HOLLY CLARK: Go ahead and get it turned over to Meghan. Meghan? 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Thanks, Holly. Good morning, everyone, happy Monday, and welcome to our CAEP Innovation Showcase on employer partnerships and sector strategies in action. Today is intended to be a practical look at how industry engagement develops and what it takes to translate relationships with employers into meaningful opportunities for adult learners. Go ahead, Debi. 

I am Meghan McBride, director of adult education projects at WestEd, and I'm joined by my colleague Debi Pezzuto, who has a very long title that you can see on the screen. We support CAEP agencies and consortia through professional development, technical assistance, research and data informed planning. Go ahead. Debi. And this is you. You got too much going on, don't you? 

DEBI PEZZUTO: There we go. Sorry, guys. Too many screens and all my menus went everywhere. All right, I'm Debi Pezzuto again. And as Meghan was saying, part of the CAEP professional development that we do, this is the full scope for this year. And this session is part of the broader CAEP project work that we do and that's supported by the Chancellor's Office. Network includes data tools, regional trainings, resources and targeted technical assistance. 

On that note, we want to thank the Chancellor's Office and the California Department of Education for their continued support of CAEP and this professional development work. And we also want to thank today's speakers for sharing what they're doing and what they've learned along the way. At the end of this event, we'll also have registration links for the second part of this webinar series, and we will also have registration links for the regional in-person trainings that are happening next week, if you want to come see the Meghan and Debi show. 

Today, we are going to be focusing on the distinguishing employer partner engagement and looking at broader industry engagement and regional sector strategies. We'll then examine two different approaches from CAEP funded institutions. So as you listen today, keep in mind three questions. What problem were they trying to solve? What changed because partners were involved? And what would it take to sustain or expand on this work? 

Now, before we get started, I want to figure out who is in our audience today. So we're going to do a little survey with your Zoom reactions. I would like you to either select a thumbs up if you're new here, or if you're just here to learn and listen. Give us a heart if you are using labor market information already to make some connections or build some relationships. Or do the clapping hands if you have a strong relationship and you're designing curriculum in partnership with employers. Ooh, lots of thumbs up. That's great. All right, all right. 

This is fun. This gets to see who's out in the world. Heather's got lots of thumbs up. Heather, correct that to the clapping hands. You guys already have relationships. You're doing great. Steve gets clapping hands, too. 

Awesome, good. So most people in the audience, it sounds like you've started working on looking at your labor market data. You've maybe got a relationship or two with an employer. Maybe you've got some pathways designed, but you're looking for more to build the next step and to progress your program. So welcome. You're in the right place. Go ahead, Meghan. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: All right, so I think that seeing so many people with the thumbs up is not a surprise for me. What we hope to do today is help demystify how employers can get engaged. One thing I've-- actually, recently, I was in a state here on the East Coast, and an employer said, literally, to a group of colleges, we don't want to be involved. We just want to be the end user and hire who you train. So that's not really how this works. 

And so it seems like what we've learned is a lot of people have trouble engaging employers, much less developing a regional sector strategy. And before we hear from Heather, Sokun and Steven, I want to clarify what exactly we mean by a sector strategy. It's more than just a training program associated with a high demand occupation, which is what we do in CAEP. And it's also more than a relationship with just one employer. 

And we have created a little graphic here for you to represent what a sector strategy is. And it starts with a regional workforce challenge that employers share. And it brings multiple employers together with education, workforce, community-based organizations, labor partners to develop a coordinated response to that regional workforce challenge. And that response might include several of the practices that we commonly associate with industry engagement, like employer informed curriculum, contextualized instruction, stackable credentials, work-based learning. 

And those are important building blocks. But individually, they don't constitute a sector strategy. They're just part of the response that makes up the sector strategy. The strategy, also, we're moving on to the third one, needs to work for adult learners. In addition to asking if employers need workers, we also need to ensure that the pathway provides accessible training for our students, meaningful credentials, quality employment and opportunities for advancement within the career. 

Finally-- I'm sorry. That was five. I'm barely able to see this on my little screen-- sector strategies aren't static. Partners need to continually use labor market information, feedback from employers, and learner outcomes to determine what's working and what needs to change. So an individual employer relationship can contribute to this work without being a full sector strategy. What moves the work toward a sector strategy is a shared regional need, involvement from multiple employers and partners, a coordinated response, and continued use of data and outcomes to improve that response. 

So with that foundation on what a sector strategy even is, we're going to move on to our two examples, from Placer School for Adults and San Joaquin Delta College, to help us examine how some of these elements show up in practice at their institutions. It's important to note we're not looking for one model that every consortium should copy. We're just looking for decisions and practices that you can adapt to your local context. So with that, we'll kick it over to Debi for our conversation with San Joaquin. 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Thanks, Meghan. All right. So our first example for this innovation showcase is San Joaquin Delta College. We've got the ever lovely Heather Maloy, who serves as the Dean of Adult Education and leads work connected to the San Joaquin Adult Education Consortium. We also have with her Sokun Somsack that directs Delta's Strong Workforce Program, and their example gives us an opportunity to explore how adult education and workforce development can work together across institutional lines. They're also a hoot. 

