Page 5 - WDI 2020 Annual Impact Report

About Us
Workforce Development Institute (WDI) is a statewide nonprofit and partner to organized labor that works to grow and keep good jobs in New York State. We use a range of tools—including ground-level information, workforce expertise, and flexible funding—to facilitate projects that build workforce skills and strengthen employers’ ability to hire, promote, and retain workers.
Each of our Regional Directors covers a large territory of New York State and spends a significant amount of time exploring their regions and developing partnerships to identify workforce trends, opportunities, and challenges. The Regional Directors work closely with a centralized strategy-focused team to improve our understanding of workforce issues and develop solutions to address them. We see our niche as filling gaps not covered by other workforce development or economic development entities, with an end goal of facilitating the growth of good jobs.
We are a collaborative organization whose role adapts based on the needs and nature of each workforce issue. Common functions we perform include:
• Identification of a problem/challenge (for one organization or many) • Serving as workforce consultants on a wide array of workforce issues • Connection of organizations with needs to resources
• Piloting or testing new programs, technologies, or methods
• Facilitation of projects
• Funding for projects
Finally, our roots are in labor, so we are interested in seeing an improved distribution of wealth—a move away from the 99:1 ratio toward growth of the middle class by supporting careers with self-sustaining or family-sustaining wages. Although the types of projects we facilitate and support vary, our goal is that all have a positive and measurable impact on the workforce.
Our statewide presence is a strength that empowers us
to identify programs that work, and pursue opportunities
to scale them to other occupations, industry sectors, or regions of
the state.
2020 ANNUAL IMPACT REPORT 4