writes about The George Gund Foundation's $4 million award to support our collaborative and the implementation of the priorities laid out in The Two Tomorrows, with a specific emphasis on achieving more equitable economic outcomes.
In partnership with Crain Content Studio-Cleveland, the Fund for Our Economic Future will illustrate through a series of custom reports over the next five months the positive momentum, benchmarks and work yet to be done as it relates to TheTwo Tomorrows report. All of the content will be available at CrainsCleveland.com/TwoTomorrows. New stories will be available the second Monday of each month through March, as well as on April 15.
Deborah Vesy, president of Deaconess Foundation, a Fund member, and Cuyahoga County Executive Armond Budish, share their vision for Workforce Connect, a collaborative effort that is advancing sector partnerships in the county to improve connections of residents and jobs.
Shari Harrell, president of our member the Community Foundation of the Mahoning Valley, touts the themes of The Two Tomorrows in this article, emphasizing that "we really have to think about the concepts of job hubs and mobility and connecting everybody."
In an opinion piece for Crain's Cleveland Business, Hillary Stewart, president of Torchbearers, references our Fund's The Two Tomorrows, saying the findings "warrant an all-hands-on-deck-approach, and that includes emerging leaders."