Brothers Empowered to Teach: 'Planting seeds for that next generation'

Local organizations such as Mujeres Rurales Argentinas and the provincial Ministry of Agriculture's Gender Cabinet are empowering rural women through artisanal tea production. By offering training programs structured around women's caregiving schedules, creating spaces for gender-inclusive collaboration, and advocating for policy changes, these groups have helped increase women's leadership roles in tea production, as more than half of artisan producers are now women.

ACCESS Development Services trains women to drive electric auto rickshaws, providing them with marketable skills that help them earn a living independently. The all-women Pink City Rickshaw Company employs the women to provide tours throughout the city and has since trained over 200 women.

The Future Leaders Apprenticeship Program (FLAP) provides formerly incarcerated individuals with paid positions, benefits, and hands-on training in prison advocacy, helping them transition successfully into meaningful careers while contributing to criminal justice reform through legislative victories like Illinois's 2019 youthful parole bill.

A partnership between Essex Tech North Shore Agricultural & Technical High School, and Local 22 trade union members is teaching students union norms and trade skills early in their career, connecting them to apprenticeships and greater career opportunities. Other states, including Maryland and Louisiana, have similar programs and students report feeling a greater sense of job security and that they can command higher pay from employers due to the expertise gained from the program.

Throughout the state, Maine launched several workforce development programs to meet clean energy goals by training workers to help install heat pumps and perform other clean energy jobs. For example, Kennebec Valley Community College's heat pump lab has trained more than 300 students since 2021.

Floare de Cires addresses the employment barriers people with disabilities face by training them in culinary and hospitality skills that help them integrate into the workforce and build a sense of independence.

Project PRESS, which stands for Preparing Responsive and Effective School Social Workers, addresses the social worker shortage in schools by motivating social work students to pursue careers as school social workers providing them with the proper training to do so. It’s a year-long program that focuses on staffing historically Black and low-income areas, and has placed 22 social workers in schools in its first year.

Reaching Out MBA's LGBTQ+ conference provides a space for LGBTQ+ business students to find a sense of community, learn from others in their field, and connect with companies specifically interested in hiring LGBTQ+ employees. In the past, roughly 90 percent of job-seeking attendees have been selected for coffee chats or interviews with recruiting companies, and about 27 percent have come away with job offers.

Community Alliance of the Far East Side is providing job training and resources to residents in need of jobs. The initiative is spurring economic growth by connecting community members to jobs.

A Phoenix nonprofit called Chicanos Por La Causa serves the Latino communities across the Southwest through education, housing, health services, and more. Their job fair, created to celebrate the opening of their new Engagement Center, aims to drive employment and improve education rates in Maryvale through partnerships with Walmart and the Maricopa County Community College District. Participants laud the Center and the program for helping them seek betterment in life, access to a job, or a better job.