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June 2019

Jun 17

Discovering the power of the podcast

By Technology

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Just four short years ago, few people would have recognized the name – or the voice – of Sarah Koenig. Today, Koenig, an investigative journalist, engages millions of people and is among the world’s most-listened-to storytellers.

Koenig’s medium? The podcast, a once-humble and somewhat experimental method of delivering content to the general public.

Koenig is the host of “Serial,” a podcast that tells a nonfiction story over multiple episodes. Earlier this month, Koenig was in Indianapolis as part of WFYI’s Listen Up speakers’ series.

According to Slate magazine, the word “podcast” first appeared in a news story in 2005. But for years, podcasts remained on the fringes, unable to gain traction until smartphones and apps made information easily accessible and a lot more portable.

Matt Shafer Powell, WFYI’s chief content officer, produced his first podcast in 2005. He was working in Knoxville, Tennessee, and a university IT staff person read about podcasts and suggested using this platform to distribute content.

According to Powell, there was an initial flush of podcasting, and then growth seemed to die.

“We were actually kind of talking about it in terms of ‘Yeah, remember when podcasting was such an interesting idea. Boy, those days are gone.’

“And then all of a sudden, there came this wholesale embrace of podcasting from so many of the big players, like “This American Life,” and groups like that. It just exploded and then “Serial” came along.”

And just how has the medium grown? Earlier this year, Chartable, a company that provides podcast analytics and attribution tools, reported that there were 700,000 available podcasts, and that number is growing. Each month, 32 percent of Americans listen to a podcast.

But does that mean that nonprofits have embraced the format?

Bill Stanczykiewicz, the Fund Raising School’s director, knows firsthand what it takes to regularly produce a podcast. In late January 2018, the school launched “First Day,” a weekly 10-minute podcast to provide organizations with the latest information on fundraising and philanthropy.

“I would speculate that the format probably works best for intermediary-type nonprofit organizations. Many of our nonprofits are literally first responders who are meeting needs and making the world a better place as they serve children and victims of domestic violence, promote the arts, clean the environment, endorse animal welfare, all these things. That’s a lot of hard work on a day-to-day basis and to think about setting aside time for podcasts could be a challenge.”

So that’s why Stanczykiewicz’s team has kept the format short, and before the launch of “First Day,” identified its three strategic reasons.

“One is that we believe strongly that podcasts are the medium of now and definitely the medium of the future. More and more people are turning to podcasts for information. I think of college students who tell me they never read the New York Times, but they listen to the NYT podcast every day.”

The Fund Raising School had a multichannel marketing strategy, and a podcast was a seamless fit. It also ensured that the school’s information is accessible, including internationally, for fundraising and nonprofit professionals.

“We know you’re making the world a better place, so it’s 10 minutes in, out, done. Get practical information that you need and get back to work is another reason why we chose that format,” Stanczykiewicz said. In the year and a half of production, there have been only two occasions when the format deviated from the interview format. Typically, Stanczykiewicz said, he is the objective host, and there is a featured guest.

“We tell the guests in advance, this needs to be translated for practical application for frontline fundraisers. We cannot have our very talented faculty and researchers talking about research; it has to be what does this research means for practical fundraising. We wanted it to be quick, right to the point. If you want more information, you can go to our website. We know that fundraisers are busy people, we wanted to summarize, three big points, and then be done.”

And while WFYI’s Powell said he’s not an expert on podcasting, public radio had an early upper hand. In 2005, NPR emerged as a major player with a ready supply of content when it put out shows like “Fresh Air,” “Planet Money” and “Ted Radio Hour” online.

“We were on the air already doing in-depth reporting, and that kind of storytelling, so it was an easier fit to move it over to the podcast realm than maybe some other media entities. In a lot of ways, we’re learning right along with everybody else.

“I think it’s a really exciting time. It’s scary, but being in media has always been scary because it’s in a constant state of change. I think when it comes down to it, people still love, and will always love a good story,” said Powell.

