The California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) is the Governor’s agent for the development, oversight, and continuous improvement of California’s workforce development system. The CWDB assists the Governor in setting and guiding workforce development policy, developing innovative initiatives through statewide programs, and expanding the High Road vision through its field branch. The workforce development system is comprised of 45 Local Workforce Development Areas (Local Area), each with its own business-led Local Workforce Development Board (Local Board). These Local Boards work together with the state and their local Chief Elected Officials to oversee the delivery of workforce services relevant to their residents and businesses. The California Unemployment Insurance Code §14200 – §14531 and the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) give authority to CWDB to carry out the tasks associated with furthering a High Road workforce system. Learn more about the CWDB in the About Us section.
California and the CWDB are committed to a High Road vision for the state’s workforce development system that embodies the principles of job quality, worker voice, equity, and environmental sustainability. Implementing this vision through policy, programs, and other practices will benefit workers, job-seekers, and industry as well as the state’s workforce development system.
Featured Workforce Initiatives
High Road
High Road Training Partnerships (HRTP) and High Road Construction Careers (HRCC) a systemic approach to industry-based workforce development addressing critical issues of equity, job quality, worker voice, and environmental sustainability.
CAAL Skills
An interagency and multi-departmental data-sharing and program evaluation initiative that uses detailed information from federal and state-funded workforce, education, and human services programs to measure participation and associated outcomes for program participants.
Regional CA
Work to stimulate economic growth, create jobs and build the talent needed to increase income mobility and regional prosperity through collaboration among multiple workforce systems and bringing workforce leaders together.
Prison to Employment
Creates opportunities through collaborative partnerships with state workforce programs and the state corrections systems so that formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals can successfully reenter society and the labor force.
Workforce Accelerator Fund
Funds projects that design, develop, and implement programs that accelerate employment and provide access to workforce services and employment opportunities for targeted groups and disadvantaged populations.
HIRE
Increases employment opportunities and job mobility for formerly incarcerated and justice-involved individuals through partnerships with reentry-focused organizations that provide training, reskilling and upskilling, and supportive services.
Breaking Barriers
Supplements existing workforce and education programs by providing services to target populations who are often not eligible for other state and federal programs in an effort to address disparities in the labor market.
Coming Soon
Initiative Coming Soon
In the Spotlight
Sacramento, CA – California Workforce Development Board’s High Road Training Partnership grantee Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) recently celebrated its first cohort graduation. The program is designed to address critical school nursing shortages and used High Road Framework to create the Sacramento Nurse Residency and Pathway Program. “Over 40% of the school nurse positions were vacant despite a growing need for health services in the schools following the Covid-19 pandemic,” said Hellan Roth Dowden, Teachers for Healthy Kids. The impacts of the HRTP project are clear: SCUSD vacancies were reduced to 5%, creating an opportunity to support additional health aid positions. Historically, the industry faces low retention rates, a challenge SCUSD expects to improve with their fully trained and credentialed staff.
The SCUSD program uses an apprenticeship and residency model to provide mentorship and financial and social support to current non-credentialed nurses and healthcare workers while earning their one-year nursing credential. “This effort can be a model for other school districts in the state: An apprenticeship workplace-based model for helping meet California’s critical shortages of school nurses, psychologists, counselors, and social workers,” said Lisa Musser, SCUSD Project Manager.
Graduates and program facilitators: (left to right) Kirsten Munk, Eva Hipolito, Melissa Linck, Crystal Roberson, Vida Kem-Gray, Fumi Tamenaha, Tracy Starnes, Raisa Gavrilchik, Michele Penman, Michelle Gonzalez, Christy London, Lisa Musser
CWDB JOB OPENINGS
Review our available positions below, and visit the CalCareers webpage to learn more about how to apply for a state job.
New to the State – Review the 3 Steps To A State Job webpage and be sure to complete the exam/assessment and state application before applying for this position.
Are you passionate about ending poverty and inequality? Are you motivated to address the climate crisis and social injustice while working on economic and workforce development? If so, you may be a great fit for one of our open positions at the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB).
