Cracking the Code: Innovations in Chicago’s Workforce Supply & Demand

More than 80 community partners and United Way donors came together on Tuesday, June 1, for a stimulating panel discussion on innovations in Chicago’s workforce supply and demand. Participants enjoyed networking and chatting with each other, great hospitality and snacks from Deloitte and a thought-provoking discussion by experts in the field, including—

Eric Weinheimer, David Marzahl and Carrie Thomas discussed the importance of temporary jobs or bridge programs to help people build skills and transition into full time jobs with benefits. Specifically, Eric mentioned Cleanslate, a social enterprise run by the Cara Program that helps people build the skills and experience they need to get jobs with long-term career potential. (video)

Evelyn Diaz talked about how federal economic stimulus dollars are being utilized locally to develop job training programs for health IT workers and for retraining other workers so that their skills match new IT jobs. (video)

Anne Ladky and David Marzahl talked about the importance of restructuring thoughts and policies on traditional career pathways. The panelists suggested that two year colleges could be better starting options for some people to get on career tracks faster.

Panelists also addressed creative strategies underway to match job training and development with changing demand, preparing a new generation of workers to be competitive in today’s marketplace, and policies and practices to overcome barriers and cultivate a thriving economy.

Deb DeHaas, Vice Chairman and Regional Managing Partner at Deloitte said, “I can’t think of a more critical issue than having the most well trained and well developed workforce.” She also gave opening remarks.

Laura Thrall, President and CEO of United Way, moderated the discussion and Laura Eilts, Community Involvement Leader at Deloitte, gave closing remarks.

From all of us at United Way, we’d like to thank all of our wonderful donors, partners and friends that attended the event. You made it a great evening that sparked many new ideas. A special thanks also to Deloitte for your hospitality… and for the snacks!

We hope to make these issue discussions a regular part of our work, so look for more information in coming months on our next event. We welcome your topic suggestions and feedback – please feel free to email us anytime!

Watch all the event video clips here, or check out our event photos here.

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Elizabeth Ordonez

Hello, I am the Manager, Foundation and Government Relations for United Way. I work with different community partners to build collaborations and resources for various United Way initiatives and community projects.

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