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Wisconsin 1 of 3 states selected to receive grant from Joyce Foundation
Madison – Department of Workforce Development (DWD) Secretary Roberta Gassman announced today that DWD and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS) have been awarded $1 million by the Joyce Foundation to assist low income workers in attaining job skills which lead to career paths and economic self sufficiency.
Secretary Gassman said, “We are very pleased to receive this funding and look forward to continuing our work to ensure the state’s lowest paid workers have increased opportunities for better jobs. This grant will be a key component for advancing Governor Doyle’s Grow Wisconsin agenda and helps us address our policy priorities and strategic objectives for the entire state.”
Funding has been awarded to Wisconsin under the foundation’s Shifting Gears initiative. The goal of the Shifting Gears initiative is to produce a better educated and more competitive workforce in Midwest states.
The funding will support Wisconsin’s efforts to provide opportunities for Wisconsin’s low-wage and low-skilled workers to advance in education and training systems, to acquire postsecondary credentials, and to move up in the labor market under a newly developed “Regional Industry Skills Education” (RISE) initiative.
DWD and WTCS are collaborating through the RISE initiative to make industry-driven career pathways a core principle for development of employment and training programs throughout Wisconsin.
RISE will be led by the Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD) and the Wisconsin Technical College System (WTCS), in partnership with Wisconsin’s eleven Workforce Development Boards and sixteen technical college districts. The RISE initiative will dedicate resources to regional partnerships, sector-based programs, and state systems to create a career pathways model; bringing industry-driven career pathways to scale throughout the state; and providing new career-ladder footholds to low-wage workers with limited skills.
The Joyce Foundation supports efforts to reduce poverty and ensure individuals and families have access to educational opportunities so they can obtain higher-wage, higher-skilled jobs.