He, like Stanczykiewicz, believes that audio-only content isn’t going away, because it allows the listener to engage in other activities, like jogging or cooking. He said the case for radio over 100 years ago was that it allowed an individual’s imagination to fill in the gaps, and that hasn’t changed.

“I believe that about audio-only content despite the fact that we are going through changes in how it’s delivered. We’ll continue to go through changes, but there’s always going to be a place for good content, good stories and the human voice,” said Powell.

Stanczykiewicz said the format of the school’s podcasts works for them, and urges nonprofits or individuals to have a plan before launching any type of podcasts.

While he has a background in radio, he earned a leadership certificate on social media from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University. One point that was stressed in that training was to release it on the same time and day or days of the week. So, because “First Day” is released on Mondays, it is aptly named, and while some people have suggested they produce a daily podcast, currently the school doesn’t have that capacity or a plan to increase production.

Powell urged potential podcasters to be realistic about whom you want to reach.

“There’s nothing wrong with doing a podcast that only reaches a small, but selective group of people. Be realistic about who your audience is and what you want from them: Do you want to entertain them, do you want to educate them, do you want to inspire them?” he said.

While the Fund Raising School does not have exact audience listeners, typically the week a podcast is released, Stanczykiewicz said there are 500 listeners. Each podcast is archived, and anecdotally, the school learned that people use the 10-minute segments at staff and board meetings. Over time, podcasts, which Stanczykiewicz said cost virtually nothing to produce, have achieved up to 1,000 listeners.

Powell recommends identifying resources as part of the initial planning, but said that equipment and hosting are not expensive. He cautions that it depends on the final product. From his experience, though, he said it takes 10 times longer than initial projections.

“If you’re talking about the kind of podcast where you’re going out and getting stories and editing these stories and getting music and doing all this other stuff, there’s going to be a pretty financial obligation there unless you got all the equipment and all the time in the world and can do it yourself,” said Powell.

And while podcast audiences are growing, some genres are more appealing. A 2018 report from Nielson examined the broadest popularity types for avid listeners.

The Fund Raising School’s format, for example, requires little editing. Guests are told it’s live to tape with just one take. Liz Jackson, the school’s associate director, manages the program, and this past school year, there was a graduate assistant who did the day-to-day work of scheduling, preparing the guests, uploading the podcasts and tracking usage data. Unlike most nonprofits, the school’s advantage is access to IUPUI’s facilities, which include a video- and audio-recording studio that is staffed. Topic ideas are a standing agenda item at bimonthly team meetings.

“We brainstorm what’s some of the latest research that has come from our faculty or research team, or as we teach, is there a predominate line of questioning that we’re hearing about, a topic that we’re hearing about, or is there something out in the news. For example, we might say there’s been some natural disasters, maybe we need to have something on natural disasters or how does that affect charitable giving or some change in tax policy,” he said.

Podcasts are recorded two to three months prior to air time to make sure there’s always enough in the pipeline, and typically the interviewees are solicited from the two-dozen faculty,10 researchers or external guests speaking at the school.

For WFYI, podcasts have typically been local radio shows that are available on-demand. That was until “The WorkAround” from “Side Effects.” Funding from the Corporation of Public Broadcasting provided the initial funding for “Side Effects,” and in the grant was a deliverable — a podcast. After extensive brainstorming, the team decided to produce 20- to-25-minute podcasts about the difficult and sometimes shocking things that people would do to work around the American health care system. Seven episodes were produced last year.

“It was a learning experience. We totally underestimated how much time and energy it would take. You’d think that that would be a great lesson for us, but we actually have another podcast in production right now called “Sick” that’s going to launch in September,” said Powell.

Some support for this new podcast is provided by Boston-based PRX.

“PRX had this program called “Catapult.” It was designed specifically to (support) public radio stations that had some ideas and some resources available for podcasts, but really didn’t know what they’re doing. I’m happy with “The WorkAround.” It’s good journalism, and I think it came out sounding good, but we had no clue what we were doing, we were totally flying without instruments. We also didn’t know how to market something like this or how do you get listeners?