They have shared a few videos that are linked here, and I'll put them in the chat so you guys can take them with you. These are some of the events that they're going to talk about, and the ways that they connect with community, and the workforce, and local industry. They use CTE, Strong Workforce, community outreach. They make clear pathways visible at these different community events, they bring programs and industry partners together, and they create opportunities for students. 

But I want them to talk about themselves now. So, Heather, Sokun, would you guys like to introduce yourselves, talk a little bit about how you got started? And let's talk about what the problem was that got you connected. 

HEATHER MALOY: All right. Well, thank you so much for inviting us. We're really excited to be able to share and kind of showcase. Any chance that we're able to really highlight the work that we're doing in the region, I think, is really important. But most importantly, I think, this-- and I've been a part-- I'll just give a little background and context. 

So I've been a part of the California Adult Ed Program, you know, since 2016. And this happens to be the same time that Director Somsack came in her role. And really, the whole purpose, and I'll have her share a little bit about her role, is really looking at the bigger picture of how the California Adult Ed Program and braiding our funding and working together. 

The metrics are aligned when it comes to the California Adult Ed Program, as well as Strong Workforce Program. And I actually want to take a step back from those three main, you know, fun activities that we're looking at, how we are really looking at innovative solutions, and really engaging our community, and whatnot, but really take a step back and kind of do a little bit of storytelling of how we initially started working on projects together. 

And I think this is really good for us to give you background and knowledge of those that are in the room that are from the community college, but also at the adult schools, and how you're engaging with those that are part of the, you know, overseeing the Strong Workforce funding. But I'm going to have go ahead and have Director Somsack share just a little bit about herself, and then we'll go ahead and talk about all the other-- 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Stuff that we do? 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, all the things we do. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: I'm Sokun, I am Director of the Strong Workforce Program, but I also manage the Perkins funding. I want to bring those two to the forefront because that, you know, those two funding we have always-- I have always braided, you know, the work that we do to support our CTE programs and students. But it's also used to braid in with CAEP funding. 

So Heather and I, for the past 10 years, have been identifying ways that we can braid our funding to support the CTE pathway development from the adult schools, namely, into Delta College and then into the workforce. So we've had that connection eight, nine, 10 years ago, from the very beginning, and we've now gotten really good at identifying ways as to how CAEP funding can be used, Strong Workforce funding can be used, and Perkins funding, in addition to grant funding, such as the ELL. 

HEATHER MALOY: ELL, Allied Health-- 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Allied Health money, and just to support the work that we do in bridging students from the adult schools into CTE programs at Delta College and into the workforce. So that's kind of been our background. And so it started off with, OK, we have some money. What can we do? OK, we need to build a bridge from the adult schools to Delta College. And so the DARTE program has been a success story with respect to that endeavor. 

And in addition to that, when you're talking about strategy, we do use our LMI data to inform what it is that we're doing. So one of the major components, critical components for the DARTE program is that we looked at our LMI data. And because my largest funding is the Strong Workforce funding, we use data from the Centers of Excellence. So that funding comes from the Chancellor's Office, and the Chancellor's Office also sponsors the Centers of Excellence. 

So we have to look at that data. Every year, they produce the annual market scan. And we look at the top sectors that we need to address every year. And of course, as you all know, health sector is the largest one that has the largest workforce skills gap. So we looked at that, and I think one of the projects we came up with is the HealthForce Partners, where both the CAEP money and the Strong Workforce money came together. We put the money in a pot and grew this HealthForce Partners. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, so going back to what Meghan initially-- and I know, we'll get to what the fun stuff, but I really want to not skip the big part of how this partnership started. It was because we saw a need. A need at the time, 2016, you know, was really about the sector strategy specifically to the health, the health field. How are we supporting? How are we coming together? How are we collaborating? 

And through the seed money of the California Adult Ed program, as well as Strong Workforce funding, we were able to seed what is now standing as the HealthForce Partners, as a multi-sector, multi-regional, within the umbrella of health, as well as now has stand up their own funding through different, I would say, health CEOs and health partnerships external to us. 

We were only a one time funding to help start it, and that all goes back to understanding what the regional demand was, working really closely with industry partners, knowing and understanding that here, locally, in San Joaquin County, we were in a health shortage. We still are. But then understanding that with our educational partners at the table saying, OK, we need these, these, these areas of training, but do we even have the necessary training locally and the educational entities to provide that? 

Again, an example of aligning our resources and really trying to work together collaboratively when it comes to that. I think that's something, if anything that you can take away from this webinar, it's that, right there, is the power of the California Adult Ed program, the power of the existing funding streams that are there at your hands and at your fingertips. It's about whether you have established those partnerships with the folks that are also the local workforce and the workforce employers. 

