Throughout April 2022, The Education Fund’s Executive Director, Rebecca Hanson; Tarik Scott, Director of External Relations; Sonya Allen-Smith, one of our trustees and program graduates; Patrice Madu, Director of Education; and Angelynn Avé, Northwest Regional Coordinator presented 2021 organizational outcomes to the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) and Healthcare Career Advancement Program (HCAP). In these presentations they shared information and statistics about our thriving High Road Training Projects (HRTP), the summary of our First Steps campaign, share 2022 opportunities for our organization and acknowledge the success of our Apprenticeship programs.

In 2021 alone, the Education Fund served over 27,600 unique learners with 70% of those being women and 70% being workers of color. We also launched fully supported pathway programs for Surgical Tech, Rad Tech, IT, Phlebotomy, MA, CNA, Sterile Processing, Mental Health, RN to BSN, Coding. In 2022 new pathways are being added for LVN and Respiratory. 1,200 members completed degrees, certificates or certifications for a new job in 2021, up 410% from 2020 to 2021, with the number of Black and Latinx learners earning new degrees and certificates up 484% from 2020 to 2021.

Over the last few years our HRTP programs have focused on connecting underrepresented workers to opportunities for advancement, including non-clinical and entry level workers, English language learners, and low-income communities. One way we’re managing this is through our Member2Member program, in which members assist us in reaching out to their peers to help them understand what benefits the Ed Fund provides. This was especially necessary during the early days of the Covid pandemic when our own staff didn’t have access to the facilities we service. Another option is for the Education Fund to leverage our partnerships to support new and regional HRTP projects. Tarik believes that “our partnerships represent a true intersection between equity by targeting underrepresented workers and communities, and job quality by promoting jobs that pay families sustaining wages and competitive benefits”

The Education Fund team also recognized several critical opportunities for 2022 that will allow us to better serve our members, including providing flexible support services, expanding Career Pathways, Apprenticeships, Clinical Placements and paid training time, and adding more opportunities for diverse entry level workers to advance to higher wage positions to fill shortages and job vacancies, connecting with community hire programs for backfill. “With these shortages there is a lot of opportunity for diverse workers to advance, and this allows us to address not only occupational segregation that’s existed but also to reach back and connect into the workforce system and other community-based organizations to create community hire programs for the backfill that will be needed as people move up”, shares Rebecca.

When discussing the Education Fund’s 2022 opportunities, she says, “we really want to take advantage of the moment that we’re in to address the needs that we’re seeing now but also plan for how work is changing in the future and what the workforce of the future needs to continue the career growth that they want. This has the opportunity to support a better delivery of healthcare in our state and in our country.”

About the Education Fund, Sonya says “It’s so phenomenal how our members turn around and have these ‘aha!’ moments when they realize they have the ability to upscale this benefit that a lot of people don’t have if you’re not working in a partnership such as ours, having the Ed Fund be there to guide you, give you the resources, and the counseling.” She goes on to share that she feels “the Ed Fund is a life changing program for our frontline members so they can continue to grow and change.”

From left to right: Angelynn Avé (Regional Coordinator, Northwest Programs), Rachel Lupole (Director, Career Advice), Juanita Kamhoot (SEIU Local 49 Executive Board Member and Performance Improvement Advisor, Kaiser Permanente), Kristy Spencer (Medical Assistant, Kaiser Permanente), and Zenaida Ehrlich (Regional Coordinator, Northwest Programs).

The Education Fund worked with SEIU Local 49 and our Northwest stakeholders to support the Future Ready Oregon 2022 bill signed by Governor Kate Brown on April 5, 2022. Local 49 invited members of the Education Fund’s staff and a couple of learners to attend the signing of the bill.

The Future Ready Oregon Bill is a comprehensive $200 million package of investments to give people the education, training, and resources they need to get into good-paying careers. The package particularly focuses on connecting Oregon’s workers with good-paying career paths in technology, manufacturing, and healthcare. These key sectors provide short-term pathways to meaningful employment, higher earning potential, and opportunities for economic mobility.

Governor Brown specifically thanked SEIU Local 49 and SEIU Local 503 for all their efforts to support frontline healthcare workers and emphasized their support of education and training partnerships. We are extremely proud to have been a part of this monumental bill and we look forward to providing educational opportunities to more eligible learners in the Northwest.

Members of The Education Fund’s staff recently traveled to Portland to connect with our partners from InsideTrack. The Education Fund began working with InsideTrack in 2019 to provide success coaching to support the career advice team. The initial partnership went so well that it soon evolved to working with InsideTrack on a few different areas including coaching, consulting, organizational development and department training.

From left to right: Josh TenHaken-Riedel (InsideTrack), Shawn Walker Hardeman, Rachel Lupole, Deanna Hatter, Angelynn Avé, Mabel Meza, Charmaine Chong, Ann Werbach (InsideTrack), Phoenix Lockett

The Education Fund is intentional with our outreach and recruitment efforts to make sure eligible union members know what we have to offer, and to learn how to best support members’ career and education goals. The Education Fund team believes the healthcare workforce should be just as diverse as the communities it serves, and our programs and services are available to all who are eligible.

Due to InsideTrack’s ability to collect and report on participant progress and outcomes, the Education Fund has learned a few key best practices that ensure we are able to tell the story of the organization’s impact and success. With this partnership, the Education Fund has been able to offer crisis support to all participants, which has been extremely valuable during the pandemic. We have also worked diligently to move our career counselors to the front-end of services to fully support learners to understand how the Ed Fund’s programs and services can support their career and educational goals.

This is just the beginning of an amazing partnership that will continue to grow and provide valuable knowledge and support to all eligible members.