“And then along comes PRX with its RFP saying, ‘Hey, if you have a podcast idea, we’d love to help you with it.’” WFYI was one of five stations named around the country to be part of the “Catapult” cohort. PRX provided some funding to help with the costs, but it is providing something more valuable.

“The important part is they’re putting us through extensive training on everything from the best way to produce a podcast, to the best way to write one, to the best way to market one. Really more than anything, it’s the intense training that we’re getting out of  ‘Catapult,’” said Powell, who’s been with the station for two years.

The reporting and production team are Jake Harper and Lauren Bavis, and they have traveled to Boston several times for boot camp training weeks. PRX has also been a constant editorial presence, offering suggestions to hone the product.

“I’m anxious to see what the output will be in terms of lessons for us going forward,” said Powell.

So if a nonprofit is thinking about tackling a podcast, Powell shared advice that Koenig provided her audience earlier this month — be your true self.

“If you’re just trying to create this podcast, and it’s not something that engages you, people are going to recognize that. It’s a heavy, heavy lift. Koenig, for example, had 42 hours of tape with Adnan Syed that had to be gone through. There’s a long process of editing and reediting and questioning and re-questioning. In that kind of storytelling podcast, you better be prepared to really work long and hard,” he said. “People say, ‘That sounds easy, I can do that.’ But they don’t know what’s involved.”

Stanczykiewicz said that if the philanthropic sector isn’t there yet, it needs to be.

“As more and more people are consuming information through their phones and other technological devices, they’re looking to podcasts now for information more than ever before. And that’s a trend in our opinion that’s only going to continue to increase. This is where the world is going,” he said.

“It will be very interesting to see this moving forward. You know when you write this story three years from now, I think they’ll be even much more extensive than what you’re finding now,” said the assistant dean for external relations.

Editor’s note: After this article ran, the Girl Scouts of Central Indiana shared news of its podcast. Since February, it has partnered with Veteran Strategies, a local public relations firm, to interview Hoosier community leaders. The inaugural “Leaders and Legends” podcast featured former Mayor of Indianapolis Greg Ballard. https://leadersandlegends.fireside.fm/ 

Jun 10

Executive education helps organizations invest in employees through MPA program

By Sponsor Insight

By Leslie Wells, associate director of communication, O’Neill School at IUPUI

In late April, 14 employees of the Crane Naval Surface Warfare Center received their Executive Master of Public Affairs degrees from Indiana University Executive Education at the O’Neill School. These graduates spent more than two years working toward this goal and are the latest in a long line of Crane employees to earn their degree through this unique program. 

What makes this path to an advanced degree so different from many others?

“The leadership of Executive Education at O’Neill is very customer focused,” says Angie Lewis, corporate operations department director at Crane. “They want to understand what’s going on within our environment. They’ve been willing to adapt certain parts of the lessons, update, and transform portions of their curriculum to stay current with our challenges and needs. That makes this program especially valuable.”

The Executive Public Management Certificate (EPMC) and EMPA programs are Crane’s largest and longest-lasting investment in employee education. Crane covers all costs of the program for employees and has done so for the past 20 years.

The application process is competitive. Selected employees must first earn their EPMC before they can apply for the EMPA program. Besides the 14 EMPA graduates, 24 Crane employees also earned their EMPC in April.

Participants who complete the 39-credit hour EMPA travel to Indianapolis 12 times during the full program’s three years for week-long courses and to Washington, D.C., for one week of class. Faculty members walk students through topics relating to economics, public policy and analysis, HR policies, and more. [WL1] [Office2] In between each week-long class, these Crane employees develop projects and presentations to prepare for the next round.

For Crane’s courses, each class is geared toward the specific needs of the company’s employees. Each cohort includes participants from various departments across Crane, a strategic decision Lewis says creates lasting relationships.

