LAEDC’s workforce development program exists to create economic mobility and equity, support the talent needs of business, and align education with evolving industry trends.  Workforce development is integrated into LAEDC’s research, business assistance, industry council work — and the fabric of our mission.  We work in both the strategic leadership capacity to support systems change and in a programmatic action level to drive progress.

The LAEDC vision is a reimagined Los Angeles regional economy – growing, equitable, sustainable, and resilient – that provides a healthy and high standard of living for all. To this end, our workforce development team has the privilege of leading LAEDC’s workforce development initiatives, which includes our Center for a Competitive Workforce partnership with our region’s 19 community colleges, that integrates LAEDC’s research, industry cluster work, business assistance and intelligence as the locus of our strategic, programmatic, public policy, and transactional activities to strengthen our region’s talent development ecosystem and meet our changing labor market demands. 

What’s New in Workforce Development?


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LAEDC engages with all workforce development systems to lead systems change, coordination

College systems and the 19 community colleges in the LA County Basin are attending Regional Program Advisories, with 96% of attendees reporting it will impact their curriculum, thanks to employer feedback

Workforce skills trends are explored in regular webinars, such as this 2020 webinar on filmmaking talent

Why Partner with LAEDC?

  • Employers: Maximize reach across our region’s 21 community colleges, 5 California State Universities, 7 workforce development boards, 100 universities/colleges, non-profits, unions, and elected leaders.
  • Education, Workforce and Government: lever LAEDC’s research, industry cluster work, business assistance and intelligence to strengthen your institution’s ability to meet changing, current and future labor market demands.  
  • Government, philanthropy, stakeholders: Looking to invest in the intra-relational infrastructure to solidify regional industry and education partnerships (high road training partnerships) needed to create a strong and deep talent pipeline into living wage careers.  
Cornerstone 1:
LAEDC thought leadership

LAEDC facilitates and leads collaborative, demand-driven, future-forward and scalable systems change in our talent development systems. 

Cornerstone 2:
LAEDC analysis of supply & demand for talent in the LA labor market guides our work

LAEDC and our Institute for Applied Economics continue to publish forward-looking reports that serve as a foundation for systems change in our talent development systems. Known for objectivity, transparency and consistent quality, LAEDC’s reports help guide decision makers in education, government, business and labor.

Cornerstone 3:
Industry Councils

Our industry councils facilitate education partnerships with industry for course development and the identification of talent development trends. Industry councils also address key issues that can accelerate the growth of jobs and businesses in the regional industry. Hosted by LAEDC with key industry leaders and invited industry firms to enhance, institutionalize and scale industry participation with the community colleges and other workforce development systems.

Cornerstone 4:
Develop regional infrastructures with technology

The CCW Workforce and Education Partner Portal connects the 19 community colleges to industry work-based learning and job opportunities in real-time, on a Salesforce Community Platform.

  • Peer-to-peer interaction through the industry focused community pages
  • Employer-direct messaging and engagement for all 19 community colleges
  • Student work-based learning and employment application and outcomes tracking
  • Recent improvements include: Enhanced the user experience for faculty; Stored Internship data; More detailed Job Descriptions; Listing of Additional Requirements such as skills,
    coursework, etc.; Track the position fulfillment (how many positions filled, by who, etc.); Create a mechanism to share internship data to colleges; Ability to search for internships within a certain radius of the college; Ability to search for jobs within a certain radius of the college

The LAlifescience.org Bioscience Industry Portal is the new virtual  hub for the Los Angeles region, serving as the “front door” to LA County’s bioscience industry.  College programs for bioscience/life sciences occupations are identified in the map for employers, job seekers and students.

The hub provides the following:

  • Examine a detailed landscape analysis of the industry’s assets and resources in a GIS map with selectable layers
  • Connect directly with industry leaders, entrepreneurs, government officials, jobseekers, and investors
  • View an updated directory of regional events and opportunities to engage with industry leaders
  • Search a database of LA’s most exciting bioscience companies at all stages of development, from preclinical to commercial stage, along with entrepreneurs changing the
    face of therapeutics, medical devices, and digital technology
  • Access intelligence about the LA region’s bioscience industry
  • Find which education and talent development institutions are training our bioscience workforce of today and tomorrow
Cornerstone 5:
Curricula feedback via Regional Program Advisories & Industry

Insights on talent, technology, and training inform existing or new curricula via our regional program advisories. LAEDC, through the CCW partnership, convenes regional employers to engage faculty, administrators and college staff to hear employers critique and make recommendations on the program of each of the colleges in attendance, which are compiled into high-quality Look Books.  In the fast-moving economic changes during COVID, this exchange of ideas is incredibly necessary.  Recent progress below.

Industry Employer Direct Engagement – part of the Regional Program Advisories

In 2020, over 45 industry partners engaged directly with over 140 faculty members across Los Angeles County Community Colleges on critical curriculum discussions through CCW Program Advisories.  See the sampling below:

Workforce Development Team at LAEDC

Jessica Ku Kim
Sr. Director Workforce Development

Shannon Sedgwick
Director of LAEDC’s Institute for Applied Economics

Jermaine Hampton
Director, Workforce Development
Email Jermaine

Supply Chain
and Logistics:

Northrop Grumman Corporation
Nautilus International Holding Corporation
Los Angeles World Airports
American Airlines
Port of Los Angles
BGI Worldwide Logistics

Paralegal and
Legal Assistant:

RoofTop Management, Inc.
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe
Nixon Peabody, LLP
Southern California Edison
RMO, LLP

Accounting:

KPMG, LLP
RSM
Los Angeles County Office of the Assessor
PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC)
Vasquez & Company
Green Hasson Janks
Takeda, Los Angeles Site

Respiratory
Therapy:

Cedars Sinai Medical Center
CHOC Children’s Hospital
Valley Presbyterian Hospital
UCLA Medical Center

Water and
Wastewater
Treatment and
Distribution:

Metropolitan Water District of Southern California
Los Angeles Department of Water and Power
Water Replenishment District
San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District
Perc Water Corporation

Cloud
Computing:

Amazon Web Services
Los Angeles Metro
Slalom Consulting
Think AI Corporation
CDW Integrated Technology Solutions

Automotive
Technician:

Greater Los Angeles New Car Dealers Association
LA Metro
Constellis
Canoo
UPS
City of Long Beach

Animation:

DreamWorks
Walt Disney Animation Studio
Bento Box Entertainment
Nickelodeon
Netflix
FarSight Studios