So for us, we gathered and worked together with all of our CBOs of all of our local hospitals. Every single one of them was saying the same thing. We don't have enough workforce within, you know, CNA, you know, whatever it is, it was-- there was a lot of it, you know, and there was a huge demand. But we had to make sure we had everyone at the table to really work and really speak to how we can work together. 

And that's ultimately where HealthForce partners has come into the role. And they still come into role in working, and providing, and supporting externally, but in a regional side of it. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: And all that background, just to let you know that there's a lot of work that went into building the infrastructures and the systems to get us to the point where now we're doing the funner stuff. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, funner, the funner stuff, the funner stuff of workforce development. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: I mean, we've spent some time putting those structures together, those pathways together, and identifying our partners and our resources to build a really strong system that includes a lot of partners, particularly the employers. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, 100%. And then we can go back to the fun stuff, if you want to go back, and then-- unless you guys want to move forward with Steven. 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Well, can I ask you one question, actually, to follow up on that? 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Please. 

DEBI PEZZUTO: What did you learn from the employers or the community partners that wasn't visible in the data? 

HEATHER MALOY: You mean like in the sense of-- so what I initially hear when I hear you saying that is maybe there were jobs that were not being picked up by the data that were the local needs, right? So I think one thing that's been a real thing that everybody's talking about, you know, is, again, knowing the need, but then understanding the visibility of the opportunity for folks to go in. 

Like, for example, I know there's ER techs. That's one that's a real big need, that. But there's not a huge, overwhelming data that shows like, oh, we need ER techs. Or I know that a lot of people are talking, the hot word is the community health worker, right? Each, I would say-- what is a community health worker? How do they support within the hospital or with non-profits? 

But yes, there are definitely pathways that-- and that's where it's really important to have that relationship with your local employer. So then they're saying, hey, I need, you know, x, y and z. And then you're like, well, my data doesn't show that. Well, it's probably because there is a need, but at the same time, is there a workaround that we can then highlight how we can train up people to get into those? Is that-- does that help? Debi, does that clarify? 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Yeah. 

HEATHER MALOY: Sokun, can we... 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Yeah. Yeah, I mean, you know, through our Workforce Development Center here on campus, we are the point of contact for the employers. So any local employers in our area do contact us. And we do provide support for them in meeting their workforce needs. So it's not like we're excluding them because of the data. But we have a center here that provides those services for our local employers should they have the need. 

HEATHER MALOY: Right, and then we also-- what's co-located here, too, so not only do you have adult education, you have the Workforce Development Center. But you also have a local worknet or AJCC, it's right here on campus, supporting our CTE, our students enrolled in the CTE programs and receiving services for those that are on the ETPL list. That's something, too. 

We really have meshed. So we're trying not to silo the work of, oh, that's Adult Ed versus workforce. No, this is where an example of where we are a model for the state that is showing the collaboration and the side of really braiding the funding, braiding the work, and braiding the resources in the collaboration of-- just like Sokun was saying, is that she has also, the access to all the different workforce development, with the workforce development boards, but also advisory committees of the different CTE programs on campus, too. 

So we actually have the different areas within CTE that have-- when we're looking at welding, automotive, where they're working with their employer engagement meeting groups or the advisory groups that we're able to-- then they can reach out to Director Somsack and our AVP of CTE and Workforce and say, hey, we have a need. We're hearing this is a trend that's happening on grant level that we need to be aware of and be prepared for. 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Awesome. And so you've talked a lot about the different partnerships. I am curious who initiated the conversation. You've said that there was, like, a few different things that kicked it off. But what would you say? Who initiated the conversations? 

HEATHER MALOY: So I'll say our President of the College, I would say, as well as the Dean of CTE at the time, they were working together. And actually, very unusual, Dr. Kathy Hart was one of the co-directors of our consortium when we initially started. And so she knew from the beginning the importance of CTE. And she had, at the time, it was Dean Salvador Vargas, and he was involved in these conversations and looking at how are we meeting the needs of the workforce, and how are we supporting, and how are we creating. 

I remember when Sokun and I were first on the job, and I remember they both, Kathy, Dr. Hart, and Salvador both said, you two need to work together. Go find yourselves in a room and start talking. And we're looking at each other and we go, huh, what are we doing? I have no idea, what's this? And then we just worked it out from there. 

And so every time there is something that I receive. I go to her, and I said, hey, we have a problem, or hey, I have a crazy idea, let's figure out how-- again, that bigger picture of what's the whole purpose of CAEP and Strong Workforce is getting people from one area, from education to training, to lead them into the workforce, to get them out of poverty, into sustainable wages, right? 

And so, if you want, I mean, unless you have a question, do you want to go to the-- so one of our crazy ideas, trying to get us back on track for our agenda, happens to be this crazy idea of what was called Mustangs in the Outfield. And at the time it was coming out of COVID. And if you want to change the slides to that, with all the cute links, and you guys can please feel free to laugh at all the-- Heather in a Jesse costume. But that's how committed I am to this work, I don't care if you show the video. 