“People who work in engineering, production, and technology are in class with people who are responsible for regulatory compliance and oversight,” she says. “When you build strong cohorts of people who know how to work across boundaries, they can accomplish projects more efficiently and effectively, despite the natural tensions between their roles.”

John Kleihege, a Crane supervisory engineer who received his EMPA in April, says the courses teach students to speak a common leadership language while broadening their view of their world and their work.

“It exposes you to areas that you don’t functionally work in,” Kleihege says. “That makes you a well-rounded employee and makes it so that when you see public policy shaped, you understand the process and how to communicate about it to others.”

Communication is a key part of the program. The courses prepare students to understand and explain public policy shifts in the context of what matters most to their management teams.

“You can go to a four-year school and learn how to run a business, about bureaucracies and nonprofits, or government- and public-sector roles, but this program educates our employees about the larger system in which they work,” Lewis says.

For Crane, that larger system includes multiple U.S. Navy bases, command centers, and other units around the country. Craig Barton received his EMPA in April after leaving the Indiana-based Crane in 2017 to head to its parent command, Naval Sea Systems Command (NAVSEA) headquarters in Washington, D.C.

Barton decided to continue with his Crane cohort and cover the cost of the remaining courses himself. That decision paid off. He says the program played a direct role in landing his current position as director of contracts for the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory.

“I give almost absolute credit to the IU Executive Education MPA program for my current job,” he says. “The capstone class occurred the week before my interview. It was essentially a weeklong interview prep that helped me tie everything together. I’m very grateful to the EMPA program.”   

While the content in Crane’s EMPA course may be specific to its needs, the Executive Education team can adapt the case studies and group projects to work for other organizations, even those in other sectors. That’s because — at its core — the program focuses on teaching students to be better leaders, no matter where they work.

“The learnings transcend Crane,” Barton adds. “What you learn applies no matter where you go. It teaches you that leadership is leadership. There is no magic:  It’s simply gaining the necessary tools, learning the appropriate contexts in which to apply those tools and then executing.”

Employers interested in exploring their own Executive MPA cohort in Indianapolis or own their site can learn more about the program at the O’Neill School website, or contact Executive Education Director Sara Johnson.

Leslie Wells is the assistant director of communications at the O’Neill School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI. She joined the O’Neill School at IUPUI in 2018 after three years in nonprofit media relations and a decade in broadcast news.

Jun 03

Community investment sparks creativity

By Sponsor Insight

By Jennifer Pittman, senior director of community affairs, OneAmerica  

Springtime is a season of creative renewal. Early-season rain showers give way to colorful blooms and flowering trees. Then in mid-May in Indy, springtime pops in unexpected ways as hundreds of local artists present their work at the annual OneAmerica® Broad Ripple Art Fair (BRAF).   

The event has become a favorite annual tradition for many of the 1,400 Indianapolis-area OneAmerica® associates, who love to volunteer and soak up inspiration that lasts long after the last artist booth is packed up for the year. 

In 2018, BRAF lit a creative spark with some OneAmerica associates, who asked, “What if we didn’t have to wait a full year for this kind of artistic inspiration? Could we find a way to sprinkle a little bit of this magic throughout the other 11 months?”  

Through our strong relationship with the Indianapolis Art Center and OneAmerica leaders who enthusiastically support creative community connections, the short answer was, “YES!”  

At the time, a floor of the OneAmerica Tower downtown was undergoing significant renovations to create a vibrant, versatile OneAmerica conference center – a space for associates to brainstorm and collaborate, but also to showcase our building and culture with financial professionals and visitors from our community and beyond.  What better place to create our own mini-BRAF year-round?  

In April, the conference center became home to a rotating exhibit of two-dimensional art, curated in collaboration with the Indianapolis Art Center. Four times a year, we select a new mix of work from local artists. Artists whose work is featured receive an honorarium for each piece displayed and the opportunity to offer those pieces for sale. And our associates draw inspiration from the space, especially during cold winter months when we’re eagerly awaiting the first signs of spring…and BRAF!

