Convergence Dialogue on Pathways to Better Jobs Dialogue Set to Launch

The New Dialogue Will Convene Workers, Employers, Educators, and Many Other Experts to Explore Best Practices and Roadways to Better Jobs in a Challenging Economy

WASHINGTON, May 19, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Convergence Center for Policy Resolution, a nonprofit leader in bridging divides and finding collaborative solutions to intractable issues, announced the launch this month of a new project: the Convergence Dialogue on Pathways to Better Jobs (Pathways Dialogue), supported in part by Walmart and Fetzer Institute. The project will convene leaders across economic and ideological spectrums to discuss how to tackle challenges currently facing job seekers in a U.S. economy that has seen rapid transformation in recent years.

"The COVID-19 pandemic produced widespread economic collapse, exposing and exacerbating many pre-existing challenges and barriers that low- and moderate-income workers face to achieve financial security and upward mobility," said David Eisner, President and CEO of Convergence. "Through this Dialogue, participants will seek ways to better connect job seekers with appropriate opportunities to build worker skills and qualifications, and to help them navigate options to build economic mobility and financial security for their future."

Through its flagship bridge-building program, Convergence is deeply committed to serving as a neutral third-party to provide a confidential and collaborative space for leaders and doers – many of whom never thought they could talk to one another – to come together in year-long Dialogues to find common ground, build trust, develop consensus solutions, and move forward unlikely alliances to achieve constructive change on intractable issues. Convergence's proven methodology includes three phases: assessment, dialogue, and implementation, with the goal of impacting communities by inspiring collaboration over conflict.

This latest Dialogue is the third in a series of projects focused on economic mobility. In 2018, Convergence concluded a project entitled 'Working Up', which focused on finding ways to reduce America's opportunity gap and identify solutions to help lower-income Americans achieve upward mobility. In 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, many participants from 'Working Up' urged Convergence to reconvene them; Convergence then organized the project 'Economic Recovery for America's Workers', with a short-term mandate that aimed to address the wide-ranging economic issues brought on and exacerbated by the pandemic. The Pathways Dialogue represents a continuation, and evolution, of these discussions that will focus on two specific pathways that can lead to better jobs:

1. Apprenticeships
2. Associate Degrees, Technical and Certificate Programs

"We are excited to support the Convergence Dialogue on Pathways to Better Jobs and its goal to bring organizations and individuals together with a shared vision of economic mobility for America's workers," said Shannon Rowan, senior manager, opportunity at Walmart. "We are looking forward to being part of this process and the impact we can make when we come together on solutions for workers to build skills and connect with opportunities."

The launch of the Pathways Dialogue will feature a virtual panel discussion moderated by Anita Chandramohan, Director of the Pathways Dialogue. She will be joined by Dr. Stephen Goldsmith, Derek Bok Professor of the Practice of Urban Policy and the Director of Data-Smart City Solutions at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government; Dr. Rose-Margaret Ekeng-Itua, Professor of Engineering and Coordinator of the Smart Manufacturing Technology Program at Ohlone College in Fremont, California; and Della Adams, Upward Academy Program Manager, Tyson Foods.

Those wishing to attend a virtual discussion that marks the official launch on May 24^th at 12:00pm ET can do so by registering here.

To learn more about the Convergence Dialogue on Pathways to Better Jobs, and to read the paper that summarizes Convergence's findings during the assessment period and provides the frame around which the Dialogue has formed, please visit: https://convergencepolicy.org/latest-projects/pathways-to-better-jobs/

About Convergence Center for Policy Resolution

Convergence is a national non-profit with locations in Washington, D.C. and the Bay Area that convenes individuals and organizations with divergent views to build trust, identify solutions and form alliances for action on issues of critical public concern. Learn more at: https://convergencepolicy.org.

SOURCE Convergence Center for Policy Resolution