City’s Workforce Strategy Alignment
Client: Chicago Office of The Mayor
Opportunity
Meaningful employment and career opportunities are foundational to the Mayor Brandon Johnson administration’s ambition to invest in and create pathways to prosperity for marginalized populations and underserved communities.
While the private sector drives most of the employment base, the City of Chicago government plays a critical and multifaceted role in workforce development through the strategic deployment of departmental and sister-agency resources, policy development, convening power, and cross-sector influence.
Recognizing this responsibility, the Mayor’s Office engaged Civic Consulting Alliance to help translate the administration’s objectives into a cohesive workforce agenda.
Action
Our CCA team supported the Mayor’s Office to develop an overarching framework, including vision and mission, identify priority populations and initiatives for each population, and build an implementation structure to support the further development and activation of a shared agenda.
Our team also supported the launch of the cross-agency work group and ensured its sustainability by providing short-term project management support for the initial set of meetings with 40 stakeholders, and by defining workgroup roles and responsibilities to maintain alignment, momentum, and accountability.
The Mayor’s Office requested additional support to build out priorities for the immigrant, migrant, and refugee population, which was identified late in the initial phase of work as a priority population and now had a larger team supporting it. We helped develop a set of priority initiatives for the immigrant, migrant, and refugee priority population, including goals and ownership for executing identified priorities.
“Civic Consulting Alliance has been a trusted partner throughout our administration, helping us shape and develop workforce priorities that align with our broader agenda. Their thoughtful approach and deep understanding of Chicago’s workforce landscape ensure
that our initiatives are actionable, equitable, and designed to create meaningful pathways to good jobs across the city.”
Impact
Building out an additional priority population for the Mayor’s Office strengthens the City’s ability to expand access to quality employment opportunities for more residents across Chicago. The approach recognized the diversity within the immigrant, migrant, and refugee population, including length of time since arrival, documentation status, work authorization status, etc., and aimed to identify solutions accordingly.