The CWDB is recognized nationally as a progressive and experimental state workforce department, charting a path to a High Road economy and approach to workforce development grounded in the principles of social equity, environmental sustainability, and resilience and quality jobs. Over the past decade, the CWDB’s budget, programs, and staff have grown exponentially using federal and state workforce funding to pilot new sector-based workforce initiatives and develop policy solutions that address the quality and accessibility of jobs in addition to training.
Click Below To View Current CWDB Job Opportunities:
EXECUTIVE TEAM
No jobs openings are currently available in this branch
EQUITY CLIMATE & JOBS FIELDS TEAM
No jobs openings are currently available in this branch
POLICY IMPLEMENTATION & ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT TEAM
Information Technology Specialist The last day to apply for JC-421240 is 3/21/2024. The Information Technology Specialist (ITS) I acts as a Web Developer for the Cross System Analytics and Assessment for Learning and Skills Attainment (CAAL-Skills) Web Portal and other associated web applications, systems, and technologies for the Data Management and Administration (DMA) unit. The ITS leads CAAL-Skills Web Portal development in an Amazon Web Services (AWS) cloud environment and works closely with business analysts, data analysts, Business Intelligence (BI) developers, researchers, and other technical staff from the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB) and partner organizations.
POLICY, RESEARCH AND LEGISLATION TEAM
No jobs openings are currently available in this branch
PROGRAM IMPLEMENTATION & REGIONAL SUPPORT TEAM
Staff Services Manager I The last day to apply for JC-420128 is 3/16/2024. The Staff Services Manager I (SSM I) directly supervises program staff and assists the Deputy Director in advancing the vision of the Program Implementation & Regional Support Branch and the California Workforce Development Board (CWDB). The SSM I is responsible for the implementation of various initiatives pertaining to providing education and employment support for barriered populations, regional leadership, industry sector work, good quality jobs, equity, income mobility, upward mobility and alignment of services and resources. The SSM I’s areas of focus are implementation and coordination of such initiatives; from administrative and grant program management, to assisting with Communities of Practice planning and execution, assisting with the development for new funds/programs, understanding rules and regulations related to the initiatives, and providing oversight and training in CalJOBS and Salesforce for administrative functions and data capture. Associate Governmental Program Analyst The last day to apply for JC-419781 is 3/18/2024. The Associate Governmental Program Analyst (AGPA) is responsible for information gathering, analysis, and recommendations on workforce development pertaining to the full range of workforce innovation, regional leadership, and system alignment. The AGPA’s areas of focus are innovation and implementation; from grant program management, to organizing and facilitating Communities of Practice, and working closely with other state partners and advocacy groups to inform policy and practice through the lessons and successes of the programs developed.
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- State Workforce Boards Awards $33.7 M to Create High Quality Jobs for Underserved Californians – February 2024
- State Workforce Board Awards $49 Million to Help Provide Employment Services to Justice-Involved Individuals – November 2023
- State Workforce Board secures $5 million federal training grant to prepare transit maintenance workers for zero-emission buses – November 2023
- State Workforce Board and Community Colleges Foundation release $4.2 million to develop essential workforce skills – October 2023
- State Workforce Board awards $33 Million to help rebuild California’s Middle Class, October 2023
- CWDB Chair selected to lead National Association of State Workforce Boards, August 2023
- State Workforce Board awards more than $40 million to advance equitable employment opportunities, August 2023
- New state initiative aims to increase economic opportunities for Justice-Involved Californians, May 2023
- State Workforce Board awards more than $48 million award to advance employment opportunities for disadvantaged workers, February 2023
- State Workforce Board Partners with the Foundation for California Community Colleges to award $23 Million to improve employment opportunities for underrepresented groups, December 2022
- DAS Solicits Proposals for $25 Million Equal Representation in Construction Apprenticeship Grant Program | California Department of Industrial Relations, October 2022
- State Workforce Board awards $24 million to support equitable pandemic workforce recovery, September 2022
- State Workforce Board Announces $22.7 million in new grants, July 2022
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