FORGING EQUITABLE CAREER PATHWAYS
Every Job Should Be A Good Job.
That’s why CJC works to ensure that people seeking to expand their basic skills — specifically those from economically disadvantaged groups — can access education, training, and supportive services.
Our Current Initiatives
Clean Energy Jobs
Adapting our economy to a changing climate must also benefit those who have historically been excluded from economic growth. We must ensure jobs specifically for economically disadvantaged groups.
The Climate And EquitableJobsAct (CEJA)
As members of the Illinois Clean Jobs Coalition (ICJC), we supported the passage of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.
Listen, Lead, Share Campaign
As part of the Listen, Lead, Share campaign, we’ve solicited input and feedback from the workforce about the most important components of economic justice policy for our clean energy future.
Building Pathways To Clean Energy Jobs In Illinois
In 2020, we released a report entitled Building Pathways to Clean Energy Jobs in Illinois. The report highlights the importance of investing in the future clean energy workforce as part of public investments in clean energy infrastructure. It is informed by interviews with clean energy employers, workforce development practitioners, and policy experts and uses publicly available labor market and job posting information.
Creation Of The CEJA Chicagoland Grantees Table
Creation of the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) Chicagoland Grantees Table, where organizations who received grants for the Energy Navigator Transition, CEJA Workforce Hubs, and Climate Works Pre-Apprenticeship workforce programs have a place for information sharing, communication, and streamlined implementation ideas.
Skills For Good Jobs Agenda
A job should provide fair wages and opportunities for professional growth. We work to ensure that people seeking to expand their basic skills can access education, training, and supportive services. We worked with diverse workforce partners across Illinois to put forth the Skills for Good Jobs Agenda, a set of policy recommendations that would invest in the state’s workforce development system and help move Illinois towards an equitable economic recovery.
The 4 Workforce Policy Pillars
Dedicate Illinois Resources And Allocate Federal Resources To Workforce Development Using A racial And Gender Equity Lens.
Promote policies that eliminate structural employment barriers disproportionately faced by people of color, foreign-born workers, returning citizens, people with disabilities, women, and young people in Illinois.
Ensure that no Illinoisan – regardless of race, gender, age, or nationality – lives in poverty by promoting good jobs and strong community supports.
Increase research, data sharing, and transparency across state agencies that touch education and workforce training to identify and address equity gaps in our public investments.
Past Initiatives
Career Pathways
A job should provide fair wages and opportunities for professional growth. We work to ensure that people seeking to expand their basic skills can access education, training, and supportive services.
The Third Pillar Of Apprenticeship
We advocate for equitable access to apprenticeships, on-the-job training, and other credentialing opportunities that prepare individuals for meaningful careers. Our efforts focus on promoting skills-based hiring practices and ensuring accessible training pathways for all.
In partnership with Young Invincibles and the Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity, we released a report called The Third Pillar of Apprenticeship, outlining strategies to make Illinois apprenticeships more diverse and equitable.
Pathways To Careers Network
We partner with Women Employed and scaleLIT to increase the use of the Career Foundations curriculum in adult education and workforce programs. See the work with the Pathways to Careers Network here.
Career Pathways Dictionary
We helped develop Illinois's statewide definition of “career pathways” to align resources better and ensure access. View the Career Pathways Dictionary.