By the time the 2019 edition of the OneAmerica Broad Ripple Art Fair had occurred (May 18-19) we had truly come full circle.

So what’s the connection between arts and financial services? First, art and the artists who create it matter to us because they make our hometown more vibrant. We simply can’t imagine an Indianapolis devoid of creativity or artistic perspectives. In celebration of those talents, our home office is filled with the works of Hoosier artists that enhance our workspace and elevate our spirits. Participating in BRAF is another opportunity for us to connect with and support our creative community.

BRAF also helps illustrate why our work in financial services is so important. “403b” is an essential phrase at OneAmerica, because it refers to a special type of retirement plan for nonprofit organizations – like the Indianapolis Art Center. The mechanics of preparing for retirement may seem complicated, but our philosophy is simple. Everyone deserves to retire confident in their finances, especially those who have dedicated their careers to serving others and making our community a beautiful place to be.

Since 1964, we’ve been helping nonprofits in our hometown and across the country with their tax-exempt retirement plans. And in 2016, OneAmerica launched a Tax Exempt Center of Excellence (COE) website to serve as a central hub for financial professionals to access everything from market insights to information about tax-exempt products and services. It’s another way we serve those who serve others, by sharing our experience in the unique challenges and opportunities in the tax-exempt marketplace and providing other financial professionals supportive tools and resources.

At OneAmerica, we’re firm believers that strong community partnerships require 360 degrees of connection between community organizations, the people they serve, and our associates. The new OneAmerica conference center rotating exhibit is just one more shining, creative example of this philosophy in action.   

Jen Pittman is a leader with passion for building a stronger Indianapolis community.  Her professional pursuits and personal endeavors represent a unique blend of corporate, government and nonprofit impact.

OneAmerica is the marketing name for the companies of OneAmerica. Products issued and underwritten by American United Life Insurance Company® (AUL), a OneAmerica company. Administrative and recordkeeping services provided by McCready and Keene, Inc. or OneAmerica Retirement Services LLC, companies of OneAmerica which are not broker/dealers or investment advisors. Neither AUL, OneAmerica Retirement Services, McCready and Keene nor their representatives provide tax, legal fiduciary or investment advice.

Jun 03

One workforce strategy: EmployIndy’s community-based career navigators

By Feature, Programming

By Lynn Sygiel, editor, Charitable Advisors

Visit WorkOne Indy’s new location and learn about its services.

Attend the family-friendly open house on June 15 from 11:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. to check out the new facility and learn more about EmployIndy services. Bring your resume because there is a job fair during the event.

The address is: 4410 N. Shadeland Ave. (the former Carpe Diem charter school).

When Delores Mockabee found herself without a job four years ago, her emotions ran high. At times she felt hopeless and helpless, after her job was eliminated. That is until she spent time at the WorkOne office on Indianapolis’ westside. Each time she visited the office, she was greeted by passionate, caring and supportive employees.

Fast forward. Now, she is on the other side of the table. After taking advantage of WorkOne’s services, she landed a job with ResCare, a subcontractor for EmployIndy. She now pays it forward as a career navigator.

“Depending on the level of job you had, it is hard because it is like, ‘What are people going to think,’” said Mockabee. “It is a passion for me to be able to give what I got when I came to WorkOne.” Indiana’s network of American Job Centers is branded WorkOne.

In her daily work, she is one of 11 navigators who splits time at 19 satellite locations in Indianapolis. This position is designed to help connect the agency with people where they live. The navigators’ home base is WorkOne Indy, a full-service center that opened in January. Each has established a schedule to provide satellite personnel and clients with consistency. Mockabee’s sites are the Garfield Park, East Washington and Central libraries. While there, she works in the computer area and uses a large portable sign to identify the agency and its services.

“It’s been enlightening for me. Every library has a different culture. You have to figure out how you fit in, how you support and how you encourage. A lot of people who come here would not go to the eastside. Here, we’re able to offer services, and people are starting to know that we’re here and we’re available. I had a lady who came three times when I was here to help with her resume because she was computer illiterate.” Mockabee has also supported a pharmacist and a chemist, helping them develop individualized plans and utilize available resources.

