Tara Sanders, Community Partnership Liaison, Los Medanos College, Gina Del Carlo, Director, Earn & Learn East Bay and Youth Program Manager, Workforce Development Board of Contra Costa County, Randy TIllery, Project Director, Workforce Systems-Postsecondary Education, WestED and Jose Carrascal, Production Director/ Senior Production Leader, Dow AgroSciences/ The Dow Chemical Company hosted a Power Session at the 20th Meeting of the Minds (California Workforce Association) Conference . The session was well received and was a repeat of a panel these four leaders gave at the CCCAOE (California Community College Association for Occupational Education) Conference earlier in the year. Earn & Learn regularly presents at conferences to showcase the work and the model of workforce, business, K-12 education and college systems working together in a revolutionary way.

The four Workforce Development Boards of the East Bay (Alameda, Contra Costa, Oakland and Richmond) release their 2017-2020 regional plan that is approved by the State Workforce Board and focuses on partnerships and collaboration. Earn & Learn East Bay is listed as a Regional Career Pathways Strategy.

Mayor Libby Schaaf hosted the inaugural Earn & Learn Breakfast in Oakland. Organized by the Oakland Workforce Development Board, this event showcased businesses who are providing and supporting summer jobs for youth. In prior years, the program has been the Mayor’s Summer Job program, and in 2017, this effort became part of the Earn & Learn East Bay campaign. Awards were provided to employer champions, donations were announced by the Oakland Housing Authority and Port of Oakland and guests were treated to hearing stories from the Mayor, business executives and other community leaders of their first summer job and what a difference it made in their lives.

Listen and read Pamela Kan’s KQED Perspective on the need to create a local talent pipeline. Pamela Kan is President of Bishop Wisecarver, an advanced manufacturing company in Contra Costa County, and promotes STEM education and high tech careers in manufacturing.

Over 200 people came together at the Concord Hilton to celebrate Earn & Learn East Bay, hear from youth the transformative experience they had through summer internships and recognize employers who are champions in our community. Attendees included over 100 employers attended and 48 pledges were made to increase the number of internships for the coming summer. Thank you to our breakfast sponsors!