In today’s economy, data drives decisions. From how employers hire, to how training programs are designed, to how policymakers invest in communities. When data is accurate, comprehensive, and trusted, it helps align resources, reveal opportunities, and strengthen entire systems. In this episode, we’re joined by Joel Simon, Director of Workforce Innovation at the Burning Glass Institute to explore what makes workforce data effective and equitable. We discuss how strong data ecosystems drive better outcomes, and what it takes to build one that truly serves workers, businesses, and communities.

What happens when a grant-funded experiment turns into a lasting way of working? In Louisville, a creative idea to better reach rural jobseekers became much more than a pilot. Born out of the Human-Centered Workforce Services project, their approach was shaped through empathy interviews and co-designed with community members. It worked so well, that even after the project ended, the team at KentuckianaWorks is keeping it going.

We’re joined by Aleece Smith, Director of Employer Programs at KentuckianaWorks, and Carrie Felton, Director of Worker Success at the National Fund to unpack how human-centered design is helping Louisville build stronger connections to rural communities. We’ll dig into why listening and adapting to the people you serve can spark deeper, longer-lasting change in workforce systems.

Career Navigation Journey Maps: https://nationalfund.org/explore/career-navigation/

Workforce development is at a critical inflection point. Economic shifts, technological change, and evolving employer needs are reshaping the labor market, while long-standing inequities continue to hold many workers back. In this episode, we take a wide-angle view of the field: Where are the greatest opportunities? What systemic challenges still demand urgent action? And how can we strengthen equitable systems to ensure every worker can thrive? Michelle Rafferty, Chief Program Officer at the National Fund for Workforce Solutions; Melissa Johnson, Chief of Policy and State Strategies at the National Skills Coalition; and Tameshia Bridges Mansfield, Founder of Beloved Praxis Consulting, will explore what’s working, what’s not, and where the greatest opportunities for creating meaningful change lie.

Too often, workers feel disconnected from the decisions that shape their jobs and see little reward when the companies they power succeed. At Optimax Systems, things look different. In this episode, Ale’ Mendoza, Director of Human Resources at Optimax and chair of the board for the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, takes us behind the curtain to share how they are successfully engaging workers and creating a culture of transparency, trust, and shared success. Ale’ will also highlight how Optimax is equipping employees to grow their skills and shape the future of the business. Tune in for a real-world example of how engagement strategies can drive equity, innovation, and long-term success.

Too many workers spend their lives in low-wage jobs with no path to stability or growth — stuck earning just a paycheck, with little say in the workplace. But what if workers didn’t just show up to do a job — what if they owned the business itself? Employee ownership can transform workplaces, giving workers a real stake in profits, decisions, and their own futures. In this episode, we talk with Rachel Merfalen, Founder and Senior Adviser at Good Future, Krisi Schell, Executive VP of Human Resources at SRC Holdings, and Tom Strong, Director of Employer Activation at the National Fund to explore how this bold idea is becoming a practical strategy for improving workplaces and how workforce development practitioners can support it.

Historically, the restaurant industry is one of the trickiest for workforce development partnerships. It’s a low-margin, low-wage sector, where the work can be physically demanding, unpredictable, and often undervalued. But change is possible. In this episode of Unpacked, we hear from two of our Network Partners, Bonny Yeager, Senior Manager of Industry Solutions, Partner4Work in Pittsburgh and Bishara Addison, Director of Workforce Innovation, Fund for Our Economic Future in Northeast Ohio, who are helping restaurants reimagine what’s possible through our Centering Workers in Job Design initiative.

Together, we explore how they’re engaging restaurant employers to co-design jobs with their employees and how this human-centered approach is improving retention, boosting worker satisfaction, and strengthening business performance. We’ll also dig into what it really takes to build trust with employers, sustain partnerships, and equip workers with the skills and information they need to take a more active role in shaping their work and their futures.

Too many people, especially young people, people of color, and those in lower-income communities, struggle to find and keep good jobs due to barriers like lack of childcare, poor transportation, and limited access to training or support. The system isn't broken. It was built this way.

In this episode, we talk with Marjorie Parker, President and CEO of JobsFirstNYC, about how unfair systems, not personal choices, create and reinforce barriers that make it harder for people to succeed in the workforce. We discuss how to address those barriers by changing policies, building local partnerships, and designing workforce programs that actually meet people’s real needs. Because when we rebuild the system the right way, we don’t just help individuals, we strengthen communities, businesses, and the entire economy.

Online But Disconnected

The Dark Truth Behind Personality Test - HBO/Max

What happens when you center Black men—not as problems to be solved, but as experts in their own experience? In this episode of Unpacked, we speak with leaders behind the new report Breaking the Chains, which challenges the systemic roots of economic exclusion and highlights the ingenuity and resilience of Black men in Chicago.

Guests Matthew Bruce, Dr. Clinton Boyd, Jr., and Richard Wallace join us to discuss how the lived experience of Black men in Chicago—particularly those impacted by incarceration and generational disinvestment—shapes our understanding of equity, entrepreneurship, and systemic change. We unpack their findings, spotlight resilience strategies from the community, and discuss a bold call to action for transforming not just employment systems—but wealth-building, fatherhood, and policy itself.

Read the Breaking the Chains report.

What does the future of work really look like—and who is it for? In this episode, we talk with Chike Aguh, senior advisor at Harvard’s Project on Workforce, about what it takes to build a future of work that delivers not just innovation, but inclusion, equity, and economic mobility. Chike brings a rare blend of policy insight and on-the-ground experience to big questions shaping our economy: How do we ensure that every person can connect to meaningful work? What does real job quality look like in an age of AI? And how can we turn systemic into a springboard for opportunity? As we navigate an uncertain landscape, one truth remains clear—people are the only path.

The childcare industry is in crisis. In Central Iowa, like much of the country, families struggle to find affordable, reliable care, and the educators who provide that care are often overworked, underpaid, and under-supported. It’s a system that leaves everyone losing—parents without options, children without consistent caregivers, and workers without a path to stability.

But what if improving job quality for childcare providers was the key to fixing it? In this episode, we sit down with Michelle Seibert, formerly of the United Way of Central Iowa to unpack how her community is approaching this challenge. By focusing on job quality—better pay, support for self-employed providers, and stronger policies—they’re working to fix childcare from the inside out. Tune in to learn what they’re trying, what’s working, and why it could be a game changer.