Beyond WPTI’s 20th: A Commitment to Transforming Lives Through Work
By Sherazade Langlade, CEO
On May 20, WPTI celebrated its 20th anniversary as a leading intermediary in the field of workforce development. Over the past two decades we have supported thousands of organizations, agencies, and professionals dedicated to placing people in good jobs and careers—the kind that transform lives.
Now, as we embark on the next phase of our journey, we plan to do even more. Our 2025 goal is to support 10,000 workforce development professionals who will guide one million workers along the path to job stability, economic mobility, and personal security. In a rapidly changing environment, this will take focus, determination, and a lot of cross-sector collaboration.
Over the past few years, the conversation within the workforce development field has moved beyond job placement to a more comprehensive approach to the intersecting needs many jobseekers have. “You can’t have half-baked strategies for whole humans because people have whole problems and whole potential,” Randy Moore, president of the CD&R Foundation, told the crowd of nearly 200 people.
At WPTI we are designing and executing strategies to ensure that the workforce development system can serve people in a holistic and transformational way.
What does this look like?
Through a $1.5 million grant from the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, WPTI is strengthening the support system for foster youth entering the job market. Through cross-sector partnerships, WPTI is collaborating with a variety of agencies and organizations to improve the workforce development infrastructure for the over 400 young people who annually age out of New York City’s foster care system, many of whom are unemployed and unable to secure housing. The goal: to increase the percentage of young people achieving critical career milestones to 90% by 2028 from 60% in 2023.
In response to the growing role of artificial intelligence in the workplace, WPTI has spearheaded the AI Working Group, a biannual convening of experts from Deloitte, Meta, Roundtable, NYC Tech Talent, and Per Scholas. We look forward to staying ahead of the AI curve so that we can design and deliver resources, trainings, and models that assure the ethical adoption of AI in workforce development settings.
In designing e-courses, WPTI thinks holistically about the experiences of jobseekers. For example, “Using a Trauma Informed Approach in Workforce Development,” teaches workforce development professionals to understand and adapt to the complex experiences that may inform a client’s approach to work.
What motivates all of us at WPTI is the belief that our workforce system has the power to serve as a primary path to a more just society. At the anniversary party, former First Deputy Mayor of New York City Maria Torres-Springer highlighted the essential role a cohesive workforce infrastructure plays in building an equitable economy, asking the crowd, "The question is: Who belongs in this city, and who deserves a dignified life?"
At WPTI the answer is clear: Everyone.