But basically this is, right here, an example of the partnership that Sokun and I have with each other, and understanding the importance of our role, the Adult Education's role, our community's role, as well as the workforce development's role. And through that, we were able to develop a crazy idea called Mustangs in the Outfield. We actually had a dedicated ballpark, and we used the entire thing as a free event. 

And we utilized our resources through our community partners. We had community partners that provided support to the students. So we're, you know, hey, you can provide all the programs you can, but what's the number one-- there are several barriers that our students are facing, right, it's childcare, transportation, access to food, housing, whatever. So that's where the community side of it needed to come alongside, when we had this event. 

But we showcased all the CTE programs. We had workforce agencies there as well. And really try to highlight, saying, hey, we're here as a community. Yes, as a community college, but most importantly, we're here at San Joaquin to help. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: And through the involvement of our CTE programs, the faculty members invited their advisory committees to participate, too. So that's how we-- one of the ways that we engage the employers. The employers that participate on the CTE advisory committees get those kinds of invitations from their faculty. 

And so I think that was one of the more successful ways where it just conveyed that this is a holistic type of program. It's not just the community members. It's everything. It's community members, it's the Delta College, the training programs that we have, and the employers that we work with in our local communities. They're all there to represent, and engage, and have fun. 

HEATHER MALOY: I think one thing that's really important in this work, and I say this over, and over, and over again, is we cannot move communities without each other, because each one of us, we're all pouring into our community. But then there comes a time where we become so siloed, and so focused that they're mine, mine, mine. When in fact, it's like, no, they are ours. 

It is our responsibility as the community college, as the adult education provider, as the Workforce Development Center, as the community-based organization to work together to move and shift the families in those communities. And you can't be doing it singular thinking. And that's why, as crazy as I am with Fiercest Fall Fest, and let me tell you, people are like-- and honestly, and I understand this is recording, but we have several people that think we're just party planners, but when in fact, there's a lot of strategy that goes behind it. Go ahead. You were going to say something. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: And one of the strategies is that we recognize the success of Mustangs in the Outfield. And then we said, you know what? We went out into the community. We engaged. So why don't we bring the community onto the campus. And one of the ways that we did that was to really do mass marketing and saying, hey, you know-- capitalizing off of the success of Mustangs in the Outfield, say, hey, you know, Delta College did that, but next year we're doing this on our campus. Community members, please come onto our campus. 

And one of the priorities of that is to let the community members know that Delta College is for them. It's not just for college students. It could be for anybody. And then when you bring the community members, you bring in the individual with their families, and then their circle of impact. So I feel like Fiercest Fall Fest, this will be like the fourth year? 

HEATHER MALOY: Fifth. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Fifth year. And it's created that greater impact. And it's now known as a community event here in Stockton. 

HEATHER MALOY: And people look forward to it. And unless you come and attend, some people are like, oh, it's just a trick-or-treating event. Guess what? When you come, you're seeing labor market information. We're showing local jobs. We're showing the local pathways that connect you to those jobs. And it's not just through the lens of just San Joaquin Delta College. I also have my adult education providers saying, hey, look at these entry level opportunities of getting quick training through our educational partners at the Adult Education sites. 

So it's not just, oh, we're the community college. It's like, no, we're here as a community engagement event, but specifically saying like, hey, did you know? And demystify that big concept of college. This is probably the first time anybody's ever been on a college campus, and let alone have the opportunity of saying, whoa, wait, they do that here? Oh, wait, they can help me. Oh, wait, we have a childcare center on there? Oh, wait, we actually have a Workforce Development Center and opportunities to get jobs there? Oh, you're going to actually help me get trained up? 

So that's where it's like, you have all of us in one space having a big party, but we have a jumbotron that we're talking about CTE programs. We have student testimonials. We have our employers there saying, hey, you want a job here? We have this job. So it's really, again, the whole work of shifting communities is working together. And one big party. Yes, it is. And I want it to be fun. 

You know, I know. You hear the word Workforce Development, doesn't sound very sexy. But we can have a spin on it, and we can make it fun. And it's engaging to our communities. And I like, really, what Sokun was saying, too. It's like it's that full family touchpoint too, right? Even though we got the kids to get there to get free candy, guess what? Our number one goal is also to work with the grandma, the mom, the dad, the uncle, the brother that might be graduating or hasn't graduated from high school, right, and maybe needs to go back to school. 

So it's like, think about all of the students that we would be potentially serving in the families. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: And the whole time we're marketing ECE, right. So we've got the jumbotron, like Heather was saying, we're featuring our career education programs. We're talking about our student successes. We're showing them graduation, their certificate ceremony, celebrations of successes through CTE programs. 

But one of the major outcomes is always to educate our community, to create that awareness. And what we found is that some people didn't even know that we have certain programs, like the electron microscopy program, which is a gem here that we have at Delta College. Delta College is the only community college in the nation that has a program like that. And many of our students graduate and get really, really good paying jobs, like more than double some of the regional living wages. 

