The first Leading CareerForce partner in the CareerForce Spotlight this Workforce Development Month is Workforce Development, Inc., which is being recognized for its innovation partnership with the city of Rochester and local Built Environment companies (including firms engaged in construction, design, maintenance and other related fields). But the most innovative aspect of this partnership is how it brings job seekers and employers together to find solutions.
The Equity in the Built Environment (EBE) program brings together Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) women with Built Environment employers to address barriers to BIPOC women finding positions and being retained in construction trades employment. The EBE program helps local job seekers by creating a pathway to a high-wage, high-demand career. And it helps local employers looking to hire new workers, but who need assistance recruiting, hiring and retaining diverse employment candidates.
“There are many Built Environment employment opportunities, but people may not be aware of them, and BIPOC women are underrepresented in these positions,” said Jinny Rietmann, Executive Director of Workforce Development Inc., who described how the co-design approach brought together BIPOC women and Built Environment employers to seek solutions. The process helped surface a training need for both groups. “The co-designers identified the need not just for the employment candidate to receive training to prepare for work in the industry, but also for Built Environment employers to get training to be ready to hire more women of color into the industry.”
in the EBE program, women are trained in Built Environment, or trades and construction-related skills, paired with a skilled BIPOC mentor, and hired in a cohort model so they are not alone at their new employer. To hire EBE program participants, companies must complete a diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging training process that ends in the I-WE designation.
