Partners

Institute for Educational Leadership: For a half-century, the Institute for Educational Leadership (IEL) has championed the need for leaders at all levels to shake off their institutional constraints and work across boundaries to address the needs of young people and their families. Bound by no constituency, IEL serves as a catalyst that helps policymakers, administrators, and practitioners at all levels to bridge bureaucratic silos and undo gridlock to improve outcomes for all young people and their families. In recognition of the need for substantial improvements in workforce preparation systems in this country, IEL established the Center for Workforce Development (CWD) in 1991.  CWD focuses on helping leaders in both the public and private sectors build bridges that connect individuals with both learning institutions and the workplace.  The focus is on the ties that link the worker, the school or training institutions, and the workplace together — ties that promote the types of learning organizations needed to increase the overall productivity of the nation’s workforce.  CWD’s operational approach is collaboration with other organizations because no one organization has the capacity to have the full range of knowledge and expertise necessary to address these issues.  Building bridges requires networking and knowledge of how different stakeholders and systems interact with one another.  CWD is dedicated to helping build those bridges to create a more coherent workforce development system in the United States.

Boston University School of Education: From its founding in 1918, the School of Education has pursued three missions: to educate and prepare professional teachers, administrators, and educators to accept leadership responsibilities throughout the world; to offer continuing educational opportunities for practicing teachers and administrators to make the very most of their talents; and to promote research and scholarship that elevate the quality of education. Attention to the surrounding community has made School of Education faculty and students particularly effective teachers and learners, sensitive and responsive to the circumstances and realities of schooling.

Funder

US Department of Labor’s Office of Disability Employment Policy: The Office of Disability Employment Policy (ODEP) is the only non-regulatory federal agency that promotes policies and coordinates with employers and all levels of government to increase workplace success for people with disabilities. ODEP was authorized by Congress in the Department of Labor’s FY 2001 appropriation. Recognizing the need for a national policy to ensure that people with disabilities are fully integrated into the 21st Century workforce, the Secretary of Labor delegated authority and assigned responsibility to the Assistant Secretary for Disability Employment Policy. ODEP is a sub-cabinet level policy agency in the Department of Labor.