And then we have employers always coming into that classroom, coming into that program and engaging with our students. They have a current job board where their jobs are at minimum $25 an hour part time. So, we're trying to educate our greater community about those kinds of programs and possibilities. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah. I mean, if anything, this is the power of collaboration and strategy behind how we're kind of engaging through trick or treating. But that's where I'm going to really challenge everyone on this call to go back, and I want you to really think about who are the people that are in the room, that are not in the room, that need to be in the room, and have conversations with them. 

I don't want to hear you say, oh, well, I'm only this funding. No, no, no, no. No, no, no. And now times are even harder, where we have to be creative with the people in our spaces and places. And you should be. And I am going to should on you people, I'm sorry, but you are. And this-- 

SOKUN SOMSACK: You said should. 

HEATHER MALOY: I should on you. And I need you to take a real look and start having those hard conversations with people that you know they have the funding, and you see, and know. And I know the Chancellor's Office is on the call. If you have questions on whether you can braid that funding, they just had a webinar last Friday. So you have our CAEP TAP folks, and our Chancellor's Office here at the helm that can give you those guidances. 

And don't be scared, because right now we're going into scary times. And we need to be creative, especially more now than ever, especially with many of our populations that are in dire needs of jobs. This is where you got to work together. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: But I do also want to provide a little bit of clarity. It looks like we're party planning. And some people might say, well, how do you get money to do the fun stuff, right? Where we don't use money for all the illegal unallowables. No, that's when we poach our employers and say, hey, we would like to do a raffle. We'd like to provide-- 

HEATHER MALOY: Strategize, leverage funding. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Yes. Yes, sorry. 

HEATHER MALOY: Sorry, sorry. We're trying to keep it-- 

SOKUN SOMSACK: We put it very clear. A lot of those unallowables, that's when we approach our employers and say, hey, we would like to do a raffle at the end of this event. And, you know, you get a table, would you like to donate something? And more than often employers do want to be able to do that because they want to participate, and they want to engage. 

So, Strong Workforce and Perkins, we stay within the guidelines and regulations, for sure. But we also tap into different foundation funds and different employer sponsorships. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, philanthropic funding, I think, is a really big one. If you have not leveraged yourself in spaces and places in your communities, that was something that we actually-- and that's a whole other webinar we can have, where we leverage philanthropic funding to start the Mustangs Media Group. And that's something that's really taken off. And that's basically a self-run run advertising, student-run multimedia program here at San Joaquin Delta College for our returning adults. So that's something that we can next episode. But I know you have another person on the panel, Debi, you tell us? Anything else? 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Well, you gotta stop talking, otherwise I'm going to invite you to the next event on the 30th. I want to thank you guys, and you have touched on-- there were some slides about partnerships, there's slides about results and lessons. But you both have talked a lot about that. And we really appreciate you. There's just one last question that I have about, are you tracking attendance, referrals, enrollment pathways, employer partner participation, or is that maybe something that is in the future planning? 

HEATHER MALOY: No, actually. So some of the strategies I'll speak to Fierce Fall Fest. So when we actually ask and require for those to sign up for free through Eventbrite, and so we're tracking that data, and then we actually ask specific questions like, hey, are you interested in? And then we actually collect that data, and then we actually do a follow up survey for the students that did attend or, excuse me, not students, participants. 

So then we were able to then get a survey back on saying like, hey, and one of those questions is like, hey, what program are you interested in? And how can we connect you to services? And I want to say that we also ask them, like, are you interested in a specific-- are you interested in a job or a training program? And then we do have that data collection. That's something we're always on, we're all about data, data, data. Do you want to share a little bit? 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Yeah, even through our Workforce Development Center here, when we're engaging with students and employers, we provide a feedback survey to track the students as they're coming in and rating our services. But even the events that we put together, each of the events, the workshops, we provide-- the staff requires that each student, or individuals, if it's like a job fair where the public, not just students, attend, but the public also attends. 

So there's a QR code that they scan, and then the students or the individuals go ahead and enter their information. Just so that way if we-- asking the same questions, what are you interested in? What would you like more information on? What type of services do you need? So we track that data in our events. 

Heather just reminded me, we had Tesla here last week. And Tesla, you know, they engage with us in so many ways. They're in the classrooms. They're doing presentations to our students. They come here to the Workforce Development Center. And sometimes we engage with them, and they offer up tours for our students. And so we support that through our funding. 

But we do workshops, too. Last week, we had a meet and greet with Tesla, and we kind of scheduled it in a smaller classroom that seats 34, RSVP'd, and then 97 showed up. 

HEATHER MALOY: 97. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: We had a issue. 

HEATHER MALOY: 97 students. It was becoming-- yes it's-- 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Yeah. 

