Pathways to Shared Prosperity
In three California regions, the Pathways to Shared Prosperity Initiative
will “re-wire” the workforce system to launch the development of a
comprehensive regional career pathways system, building on existing
partnerships and expanding successful models and programs.
Goals:
 More effectively address the workforce needs of
each region’s major competitive and emerging
industries: and
 Provide greater opportunity for residents of the
region to gain the skills they need to access jobs
that ensure economic self-sufficiency and offer
career advancement opportunities.
Strategy

State Leadership Team: Under the leadership of
the Governor, convene an interagency group of
senior administrators from key workforce
development agencies and programs including
the CWIB, Labor Agency, California Community
Colleges Chancellor’s office, ETP, Division of
Apprenticeship Standards, and California
Department of Education that will:
o Identify three regions to pilot the creation
of regional skills alliances tasked with the
development of career pathway
partnerships in key competitive and
emerging industries;
o Align, coordinate, and integrate resources
to achieve that goal;
o Establish success metrics for the regional
skills alliances and career pathway
Defining Career Pathways
A career pathway is a series of connected
education and training programs and
support services that enable individuals to
advance over time to better jobs and higher
levels of education and training. Each step
on a career pathway is designed to prepare
individuals for the next level of
employment and education.
Career pathways target regional labor
markets, focus on key employment sectors,
deeply engage employers, and provide a
framework for workforce development by
integrating the programs and resources of
community colleges and other educational
institutions, workforce agencies, adult
education programs, social service
providers, and other stakeholders.
Career pathways address employers’ entire
workforce pipeline needs – from entry level
to higher skilled – and employ innovations
in instruction and program design to help
students succeed.
partnerships and carefully monitor progress;
o Develop statewide learning communities, including learning communities in
each of the three targeted sectors;
o Work together to identify and access additional federal, state, private, and
philanthropic resources to support the development of regional skills
alliances throughout California; and
o Work together to develop an effective statewide system of useful, actionable
labor market information to support regional skills alliances.

Regional Skills Alliances: Partnerships of community colleges, Workforce
Investment Boards, One Stop Career Centers, K12/ROCPs/Adult Education
providers, CBOs, unions and employers in a region that will:
o Identify key competitive and emerging industries in the region;
o Create career pathway partnerships, with deep employer engagement, for
those key industries, that will develop robust and transparent career
pathways;
o Ensure access to those pathways for individuals from all of California’s
diverse communities, including individuals with barriers to educational and
economic success, adult learners, incumbent workers, individuals with
disabilities, and returning veterans.
o Align, coordinate, integrate the services and resources of the partnering
institutions and programs to attain these objectives; and
o Identify and access additional federal, state, private, and philanthropic
resources.

Career Pathway Partnerships: Partnerships of employers from an industry sector or
cluster and practitioners from community colleges, WIBs, One Stops,
K12/ROCPs/Adult Education providers, community-based organizations within a
region that will:
o Map career pathways in the targeted industry;
o Link, blend, augment, and expand existing programs and services and
develop new ones to build career pathways in the targeted industry that have
the following characteristics:
 Pathway is aligned with the skill needs of the industry;
 Pathway includes on-ramps for underprepared individuals with
evidence-based practices that can accelerate learning and improve



student achievement, including integration and contextualization of
basic and occupational skills curriculum and cohort-based instruction;
Pathway is designed as a progression of offerings with multiple entry
and exit points, enabling students to advance over time to successively
higher levels and education and employment, with each course and
program designed to prepare students for the next;
Pathway provides academic and career counseling and support
services.
Pathway leverages the resources of all partners to address the needs of
students.