City to launch workforce development academy

With the launch of a Workforce Leadership Academy, business leaders are coming together to train and evolve Albuquerque’s labor force.

Albuquerque is one of three cities sponsoring a Workforce Leadership Academy, in partnership with the Aspen Institute and Central New Mexico Community College.

The academy, also known as the Albuquerque Academy, aims to recruit senior-level managers from various fields — public agencies, nonprofits and community colleges — then equip them with new skills and tools to bring into the community. The goal: boosting economic output in those positions.

It starts around May and runs for about six months.

“The academy is really a nationwide initiative to strengthen local workforce ecosystems by bringing together leaders committed to advancing equitable economic opportunities,” said Rachel Snyder, senior workforce adviser for the city’s Economic Development Department.

Local leaders from across the city will participate in a yearlong training that includes collaborative labs, a three-day retreat and workshops that will help implement new strategies and connect workers to career pathways.

The academy will focus on leaders in the workforce, those with “authority to make changes,” according to Snyder.

“The idea is that fellows will collaborate with national experts to develop systems leadership skills, enhance networks and apply a race equity and systems change framework to their work,” Snyder said.

The academy’s funding comes through a series of grants: $50,000 from Aspen Institute and $10,000 each from Deloitte Consulting LLP, the New Mexico Chamber of Commerce Foundation, Sandia National Laboratories, the University of New Mexico and the Workforce Connection of Central New Mexico, for a total of $100,000.

“This will provide a great opportunity for us to address workforce challenges in a collaborative way and identify strategies and solutions that will help more community members connect to rewarding careers in fields that fuel economic growth and improved quality of life in our region,” CNM President Tracy Hartzler said in a statement.

An informational webinar, with registration online at abqedd.com/wla, will be held Feb. 14.