TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE AND EVALUATION TEAMS

Technical Assistance and Evaluation Lead

California Workforce Association (CWA): CWA brings broad and deep experience training and facilitating partnerships among California’s (CA’s) workforce development boards (WBDs) and other stakeholders serving CA’s immigrant/ELL workforce. CWA provides training on co-enrollment; regional and local planning; interpreting Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requirements, directives, and system partner expectations; MOUs; One Stop Redesign; and other topics that can support awardees in accelerating progress toward grant goals. CWA is currently leading work to transform systems to better serve people with barriers to employment through its work on AB 1111. CWA Project Lead, Ursula Bischoff brings more than 20 years of experience in fostering multi-sector partnerships, and in workforce development programming across WIOA Titles, including recently leading technical assistance (TA) and evaluation for the ELL Workforce Navigator Pilot Program.

Technical Assistance

International Rescue Committee (IRC): IRC serves ~40,000 immigrant and ELL individuals annually in 25 cities across the U.S. Among them are more than 9,000 people accessing workforce development programs including career pathway programming, integrated education and training, vocational ESL, sector-specific, and youth programs. IRC is a contracted WIOA Title I and II provider in multiple communities, bringing in-depth expertise on the challenges and opportunities in serving immigrant and ELL customers in these funding streams. IRC has also implemented and managed successful workforce programs serving WIOA customers enrolled or co-enrolled in TANF, SNAP E&T, and many others. IRC also brings knowledge of relevant data systems and reporting requirements both within and outside of CA. IRC consults with over 20 local WDBs and agencies in over 15 states on WIOA services for immigrants and ELLs, including on effective co-enrollment strategy.

Evaluation

Social Policy Research Associates (SPR): SPR is an Oakland-based small business with a national reputation for insightful qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods evaluations of workforce programs, including many innovative programs, operated at federal, state, and local levels. Decades of experience evaluating and providing technical assistance (TA) around workforce system services gives SPR an intimate knowledge of WIOA, the various tiers of California workforce system plans, the various partners needed to implement workforce system policies, and the ways in which these policies, especially in California, encourage and discourage the inclusion of ELL (and other high-barrier) populations. SPR has lead evaluations on an ELL program n K-12 schools across three school districts in California in addition to CWDB’s Workforce Accelerator Fund, which funds innovative workforce system programming for ELLs and other high barrier populations.