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Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative

 

nurse_train.jpgLaunched in 2004, the Bay Area Workforce Funding Collaborative (BAWFC or the Collaborative) is a public/private partnership of more than a dozen philanthropic foundations and the State of California Employment Development Department (EDD) designed to strengthen and expand sectoral workforce development efforts in the Bay Area region.

The BAWFC was created as a response to an increasingly wide skills gap that leaves employers unable to meet their workforce needs and dislocated and unskilled workers unable to secure family-sustaining employment. The BAWFC addresses the needs of these dual customers by aligning and leveraging public and philanthropic funds for strategic investments to improve the workforce training system in the Bay Area. Our goal is to stimulate greater regional planning and cooperation among employers, workforce investment boards, nonprofit employment and training providers, community colleges, labor, and other stakeholders in the region.

The BAWFC seeks to create a regional workforce system that increases economic security and career advancement opportunities for low-income individuals and low-wage workers while meeting the workforce needs of key industry sectors in the region. The Collaborative invests in workforce training and systems change efforts that promote the development and sustainability of career ladder initiatives. These career paths lead from entry level positions to progressively more skilled occupations which provide a family-sustaining wage.
 

Grantmaking

Sector Focus
The BAWFC has chosen a sector approach to workforce development in order to ensure that our investments prepare people for employment in industries where jobs exist and that provide a family-sustaining income and opportunities for career advancement.

The BAWFC currently focuses its grantmaking in the healthcare and life sciences sectors, which have been identified by EDD as two of the region’s fastest growing industries with a high demand for new workers to fill career ladder positions.


Policy and Systems Change Grants
In its second grant cycle, the BAWFC is interested in expanding its grantmaking activities to include projects and initiatives focused on increasing support for sector initiatives through policy and systems change at the state and local levels in California.

The BAWFC is committed to supporting effective and efficient workforce development practice in the Bay Area region, and to ensuring that state and local workforce and economic development policies are responsive to the needs of local communities, critical industries, and employment and training providers in the Bay Area and beyond.

The benefits of sector-based workforce development and job training for low-income and disadvantaged individuals are well documented, as are the positive impacts for local employers and industries. The BAWFC is interested in expanding the capacity, number, and scale of these programs due to their positive outcomes for the Bay Area region and its communities.

The BAWFC will invest in projects that increase the availability and accessibility of resources to support sector-based workforce and economic development activities by:

  • improving access to and alignment of existing public resources to support sector initiatives; and
  • developing and/or increasing access to new or previously untapped funding streams to support sector initiatives.

 

Workforce Partnership grants support and enhance education, training, and job placement for low income or disadvantaged adults and transition-age youth ages 18-24 in the healthcare and life sciences sectors. These grants typically range from $200,000- $700,000 over a two-year period.

 

Innovation grants support research, planning, and pilot projects that promote solutions to workforce challenges in the healthcare and life sciences sectors. These grants typically range from $25,000-$100,000 over a one-year period.

Click here to view a list of BAWFC first-round grantees. (PDF)

Click here to view a list of BAWFC second-round grantees. (PDF)

The Collaborative has recently completed a grant cycle.  Please check back for future funding opportunities.

 

Partners

The BAWFC is a partnership of the following funders: