Equitable Workforce Development Program Manager

About Wilmington Alliance

The Wilmington Alliance was created in August 2019 through the merging of the Wilmington Renaissance Corporation (founded in 1993) and Wilmington Leaders Alliance (founded in 2016). The Wilmington Alliance partners with community, civic, and business leaders to prioritize the City's highest needs to drive economic opportunity and social vitality. Our work is done through an equity lens. All our initiatives involve equitable wealth creation in the traditionally marginalized Wilmington communities of Black and Brown residents. Our strength has always been convening organizations and resources, gathering them around projects. This collaborative model - coupled with decades of experience and successful neighborhood revitalization work - positions us to strategically identify barriers, fill gaps, align organizations, and pull resources from all sectors in Wilmington. The Alliance works to make Wilmington a more beautiful, safer, and thriving city that provides opportunity for all through our programs in Workforce Development; Entrepreneurship and Small Business Support; and Creative Placemaking.

Our Vision: Wilmington will be a thriving community that offers opportunities and access to all.

Our Mission: The Wilmington Alliance brings people together to drive innovative solutions, leverage resources and promote opportunities to empower the city’s residents and businesses.

Learn more about the Wilmington Alliance. https://www.wilmingtonalliance.org

Position Description

Job Summary

The Wilmington Alliance seeks an experienced workforce development leader who is passionate about driving transformative community change and is committed to advancing workforce opportunities and negotiating actions that remove barriers to both economic and social equality – particularly for people of color.  The Equitable Workforce Development Program Manager of Workforce Equity & Inclusion will be expected to utilize an equity-based model, embedded in collective impact, and serve as an implementor that executes our 2023 workforce plan as well as introduce new ideas that support future workforce efforts in marginalized communities.  This role will bring together local, regional, and national stakeholders to drive equitable economic mobility efforts, and help build a culture of inclusion for the city of Wilmington. 

The Equitable Workforce Development Program Manager will bring prior experience in workforce development programming and initiatives with a deep understanding of how inclusive economies are built around employment and employability for under-represented populations (also referred to as the non-traditional workforce). 

The ideal candidate must be an effective implementer, collaborator and convenor of people and organizations in the workforce landscape. The Program Manager will continue Wilmington Alliance’s proactive steps to remove barriers to economic opportunity and create pathways for advancement.  The Program Manager will support Alliance’s partnership with community service providers who serve the City of Wilmington in developing and implementing economic inclusion policies and practices.  The Program Manager will also build on accomplishments achieved in recent years and utilize lessons learned to target populations in marginalized communities, including justice-involved, women of color as well as unemployed/under-employed residents to generate solutions by leveraging local, regional and/or national sources to meet identified programmatic and funding needs for the future.  The Program Manager will also contribute to strategies that make an effective business case for the far-reaching benefits of an inclusive economy, as well as amplify the work of the Alliance and its partners and ensure timely and sufficient reporting to funders of economic development & inclusion efforts in Wilmington, Delaware’s workforce landscape.

The ideal candidate must be both forward-and-inward thinking, with the ability to work effectively and create relationships with a broad and diverse base of partners, staff and outside consultants. 

The Program Manager must be deeply committed to racial, social, and economic justice, and be prepared to lead with and equity mindset.  They will possess the capacity to welcome and work with a wide variety of stakeholders and be adept at communicating effectively across lines of race, class, education, generation, and sexual orientation.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities 

To perform in this position successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily.  Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  Other duties may be assigned to meet business needs.

• Maintain good standing as a member partner of the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, as required:
  • Participate in annual site directors’ meetings, monthly calls, meetings with entire network
  • Submit timely the annual data report & self-assessment
  • Brand Wilmington Alliance as a National Fund partner community
  • Share detailed examples of local strategies and activities with the National Fund staff
  • Work closely with the Director of Development & Marketing to take advantage of and successfully secure grant opportunities through the National Fund
• Execute the implementation plan for the year two of our participation in the national Generation Work initiative:
  • Participate in the annual Generation Work gathering, regular program calls, meetings with other workforce development collaboratives around the country that are also part of the Generation Work initiative
  • Submit timely the required assessments and reports
  • Work closely with our Employer Navigator to strengthen the engagement of the current members of the Generation Work collaborative and potentially add new partners through partnership agreements. Formalizing those agreements or MOUs includes the need to write, review, and ensure compliance on these agreements or MOUs
  • Work closely with the Director of Development & Marketing to submit timely grant applications, grant reports and engage in culturally relevant storytelling
• Convene quarterly for a meaningful engagement our Reinventing Our Communities (ROC) Council to leverage their thought leadership, seek input on strategic direction as well as advocacy efforts; as part of ROC, continue our strong partnership with the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia
• Continue our engagement, as a community partner organization, with the Tech Council of Delaware
• As the ecosystem builder focused on creating employment and employability for under-represented populations, continue and strengthen the work that began in late 2020, with the JPMorgan Chase’s Second Chance Employment Collaborative:
  • Continue strengthening the engagement with our partner organizations, including expanding our partnerships through partnership agreements, with minimum targets of 30 community organizations, 15 private partners, 5 public agencies and 20 employers. Formalizing those agreements or MOUs includes the need to write, review, and ensure compliance on these agreements or MOUs
  • Work with training partner organizations to provide 135 training participants and graduates with wrap around supports
  • Work with our legal services partners to execute one and partner on three Expungement Fairs, with a goal of supporting minimum 40 individuals with expungements, pardons, and FDIC waivers. Executing one Expungement Fair will include planning, securing venue, coordinating partners’ participation, scheduling food vendor(s), and coordinating community-based outreach to promote the event.
  • Work very closely with our Employer Navigator to develop strong engagement and partnerships with local employers and social services and training providers, resulting in:
    • Removal of barriers to employment for at least 50 justice-involved individuals
    • Successful referrals for employment for 35 justice-involved individuals
  • Expand our free offering of the North Star Digital Literacy platform to address the need for closing the digital literacy gap among job seekers
  • Work very closely with our Data and Impact Management Analyst and the Employer Navigator to continue the efforts to measure and report our collective impact using the Apricot360 platform
  • Work closely with outside consultants to implement existing workforce initiatives, including employer engagement, to ensure that Wilmington’s workforce and economic mobility efforts are inclusive of the needs and desires of underestimated communities and are done in culturally appropriate ways
  • Where appropriate, assist the Director of Development & Marketing with marketing campaigns in support of the inclusive economies program and workforce in particular – and help build Alliance’s profile in the sector
  • With the CEO and the Director of Development & Marketing, develop programmatic budget and manage that budget effectively

Supervisory Responsibilities

Direct and partner with relevant consultants.

Application and Selection Process

Qualified candidates should send a 1-page cover letter and resume – with “Equitable Workforce Development Program Manager” in the subject line – via email to [email protected]. Emailed applications will be accepted through February 28th, 2023, and preliminary interviews will begin as qualified applicants are identified. No applications will be accepted by mail or phone. Cover letter should be addressed to Renata B. Kowalczyk, CEO, Wilmington Alliance. Candidates will be notified of application receipt and status in a timely fashion. Finalist candidates will be expected to provide references.