Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation, Los Angeles Regional Consortium of Community Colleges and Bioscience Los Angeles announce selection in national cohort focused on education and economic development convened by America Achieves
October 5, 2023 – America Achieves has selected a unique coalition of education, workforce and economic development leaders from across the Los Angeles region to join a cohort of seven regions across the United States to support connections between education and inclusive economic development. The Economic to Employment (E2E) program is led by America Achieves, a national nonprofit organization that incubates and supports large-scale initiatives to advance economic opportunity, mobility, and pathways to good, local jobs and careers.
The E2E program is a three-month intensive program that aims to leverage education and workforce systems to drive regional economic development.
The Los Angeles region is one of seven regional coalitions engaging in the Education to Employment intensive. Participating regions are U.S. Small Business Administration Build Back Better Regional Challenge and Good Jobs Challenge Awardees that span the United States – including Tulsa, Okla., El Paso, Texas, Detroit, Mich., Binghamton, N.Y., Richmond, Va., and Greensboro, N.C. – and represent $233.2 million in place-based federal funding. These coalitions bring diverse industry experience and needs, with representatives from bioscience, aerospace, clean energy manufacturing, advanced pharmaceutical manufacturing, electric vehicle manufacturing, and battery energy and storage. In partnership with America Achieves, these regional coalitions strive to develop a national template for inclusive economic growth through place-based coalitions.
The intensive program comprises bi-weekly virtual meetings, one-on-one sessions with America Achieves leaders, and hands-on working sessions with national experts and thought leaders. At the end of the intensive, each coalition will generate a roadmap for aligning regional education and workforce systems with sustainable economic growth.
Los Angeles’ regional coalition is led by Jose Pelayo, Program Manager for the Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC), in collaboration with Mariana Hernandez, Program Manager of Industry Cluster Development for LAEDC, Stephen Cheung, President and CEO of LAEDC and World Trade Center Los Angeles, Narineh Makijan, Assistant Vice President of the Los Angeles Regional Consortium of Community Colleges, and Dave Whelan, CEO of Bioscience LA.
