Philadelphia Works serves as the city of Philadelphia’s Workforce Development Board and develops and manages workforce solutions that respond to business needs and increase economic opportunity for all. When the U.S. Department of Commerce announced the Good Jobs Challenge in 2021 aimed at training and placing 50,000 workers in good jobs in growth industries, Philadelphia Works and city leaders wanted to secure a grant to galvanize a broader, cross-sector regional coalition of partners across Berks, Bucks, Chester, Delaware, Montgomery, and Philadelphia Counties that combined, would design and scale a transformational regional workforce development initiative.
The complexity of the grant application requirements, the number of partners involved, and a relatively short timeline benefited from Fairmount’s engagement as the outsourced consultant leading the process. Working closely with Philadelphia Works leadership and its collaborative training provider and equity experts, Fairmount collaboratively designed a winning proposal that brought together nearly 50 service and training partners across six counties and three growth industries spanning life sciences, energy, and infrastructure. In our four-month grant process, Fairmount managed the project, facilitated partner meetings, conducted a needs assessment, supported the project design and evaluation, reviewed the budget, and ensured all the information needed to secure a grant was articulated strategically and comprehensively.
Philadelphia Works and its partners secured a $22 million grant, which is resulting in the creation of 3,000 jobs in career-ladder growth industries and a new model for collaboration across six counties in Pennsylvania. As a result, Fairmount was subsequently engaged to coordinate and plan for the Good Jobs Challenge’s collective impact governance and business structure. This work included identifying the deliverables and outcomes needed to assure success for the joint process, identifying guiding principles, and creating buy-in and support from diverse stakeholders across the counties. Philadelphia Works further engaged Fairmount to facilitate the governance of the project in its initial phases.
Fairmount’s partnership with Philadelphia Works has continued through outsourced grants strategy and grantwriting support, resulting in significant new state and federal funding for employer advisory partnerships and for building pathways to employment in the local public sector.
Fairmount’s insights and subject matter expertise are invaluable to Philadelphia Works and the Workforce Partnerships team managing the Good Jobs Challenge. Fairmount’s team brings an optimistic attitude and has an exceptional ability to integrate diverse perspectives into long lasting solutions, making them an ideal partner to work with. Philadelphia Works highly recommends the Fairmount Ventures team as a consultant and will continually look for opportunities to partner with them on future projects and grants.