SkillBuild Colorado’s Parent Wins $7.7 Million in New Social Innovation Fund Grant

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                                                               

July 23, 2010
Contact: Elsa Holguin, 303 398-7413                                                                                                                                                       eholguin@rcfdenver.org 

Denver, Colorado – SkillBuild Colorado, a workforce funding collaborative, announced today that its parent organization, the National Fund for Workforce Solutions, has been awarded a two-year, $7.7 million grant from the Corporation for National and Community Service under its Social Innovation Fund in Washington, D.C.  SkillBuild Colorado is one of 23 local sites of the National Fund and is working in the greater metropolitan Denver area and along the Front Range to support development of a skilled workforce to drive economic recovery and prosperity for individuals, businesses and the region.

The Social Innovation Fund (SIF), administered by the Corporation for National and Community Service, is a new way of doing business for the federal government that better targets public-private resources toward solving social challenges. The SIF grants will expand the impact of high-performing organizations and innovative solutions to issues in three key areas: economic opportunity, youth development and school support, and healthy futures.

Some of the new Social Innovation funding will be used by the National Fund for Workforce Solutions to broaden the impact of existing collaboratives in 12 to 16 communities where National Fund investments have already brought key stakeholders together around partnerships that serve the needs of both workers and employers.  The project will provide for an evaluation of the model’s ability to generate new knowledge about effectively addressing the economic needs of low-income job seekers and the skills needs of employers in particular industry sectors.   SkillBuild with work with its local partners to expand the impact of their collective efforts and compete with the National Fund’s other sites for this new funding opportunity.

Paula Gomez Farrell, SkillBuild Colorado’s director in Denver, commented, “We will work with our local partners to develop a proposal for accessing these additional funds that will allow us to broaden our work in helping entry-level workers gain the skills required by businesses to effectively compete in the marketplace.”

About SkillBuild Colorado

SkillBuild is a nationally and locally supported funding collaborative that leverages resources from philanthropy, business, government and education to prepare entry-level workers for high demand occupations and increase businesses’ access to a talented workforce.  SkillBuild is focused on ensuring that as the economy recovers people are prepared to get back to work and businesses are able to compete.

Current membership of SkillBuild Colorado includes: Anschutz Family Foundation, City of Denver Division of Workforce Development, Colorado Department of Labor and Employment, Colorado Workforce Development Council, Construction and Designers Alliance, Denver Health, Jefferson County Workforce Center, JP Morgan Chase, Mile High United Way, International Center for Appropriate & Sustainable Technology, Community College of Denver, National Fund for Workforce Solutions, Rose Community Foundation and Rose Women’s Organization.  The members jointly commit resources and coordinate their efforts to strengthen and expand workforce development strategies that will result in prosperity for individuals, business and the region.

About National Fund for Workforce Solutions

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions is an award-winning national initiative focused on helping low-wage workers obtain good careers while at the same time ensuring that employers have the high-quality skills that will enable them to succeed in this highly competitive economy. Since 2008, the National Fund has raised $24 million to support 23 communities that have contributed an additional $104 million in locally raised resources from 216 different funding sources, including community foundations, United Ways, corporate foundations, workforce investment boards, chambers of commerce and state agencies. Each of these communities has created local funding collaboratives that are collectively investing in more than 80 sectoral workforce partnerships.

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