“By leveraging the principles of the Academy, we’re actively building a landscape that aims to shift the paradigm for low-income individuals and their families.”
– Academy Fellow

We are excited to announce a new opportunity for local communities to deliver Workforce Leadership Academies in partnership with the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program (EOP). This year we plan to add three new Academies to our network of 22 Academies in 17 communities. In addition, we will welcome 3-5 previous partners to participate in facilitator and coaching support as they conduct additional Academies in their regions. And this year, in response to the rising interest in skills-based mobility strategies, we will be integrating new content and resources to support shared learning on how skills-based mobility strategies can contribute to workforce ecosystems.

Key Dates

• Please join us for an informational webinar on Tuesday, July 9, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EDT. During this session, attendees will learn about the Academy experience and further details of the application process, including both the Intent to apply form and the full application.
• July 30: Intent to Apply form due.
• August 9: Invitations for full proposals issued.
• August 26: Full proposals due.
• September 13: Selected partners notified, with first facilitator forum soon after for immediate launch of Academy planning and activities through early 2026.
• March 2025: Partner facilitation teams’ three-day train-the-trainer retreat, to be held just outside Washington DC.

About Workforce Leaders Academies

Local partners deliver all elements of a Workforce Leadership Academy in their community. Academies bring together leaders from across the local workforce ecosystems into a 10-month Fellowship to deepen networks, strengthen systems leadership skills, apply a race, equity, and systems change framework to leaders’ work, and deepen understanding of effective strategies and programs. Academies provide a forum for local leaders to work collaboratively to identify local and regional systems-based challenges and create shared solutions. In this new set of Academies, Fellows will also contribute to the advancement of skills-first talent strategies that increase equity and mobility in local ecosystems and in their own organizations.

“By participating in the Academy, I was able to learn more about the players in our local workforce ecosystem and strengthen my professional network in this area. I was also able to learn and apply systems change concepts through a race equity lens in a way that I had not done before.”

Selected partners will receive a challenge grant of $50,000 toward local Academy costs, as well as comprehensive curriculum and administrative resources. Partners will receive biweekly coaching, meet in monthly virtual facilitator forums, and attend an in-person, three-day train-the-trainer retreat before their local opening retreats. A number of previous partners will also be invited to participate in the monthly facilitator forums and the three-day train-the-trainer retreat.

The Request for Applications can be found here and the Intent to Apply Form, due July 30, is here.

INTENT TO APPLY FORM

An informational webinar will be held on Tuesday, July 9, from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. EDT. During this session, attendees will learn about the Academy experience and further details of the application process, including both the Intent to Apply form and the full application.

RSVP for the Virtual Informational Webinar

“…come with an open mindset and do your best to hear the truth of others. It’s okay to be uncomfortable because the Academy is a safe space to share our own interactions within workforce systems.”

Please join us July 9 to learn more about this opportunity and to ask questions about how a Workforce Leaders Academy could advance positive change in your community. If you have any questions before then, please contact us at [email protected]. We look forward to hearing from you!