Her first client created dental molds, but she was replaced with a machine. Mockabee said, she began with an Indiana Career Explorer assessment to identify her client’s strengthens, which is particularly helpful if people don’t know what to do next.

A navigator’s responsibilities don’t end after a client secures a job. There is a regular check in with the client for 90 days. Once the individual reaches that milestone, the case is transferred to another WorkOne staff person who continues the connection for a year.

Mockabee shared a story about one young man who completed the Commercial Driver Training, CDL certification. After a short time in the new job, he called her to say that he didn’t know if he could continue the travel to small towns. After reassuring him that they could find him another job, two days later he wrote: ‘I love my job, I make more money in one week than I make in a month.’ So, it really changed his life.

“We do support and help people. First thing is to get a job, then get a better job and then ultimately a career. Most exciting for me is working with people who end up in a career. This starts their future all over,” she said. And hers, too.

Besides partnering with libraries, EmployIndy has added sites at adult education centers sites in Warren, Washington and Wayne townships. CAFÉ on the city’s far eastside and Ivy Tech are other partner sites.

“These are potential clients. We want to be right there to catch them and help them with whatever else they need or help move them on to the next step of a career,” said Joe Backe, EmployIndy’s communication manager.

According to Backe, working in libraries has allowed the agency to not only expand its footprint, but removed some barriers. At the Shadeland WorkOne full-service center, for example, no one under the age of 16 is permitted in the building. That precludes people from bringing their children. But at a library, children can look at books, while mom or dad connects to services. At the WorkOne center, people can also be pointed toward a satellite location, which might be more convenient.

Those services can range from career development, to job searches, to skills development.

Although EmployIndy has been around since the 1960s in some form, and the Indianapolis mayor is responsible for appointing the members of the board. The board — with input from community stakeholders, residents, and EmployIndy partners, including the mayor’s office — is responsible for the strategic direction of EmployIndy. As part of the mayor’s initiative, the agency is working to be more neighborhood focused and target specific areas where unemployment, crime and poverty are higher, and residents may have given up hope of entering or re-entering the workforce.

Chief Operations Officer Marie Mackintosh joined EmployIndy three years ago, and was part of the team that designed the strategic plan to support the mayor’s initiative. She views the agency’s role as ensuring that residents are ready for the jobs and careers that employers bring into the community. One of the plan’s tactics was creation of the career navigator positions.

“People are not widgets, they are complex human beings. When you think about the fact that we’re asking our navigators to help those complex human beings who have so many different assets and strengths, but also potential barriers. Think about how much finessing that requires and the complexity of that,” she said.

Mackintosh said that another strategy was to consolidate the three centers located around the city into one full-service center. Housed in the former Carpe Diem charter school building on the eastside, the building can accommodate a weekly job fair for up to 20 companies, offer workshops and training and provide multiple services. An open house on June 15 will showcase the center’s services. It’s a family-friendly event, so kids under 16 may attend.  

Since the full-service center opened at the beginning of the year, another benefit has been an uptick in the number of people coming to the office monthly, which averages around 2,500 people.

Mockabee believes that bringing everyone under one roof has been good, and is a more efficient way to work. Part of a navigator’s job is to keep abreast of community resources that can be shared with clients. To facilitate that EmployIndy regularly communicates with other workforce development partners.

“We have monthly eco-system enrichment meetings where we bring together WorkOne staff and a growing number of neighborhood partner staff who are doing this coaching work on the frontlines. We talk about things like Gateway to Work, which is the new program coming out of the Family Social Services Administration in July. Individuals will be required to do more work-search requirements in order to keep Medicaid benefits. We want to make sure that we as a community don’t let anyone who is on Medicaid, drop off just because they didn’t work with a partner organization like ours to stay on,” said Mackintosh.  

EmployIndy’s graphic is a visual representation of organizations involved in the Marion County Workforce Ecosystem.