HEATHER MALOY: I'm going to say, we're collecting those data trends because everything is starting to increase, where people want to know more about work, training and jobs. And it's actually-- that's a separate conversation, our space and location, we now are at capacity because we know there's such a demand in the workforce. So we need to find bigger space. But I think it's really important. 

Again, anybody that's doing any kind of type of work, throw a QR code, do a simple form, collect that data because data, it tells you the story. And every capacity, I can't tell you enough, it is so important. I know that West said was like, hey, contact us if you have any data needs or-- but I also want to, very much-- again, I'm going to should on you. I would like for you, I'm challenging all of you on the call is-- I hope that you're working with your local-- what's our local data people called? 

SOKUN SOMSACK: The Centers of Excellence. 

HEATHER MALOY: That too. That's a good one. Centers of Excellence. But also at your community college and the-- 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Oh, the IRE. 

HEATHER MALOY: The IRE. So make sure your Institute of Research and Effectiveness that you're working also with the-- so not only do you have West as the Central Valley mother lode reporting data, but also your local data, the community college, and your also-- 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Your institutional research. 

HEATHER MALOY: Your institutional research. But also at the adult schools, we have our data techs. The data tells the story. I know that, I believe-- who is it I saw over here, our favorite CASAS data man. He's on the call, I know I saw him. Anyway. 

[INTERPOSING VOICES] 

HEATHER MALOY: That's right. He knows what's up, too. He's a data guru man, also. And I love him. Shout out to him. And so I know that you guys need to pivot. Sorry for taking up so much time, but we love our work. We love our job. Anything you want to add? 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Sure, OK. We do. 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Well, Thank you both so much. We can tell that you love your jobs. And honestly, sometimes that's what we need on a Monday morning, is people who are really excited about the work, so we can get really excited about the work. Thank you so much for sharing all your examples. I really appreciate how what you're doing is really expanding our understanding of what engagement can look like. 

And it's not just party planning, I've been in your shoes. And it looks like it from the outside, but we know it does a whole lot more. And we know that the industry alignment doesn't begin only when your course is being designed. It can begin with how people learn about the careers, encounter the employers, see them in a pathway, see themselves in the jobs. And the important question is whether there's a clear bridge from that initial exposure-- sorry, words are hard today-- to education and employment. 

So we really appreciate all the examples that you have and all the events that you do for your students and your community. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, so call us if you need party planning. I know Myra's on the call. If you need us, let us know. 

DEBI PEZZUTO: Thank you, Heather. Thank you, Sokun, very, very much. I'll pass it over to Meghan. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Myra does need party planning because she's got us doing it. Thanks, Debi, and Heather, and Sokun. That was fun. Heather, I especially loved your inspiring doomsday prophecy that these are hard times. 

All right, so our next example comes from Steven Casperite at the Placer School for Adults and Sierra Joint consortium. And he's going to give us another perspective on working with employers. So, Steve, I'm going to ask you to start by introducing your program and how you guys engage with employers up there. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: Absolutely, but before I do, I just want to give a shout out to Heather and Sokun that their model should be the model. The idea-- I want to just say that we are San Joaquin, that's the picture. And as far as the party planning goes, I mean, every good initiative should start with food. So there's something very spiritual about that. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yes. Yes. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: You know, we don't have the good fortune-- we're here, up there more towards the North, far North-- of having such a relevant platform of a player, such as the large community college bringing in all the players. What a wonderful, wonderful thing. And I know the Chancellor's Office is here, let's prototype this model so that all of us can gain from it. 

We at the Sierra Joint Consortium, we cover twice the space of the San Joaquin Delta folks, but it's not as densely populated. We cover from the border of Sacramento County all the way up to the Nevada State line, including two counties. And we have to constantly think on our feet. We like to think of ourselves as entrepreneurs more than just educators, because we have to engage at a level that's not so easily reached by going to your web. 

And I can remember at one time having a conversation with one of the data folks at the Centers for Excellence, and they put out fantastic data, I thank them for that, so does the EDD. But what it doesn't get into is the microcosms of data that Heather kind of touched on. And the microcosms are just as important, if not more important than the macrocosmic data, because the macrocosmic data will tell me, we need construction workers. We need, you know, whatever it is. 

But what is that, specifically, in my small little region? And how do I address those needs? How do I bring seven employers together, so that if I create a program, it's addressing the needs of those seven employers, so it's actually a legitimate class that I can run, so I've got people in the class? So these are some of the small weeds issues that we've had to deal with. 

I myself, I'm shameless. I show up at everything and anything. One of these days I'm going to show up at one of Heather's parties because I'm so excited about what they do down there. But the way I've created partnerships is to show up at partners events. And one of the events I happened to show up at-- and this is a partnership that we no longer have, but I just want to share a couple of different ideas of partnerships. 

And I want to be clear, partnerships are good for the time that they're needed, and when they're no longer needed, move on, because you've either filled the role or the partnership didn't work anymore. But what we do in education is we get into silos, and we get into ruts. Hey, we've got a fantastic blah, blah, blah, blah program. Well, that's great, but what are the needs that you haven't looked into? 

