Workforce and Economic Development

Creating economic opportunity for low-income people is essential to accessing the American Dream. From workforce training and adult education programs, to policy interventions and community engagement, creating economic opportunity for all is central to the missions of many progressive nonprofit organizations.

Douglas Gould and Company has developed communications strategies for a wide range of workforce and economic development public interest clients. The work these foundations and organizations undertake includes education programs, workforce development and strategic investment in communities.

Recent Clients

Ohio Board of Regents

Ohio faces serious challenges to increase the number of Ohioans that earn a college degree and help prepare potential employees for the workforce demands of Ohio’s knowledge economy. We’ve been working with community colleges in Ohio since 2004 with the Ford Foundation’s Bridges to Opportunity Initiative. Today, we are proud to serve the Ohio Board of Regents (OBR), the state agency that coordinates higher education through the University System of Ohio, which includes adult basic literacy and workforce education.

Points of Entry: Guiding Adults to Education and Career Success

The Points of Entry project, funded by the Open Society Foundations, aims to promote the development of career pathways and transition programs for low-skilled adults and prisoners in re-entry. The initiative works with eight sites in Alabama, California, New York and Massachusetts.

Accelerating Opportunity

Accelerating Opportunity: A Breaking Through Initiative is a multi-state collaboration that seeks to reform adult basic education in the United States. Through an innovative combination of basic skills and occupational training, it is giving adult learners the skills they need to secure family-sustaining employment. The initiative is supported by ground-breaking coalition of funders including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Kresge Foundation and the Open Society Foundations.

Jobs for the Future

Jobs for the Future is a workforce development and education organization that identifies, develops and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states and the nation compete in a global economy. Founded in 1983, Jobs for the Future is based in Boston.

Women's Community Revitalization Project

The Women's Community Revitalization Project is a community development organization that works with low-income women and their families in Philadelphia. WCRP develops housing and neighborhood facilities; provides supportive services; advocates for policy change; and honors leadership, dignity, and equity in Philadelphia's communities.

Joyce Foundation - Shifting Gears Initiative

The Joyce Foundation's Shifting Gears initiative aims to improve access to higher education and workforce development skills for workers in five Midwestern states.

Seattle Jobs Initiative

Seattle Jobs Initiative is a nonprofit organization that creates opportunities for people to support themselves and their families through living wage careers. Because it often serves as an “intermediary” between clients and job training and support services, succinctly describing their strategic value to funders and other key stakeholders is a challenge.

Ford Foundation - For Economy that Works for All

The Ford Foundation’s For Economy that Works for All initiative was designed to help people who care about building an economy that works for all Americans - one that provides profit to business owners and stable jobs with adequate pay and benefits to employees.

Corporation for a Skilled Workforce

The Corporation for a Skilled Workforce wants to ensure stability and good job opportunities for the American worker. Through community innovation and cultivating business talent, CSW helps governments, businesses and communities create jobs.

Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce is an independent, nonprofit research and policy institute that studies the link between education, career qualifications and workforce demands. Specifically, the Center conducts research, engagement and outreach to policymakers and practitioners.

Living Cities

Living Cities is a philanthropic collaborative based in New York City and Washington, DC. Made up of 22 of the world's largest foundations and financial institutions, Living Cities strives to improve the lives of low-income people living in urban areas.

National Association for State Community Services Programs

National Association for State Community Services Programs is a Washington, DC-based nongovernmental organization that administers and provides assistance to states' Community Block Service Grant (CSBG) and Weatherization Assistance Program (WAP) initiatives.