We fight to ensure that Latinx jobseekers have access to jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and offer opportunities for career advancement and to remove the barriers that create unequal challenges for communities of color when they enter the workforce.
We work with UnidosUS Affiliates, other community-based organizations, and corporate partners to create high-quality programs that provide Latinos with the training and skills they need to start or excel in their career.
We’re driven to help Latinx jobseekers and small business owners obtain and develop in-demand skills; build the capacity of community-based workforce development organizations; and advocate for diversity, equity, and inclusion in hiring practices.
The Workforce Development (WFD) component enables an ecosystem that supports Latinx individuals in their journey to thrive in the workforce and achieve economic prosperity. For this to happen, Latinx jobseekers need access to jobs that pay family-sustaining wages and offer opportunities for career advancement. The WFD team builds the capacity of Affiliates and other Latinx service community-based organizations so they can implement innovative workforce development programs that prepare Latinx workers and small business owners for successful careers and promote systems change by working with all stakeholders to change practices that will allow Latinx individuals to access more training and employment opportunities.
Our goals are:
We work to support Latina jobseekers, who were disproportionately displaced from the workforce due to circumstances that were created by the pandemic.
Digital skill development and access to technology are critical for Latinos and other jobseekers of color.
We push for skills-based hiring and the removal of biases from the hiring process.
We strengthen the ability of UnidosUS Affiliates and other community-based organizations to deliver high-quality job readiness and sector-based job training programs by providing financial support, culturally and linguistically relevant curricula, programmatic technical assistance, and process evaluation. In addition, the Workforce Development programs team manages the following signature initiatives:
Latinx @ Work (L@W) initiative aims to provide individuals with digital literacy and job readiness skills needed for upward mobility in an increasingly digital workforce. Implemented since 2019, the initiative’s cornerstone is the contextualized curriculum that prepares individuals to access and apply for jobs online as they gain digital literacy.
Over the last few decades, digital literacy proficiency has become one of the most important skills needed to succeed in the workforce, and L@W strives to support programming that closes the digital literacy gap for the communities served. In 2021, the L@W program was provided by 11 grantees, serving over 800 job seekers.
The Latinos in Business initiative is a training that prepares Latinos interested in upskilling or starting micro/small businesses by integrating contextualized digital literacy content for Affiliate programs that support small business development. The program is offered by four grantees, serving more than 200 entrepreneurs/small business owners.
Digital Skills for Life (DS4L) is a 20-hour foundational digital literacy program that covers the basics, including internet exploring skills, online communication skills, social media, computer hardware, software and websites, safety/security skills, and digital content creation. The curriculum, intended for Latinx adults, is culturally and linguistically proficient, and available in both English and Spanish. This program is offered by 30 grantees and serves over 1,800 participants.
Avanzando 2 Good Jobs Initiative (A2GJ) will create opportunities by establishing and strengthening regional workforce systems to train workers with in-demand skills through sectoral partnerships in Denver, CO, and Puerto Rico. UnidosUS will seek to train and place over 800 participants throughout the next three years to become reskilled and placed into well-paying jobs in the Medical Administration, Human Resources, Construction, and Aerospace and Aviation industries.
The Good Jobs Challenge (GJC) is part of the American Rescue Plan programs to equitably distribute funding to assist communities nationwide by accelerating economic recovery from the coronavirus pandemic and building local economies that will be more resilient to future economic shocks.
Caminos Program is a financial empowerment program that aims to support the economic prosperity of the Latinx community through financial education and demand-driven workforce development programs. Through the support of DoorDash, this program aims to support gainful job placement, continued education, improved business performance for trainees, and enhanced confidence in personal financial best practices. This program is offered by 10 grantees and serves over 500 participants.
UnidosUS has joined forces with Jobs For the Future (JFF) and other DEI champions to provide hands-on training and support employers, education and training providers, and community organizations to help them increase diversity, equity, and inclusion in U.S. apprenticeships.
UnidosUS has joined forces with the Markle Foundation to implement the Rework America Alliance (RAA), an unprecedented nationwide collaboration to enable unemployed and low–wage workers to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Rework America Alliance aims to help millions of workers, regardless of formal education, move into good jobs in the digital economy by accelerating the development of an effective worker training system aligned to jobs employers must fill. As part of the RAA efforts, tools and training are developed to facilitate and improve the operations of nonprofits that serve job seekers, as well as tools and training for employers around inclusive sourcing and hiring practices.
The UnidosUS Workforce Development Summit is a platform for stakeholders from across the country to brainstorm and identify solutions to the challenges faced by the Latino and immigrant workforce. The Summit brings together businesses, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and training providers to network and learn from each other. Attendees leave the Summit energized and with new strategies for program enhancement.
In June 2020, UnidosUS, in partnership with nine Affiliates and grantees, launched a research project that aimed to understand the hiring needs of local and national employers and how UnidosUS […]
October 23, 2020
AffiliatesCommunityEconomy and Workforce
UnidosUS designed this toolkit to share general guidance and some examples of the ways that nonprofit organizations can outreach to prospective adult participants for enrollment in job readiness and workforce […]
November 17, 2020
CoronavirusCOVID-19Economy and EmploymentEconomy and Workforceand 2 more tags
On March 11, 2020, COVID-19 was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization followed by the United States declaring a national emergency two days later. Over the course of […]
July 9, 2020
CDCCenters for Disease Control and PreventionCoronavirusCOVID-19and 3 more tags
As part of our Latina Wealth Project, UnidosUS partnered with Edison Research to poll Hispanic women and men as well as White women and men, to understand the true financial […]
April 19, 2021
CoronavirusCOVID-19EconomyEconomy and Employmentand 3 more tags
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