Page 6 - WDI 2020 Annual Impact Report

Foreward
Year of Dramatic
Changes Profoundly
Impacts the
Workforce
Despite the fact that the majority of WDI’s fiscal year took place prior to COVID-19 and prior to the events surrounding the Black Lives Matter movement, essentially everything we do now and for the foreseeable future will be touched
by both events. Our planning and priorities changed immediately afterward; currently and moving forward we will be more focused on both putting New Yorkers back to work, and working to diminish the long-term inequities that have existed. That said, our work prior to these major events holds lessons learned that we believe will be beneficial for WDI both internally as an organization and externally with partners and in funding future projects.
This report reflects WDI’s work and observations from across New York State for our 2020 fiscal year, which includes activity both before and during these significant events.
A related theme from this past year was lessons learned about what we call the “resilient” sectors, or sectors that either bounced back quickly or that hold promise to play a significant role in NY’s recovery. Examples include Manufacturing, Healthcare, Information Technology (IT), and Energy. We believe that clean/green/renewable energy is poised to play a key role in our recovery in terms of both job growth and the potential to create social justice and equity in the jobs that emerge. However, we have some work to do to clarify opportunities as well as misconceptions around the “mystique” of green jobs.
Finally, WDI was one of the many organizations affected financially by COVID-19. Our funding and small grants program was negatively impacted
for a period of time during the New York State on Pause. Nevertheless, we remained active and engaged with our many partners—including unions, businesses, workforce development and economic development organizations, and members of the New York State Senate and Assembly—serving as resources for information and program development. Our funding has since been restored, and we are working quickly to capitalize on the pent-up demand of good ideas and opportunities that arose.
5 WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT INSTITUTE