Workforce Development Overview

This Quick Start Kit is designed to provide helpful templates, resources, and content to support members who are responsible for, involved in, or lead workforce development. This could be workforce board staff, career center staff, or others from post-secondary institutions, workforce organizations, and employers. Included in this Quick Start Kit are job aids, toolkits, videos, research, articles, and additional resources to help members be more effective, impactful, and successful in their efforts.

Job Aids

• Ecosystem Job Aid (pdf)

• Request your Labor Market Report here (available once per year to organizational/institutional members)

Webinars & Professional Development

From Apprenticeship to Associate Degree - A New Model for Workforce Development

What's the Measure? Proving Your Program's ROI

Building Workplace Upskilling Programs that Work

Linking Learning and Work for Workforce Development

Career Exploration to Build Talent Pipelines

Generational Leadership

• Microcourse Recommendations: Improving Programs with Labor Market Data, Designing Stackable Credentials, Embedding Experiential Learning into your Program

  • Need microcourse access? Complete this request form!

Research & Articles

• Collaborating for Impact

• EPCE Case Study

• The Adult Learner: A Critical Ally for State Economic Development

Additional Resources

CAEL partners with Apprenticeships for America (AFA), a national nonprofit coalition working to expand access to high-quality apprenticeship programs.

Apprenticeships for America is on a mission to revolutionize how America prepares its workforce for a brighter future. Apprenticeships are a proven, cost-effective pathway to economic prosperity. It's time for the United States to fully embrace its potential. Their multi-pronged strategy includes:

1. Research & Policy Analysis to propose structural reforms, apprenticeship standards, incentives, outreach, marketing, and funding mechanisms.
2. Advocacy to demonstrate to federal and state officials how scaling registered apprenticeships can enhance equality of opportunity, workforce diversity, worker pride, productivity, and success pathways, and push for significant funding and system development.
3. Membership Network, bringing together intermediaries, schools, business leaders, labor representatives, and researchers to advocate for apprenticeship expansion, share best practices, and drive policy change at both federal and local levels.

CAEL helps postsecondary institutions and training providers offer a holistic learning experience for adult learners. This includes aligning curricula to positive labor market outcomes in growth industries, assessment and recognition of prior learning and coursework that develop college-level competencies, developing industry partnerships, and more. Visit our website to learn more, or reach out to our Partnerships team to chat!

• CAEL Initiative Support & Technical Assistance