So I want to tell you about a partnership that we don't currently partner in because it changed after COVID. But I just want to tell you the story of how it came about. So I got a phone call from a gentleman who spoke broken English. He said, I'm with Mountain Enterprises, and if you don't know who Mountain Enterprises is in the North State, Mountain Enterprises is the largest contractor for PG&E to clear power lines. I'm talking huge. 

And they are an interesting story all by themselves. Started off as a mom and pop operation. The pop was a landscaper who sold firewood, and his sons grew the program. And the gentleman that was calling me was one of their managers for professional development. 60% to 80% of their employees were non-English speaking. So they had a huge population of non-English speakers working for them. 

When they were working out in the forests, that was OK. But when they started clearing power lines in the cities, and they had to go up to somebody's door and say, hey, we need to get into your backyard to clear a power line, that wasn't so good anymore. And being in the North part of the state, you can see how that could cause some real hassles. So they came to us and said, and he said to me, I've been to seven adult schools and two community colleges, and I need English language skills for my workers, but I need them contextualized, and I need them out of the box type of thinking, I'm paraphrasing. 

And I said, well, have you talked to those other programs? And he said, yeah, they told me to just have my employees enroll in their programs. And I was like, well, what's the problem? He said, well, their programs are in the middle of the day, or they're at 4:00, and my guys aren't getting off work until 4:30, and they're tired. And so I said, well, let's talk. And he came to meet with me, and within a month we had created a program at their sites. 

We moved to meet them at their sites. We contextualized the learning. We bought Chromebooks to provide them the online platform. We went from serving 50 ESL students to 250. And what we found was that the students weren't showing up all the time because they were tired. And so we went back to the employer and we said, you guys need to put some skin in the game because the employees need to know the value of this. 

And so in the next six months, they negotiated in their union contract that to move up in level of pay, they had to attend so many hours of ESL training, and they had to show proficiency at certain level marks to get that next pay. So the employer puts skin in the game. And now he says to me, now we're going to have 500 students showing up. Can you handle it? So this went on up until COVID. 

My employees weren't happy with me. They said, you're gearing up too fast, too quickly for us. And we're used to just doing tens and twelves, these kinds of numbers. So then we traveled from that, and I showed up at the El Dorado County Office of Education for a discussion with a transportation provider. And for those of you that don't know, in the state of California alone, there's a need for a million truck drivers. Across the nation, there's a need for over 5 million truck drivers, over the road truck drivers. 

If you wonder where your food comes from, if you love shopping at Costco, well, that all got there by truck, folks. And COVID showed us just how vulnerable we are. And recently, they've been cracking down on truck driving programs that have been what I call fly by night programs, that do 50 to 60 hours, and they just barely get the employees to pass a language exam. At the DMV, you have to pass a test in English. 

So I showed up, and there was an employer there, Western Pacific Truck Driving. Gentleman had bought the company, and he was trying to bring it back from the throes of death. It had gone downhill. He purchased it, and he wanted to partner with somebody, and he just showed up to have a conversation. There was a few of us at this roundhouse, and I said, what do you need? And he said, I need a classroom and a place to park my truck, so that the students can have access. 

I said, come and see me. I have a church next door. They have a five acre parking lot. They never use it. And we reached out to them and said, can we get an MOU agreement to use part of your parking lot? And the employer will pay for any maintenance on that portion of the parking lot. They said, absolutely. This is a great community. Like Heather was talking about, this serves the community. 

Then we reached out to Golden Sierra, our local workforce board, to make sure we can keep them on an EP-- ETP, one of those acronyms. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: ETPL. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: There it is. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: There you go. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: Love it. See, it takes a community even to speak sometimes. So we got them on the ETPL list. We've now been operating the truck driving school here on our campus. We have two trucks. They've been operating for a year and a half with us, almost two years. We've had over 150 students go through the program they're small classes. It's a total of four weeks full time, 170 hours. 

They get their class A license out of it, 99% success rate getting their license, 95% employed, and now the current starting rate is $90,000 a year for a local truck driver. Over the road truck drivers go up to six figures. So after this call, this will be my last day working in Adult Ed, I'm going to go drive a truck. It's a joke. Not really. 

Anyways, so that partnership then, we said, well, let's take this a little farther. So one of our consortium partners said, we'd like to have a truck driving school. And it didn't look like it would create a, you know, an overreach of too many truck driving programs. So we help them create a truck driving program at Roseville adult school. So they have a nighttime program, we have a daytime program. 

And then we reached out to our Sheriff's partners and said, we'd like to bring the truck driving program into the jail, so that those that are on their way out of corrections can start the process, and when they get out, they can do their training in the cab when they come out. And the only thing that prohibits you from driving truck is if you have on your record, in the last three months, felony drunk driving. Which means you've been in some type of a major accident. If it's been over a year and your record is expunged or clear, you can get it. But the only other thing is trafficking. Anything else will not prohibit you from getting a truck driver's license. 