With unemployment low, one of the challenges for EmployIndy is that state and federal governments have been reduced. This year, the agency will face an 11 percent cut, however, what hasn’t changed is the need to retrain and develop skills of workers for this century.

“I try really hard to advocate for smarter, more efficient ways that we can try to help people that maybe don’t cost as much, but that are cool ways that we can connect individuals to ways to up skills,” said Mackintosh.

“What we’re trying to do is figure out how we work within the existing landscape of neighborhood organizations and offer our additional resources where it makes sense and isn’t duplicitous. So Delores might go to a library because Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center or Boner Center is down the street and they already do similar types of services through their Center for Working Families model.

“While they offer basic employment services, they may not offer a particular workshop. So, we would bring that workshop to the neighborhood or to other neighborhoods that maybe aren’t as aware of the things we do. We’re really trying to build that system and be hyper aware of the other organizations that exist in a particular neighborhood that we might be able to have some sort of a relationship. The question we ask is: How do we augment and work in a symbiotic way rather than a competitive way?” Mackintosh said.

One way is through workshops offered in tandem with partners. Rick Hightower, a career facilitator for ResCare, recently offered a 90-minute session at Fathers and Families Center for WorkOne. Males in the program are exposed to between 20 and 25 hours of workforce development workshops. That day the five males were exposed to the importance of networking, resume building and a variety of websites to look for jobs. Hightower’s rapid-based session provided the participants web-based sources of free tools. One, a job-scan website, matched a resume to a company’s job description. WorkOne also publishes a monthly learning events calendar, which lists as many as nine different trainings or meet-ups daily.

With Indiana investment in workforce development through its Workforce Ready Grants, career navigators can direct clients to some of the state’s most in-demand professions. Educating the community about Next Level Jobs Workforce Ready Grants, specifically that people in their targeted neighborhoods, is part of their work.

Mackintosh credits Gov. Holcomb’s administration for its pillar of workforce education and the governor’s workforce cabinet.

“It combines the efforts of the Commission for Higher Education, the Department of Workforce Development, business people and others to discuss some of these tough issues you’re talking about.

“In the last legislative session, they increased the funding for Workforce Ready Grants, which are state training dollars for people who don’t have a college degree to be able to reskill and the state will pay for it. It could be short-term certifications. They have to be in higher demand industries, so it’s advanced manufacturing, transportation and logistics, IT and business, health and life sciences and building and construction.”

“People are on this whole continuum of readiness for employment today. The plant workers who have been dislocated over the last couple of years, whether at Carrier or someplace else, what they have going for them is an incredible work history and ethic. I personally have great faith the average American worker could reskill and find better opportunities in this economy even today, if they can wrap their mind around that reality after they’ve grieved that the job they had for decades is lost.  But if we compare that to an individual who is maybe 19 years old, who comes from multi-generational poverty, who didn’t finish high school and doesn’t have the basic skills or role models to be able to hold down a job, that’s a very different sets of issues that we’re dealing with,” said Mackintosh.

One new opportunity allows career navigators to recommend individuals who they believe are ready for a better job.

“We have a team of business recruiters here on site at EmployIndy who receive all those referrals and look at the skill set of the individuals that are being referred and try to connect them to our employer partners. Whomever is serving in the capacity of that career navigator has the professional authority to say, ‘You know this person is really ready for an opportunity in logistics or an opportunity in technology or advanced manufacturing, here are the reasons why I think they’d be a great fit.’

“Every single person who is turned over to our recruiting team receives a phone interview, and then based on how that goes, we provide feedback to the navigators. We call all that work our referral portal, but it’s very clear what we’re trying to do, and I think that’s really special and still in its infancy.

Mackintosh said it’s modeled on a Goodwill of Central and Southern Indiana practice to talent source.

“What employers want the most is strategies for how to get their talent pipeline sorted. They appreciate the work of EmployIndy’s career navigators and they are looking for us to do even more,” she said.