Greater Cleveland Career Consortium: Regional Workforce Initiative Announced

Regional Workforce Initiative Announced

Cleveland, OH, Tuesday, March 8, 2022 

Greater Cleveland industries and employers are lining up to participate in a workforce development initiative that has taken root in Cleveland’s public schools and will spread across the region.     

The strong response is fueling growth of the Greater Cleveland Career Consortium, an unprecedented collaboration that in addition to employers and industry groups includes youth-centered organizations, K-12 and higher education, philanthropy, and government.    

Business, civic, and education leaders announced formation of the consortium on Tuesday at the Euclid headquarters of The Lincoln Electric Co. Lincoln Electric is one of more than 50 industry and employer partners that have signed on to the GCCC. 

The goal of the consortium is to ensure that every student in the region graduates from high school with a career vision and a plan for how to achieve it. Career exploration and guidance will be embedded in a student’s experience from sixth grade through graduation, including school curriculum, time set aside for advising, and out-of-school work exposure and experiences.   

The sectors involved in the consortium will work together to connect students to high-growth, family-sustaining wage jobs and create a skilled and dedicated Northeast Ohio workforce for generations.  

GCCC will help employers fill pressing demand for skilled workers by exposing students to the vast array of career opportunities in the community, said Shana Marbury, general counsel and senior vice president, talent, for the Greater Cleveland Partnership.   

“Today’s hiring environment is one of the most competitive we’ve seen in many decades,” she said. “Employers are eager to find tools that help them develop a strong, diverse, local talent pipeline to fill their open jobs now and in the future. The Greater Cleveland Career Consortium is just such a tool.”   

“Over the years, individual employers have generously volunteered time, staff and resources to introduce our District’s students to careers and the skills those careers require,” Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO Eric Gordon said. “The consortium will bring those efforts to scale in a way that benefits all of Northeast Ohio.”    

JPMorgan Chase is awarding $500,000 to the consortium. Half of the funds will go to the Cleveland schools’ career pathway programs; the other half will support Project Captivate, a technology, talent attraction, cultivation, and recruitment system at the Greater Cleveland Partnership.  

“It’s imperative that employers, school systems, and government agencies come together as a team to develop and implement proven strategies to support the establishment of high-quality career pathways,” said Rudy Bentlage, JPMorgan Chase Market Executive for Middle Market Banking and Specialized Industries for Northeast Ohio. “Today’s investment by JPMorgan Chase will help strengthen the region’s workforce, and ultimately create a strong pipeline of talent for years to come.”       

The collaboration’s first program, Planning and Career Exploration, PACE, was rolled out in the Cleveland school district last November. PACE will introduce all students to career possibilities at an early age and guide them as they develop the confidence, knowledge, skills, and relationships required to achieve their goals.   

The consortium has hired an executive director, Autumn Russell, who previously was with the manufacturing advocacy group MAGNET as vice president of diversity and leader of the Early College, Early Career youth apprenticeship program. She has been dedicated to career pathway design and work-based learning models throughout her career.   

Consortium director, Autumn Russell with Y.O.U. CEO, Craig Dorn.

GCCC will also employ a small staff to convene work groups focused on curriculum, partnerships, and diversity and inclusion. The youth workforce development nonprofit Youth Opportunities Unlimited will serve as the consortium’s home and fiscal agent.  

Jose Burgos, a 2019 graduate of CMSD’s John Marshall School of Information Technology, is now a junior majoring in computer science at Cleveland State University and recently finished an internship working in data analytics for University Hospitals.

Burgos knew where he wanted to go and developed contacts who are helping him get there. He said GCCC can guide others as they chart their own courses.  

“This could be something universal, something for anyone who wants to pursue their passion for learning,” he said.