On Thursday, March 18th, the Education & Workforce Development subcommittee welcomed two guest speakers.
Dr. Karline Prophete is the Director of the Dr. Barbara Carey-Shuler Cross-Cultural Equity Institute at Palm Beach State County, which aims to empower and support students through education and by providing the resources students need to succeed.
Ms. Julia Dattolo is the President & New CEO of CareerSource Palm Beach County, which provides connections to workforce opportunities and training, career counseling, and workforce grant opportunities.
Both guest speakers have extensive knowledge about workforce development strengths and needs in West Palm Beach. They elaborated on the programs they work on and answered subcommittee questions.
Ms. Dattolo said that the significant impediments to entering the workforce are digital literacy (those who do not understand how to use technology are greatly disadvantaged), lack of financial aid, lack of transportation, and lack of child care. Dr. Prophete explained that the Dr. Barbara Carey-Shuler Cross-Cultural Equity Institute tries to alleviate these barriers by providing wrap-around services and other support for students who are struggling with these issues.
Both guest speakers believe that committees like these are essential for informing the public about workforce development services and opportunities available in the city. Leveraging partnerships with other organizations or community groups is also essential to elevate workforce equity and workforce training. They would be happy to support the subcommittee and its efforts.
For this next upcoming meeting, the subcommittee plans to host other guest speakers that will talk about education-related topics. The subcommittee is developing their own survey to be distributed to key stakeholders such as parents, teachers, and others that asks about their experiences of interacting with public schools. Finally, the Subcommittee will continue to expand their education/workforce development knowledge, and advertise the upcoming June 12th Action Summit.
Upcoming Subcommittee Meeting Information
The next (virtual) Education & Workforce Development subcommittee meeting is next week on Thursday, April 15th, 2021 from 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Zoom link to join: https://zoom.us/j/96824063589.
We’d love to see you there!