So think about how many lives we've been able to change by people who have gone from-- I can tell you one story, one gentleman. I love to go in and meet the students. There's 10 students at a time, five in each rig. And I asked one student, I said, what brought you here? And he said, Department of Rehabilitation. And I said, really? He said, yeah, I was living on the streets and I had nowhere to live. And I've got, you know, he's got-- he had some issues. 

And he was able to get in contact with the Department of Rehabilitation. They said, how would you like to go to truck driving school? He said, that would be fantastic. They got him temporary housing, he came to the truck driving program. He completed the truck driving program, and he now drives truck full time, making $90,000 a year. He said, I never dreamed in my life that this would ever happen for me. 

You can hear my voice breaking up a little bit because the story was so touching, and we hear those stories over, and over, and over again. And it was because I showed up somewhere that-- normally, adult school principal, you're busy, compliance. But I showed up somewhere where nobody else was, and I said, how can we help? How can we partner? And it changed, it changed everything. 

And this happens. We've done this with the organization called Chick-fil-A, if you're familiar with Chick-fil-A, to provide ESL for employees who get a 30 minute break during their eight hour workday, to get online with a computer that we've provided, a laptop, Chromebook, to do Burlington English for 30 minutes a day, because Chick-fil-A saw the value in training their employees. 

This is how you create programs, like Heather and Sokun said, that meet the needs of the larger community, but do it on a micro level. And the stories go on and on, we haven't stopped. We just keep looking for these opportunities. Meghan, any questions? I should stop for a minute. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Yeah, I'm curious. So in your first example, which you described-- I guess the irreducible is workplace literacy programs for incumbent workers. Were they letting their employees stay on the clock? I heard you say Chick-fil-A, employees get a 30 minute break. What about that first example? 

STEVEN CASPERITE: They were doing something even better. They were letting them off the clock an hour early to come to ESL classes. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Wow. 

STEVEN CASPERITE: So they were doing two things. One, if they would go to the ESL classes, and we would take, right out of ASAP, attendance record weekly, and send it to them. If they would go to class, then they would give them an hour off of work to get to class because they knew they were tired, they had to drive. And the other thing they would do is they would, if they reached a benchmark on their CASAS testing, they would be able to test that next level of pay. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: That is quite-- I bet the retention in that program was pretty strong because that's quite [INAUDIBLE] 

STEVEN CASPERITE: Once they put skin in the game, these guys were showing up out of the woodwork. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Wow, what a great lesson for other employers. Now, moving on to the CDL program. You and I have talked about this before. I also ran a CDL program. And in the beginning, when they have to get their learner's permit and do the pre-trip inspection, that's a great time to run an IET and contextualize the language for students. We always had a full cohort in my program because there is so many jobs available for truck drivers. 

The difficulty, in my experience, and I'm wondering what your experience has been here, is finding employers who will hire a newly licensed truck driver. Have you had that experience, or is that something that maybe I just had here in Georgia? 

STEVEN CASPERITE: So what's wonderful about this is, is that the truck driving school that we partner with, they've been in the business-- like I said, they were bought out by this gentleman, but they had been in the business for now, 50 years. And so they already had the employer contacts. And so the employers know that when they come out of the program, that they are appropriately trained to take on these jobs. So no, there have been no problems, the employers are waiting. 

The problem is, is that the fly by night truck driving programs harm the credible programs because they go, hey, what kind of program did you come out of? And this program is, like I said, 170 hours, so it's intensive. And then they're coming out already with a class A license, and they're ready to roll. So no, there have been no problems with employers. 

And that's the thing is, is that you have to be able to work with somebody who's already created the connections, the connective tissue. Or if you're the one creating the connective tissue, and I'll tell you another story we had. We had a construction boot camp for about four years, and Sierra College, took it up, and they're doing a great job with it. And we backwards mapped it with Lennar Homes. 

Lennar Homes is the second largest home builder in the nation, and we said, we'd like to create a pre-apprentice program. And Lennar Homes said, look, we don't need you to train carpenters, plumbers. We have all of those subs working for us. What we need are these-- are you ready for it?-- soft skills. 

We need them to be able to fill out a time card, communicate with their boss. We need to know that they have transportation, that they can show up on time. We need them to have basic tool knowledge. And then we need them to have OSHA certification because it's easier to insure them on the job. And so we said, hey, we could do that. We could do a four week boot camp that does that, just that. 

So we backwards map planned it with them, and then Lennar said, if you'll create-- we showed them the curriculum, they said, if you'll use that specific curriculum, we'll pay for the tools you need to train them on the tools, the basic, you know, knowledge of tools. So they wrote us a check every semester for $5,000, came straight from Lennar Homes. And then at the end of the class, they'd have up at least-- they guaranteed us at least 15 subs would show up to interview the students who went through the class. 

So these are what I'm calling the low hanging fruit of people who thought they might be interested in construction, but they've never thought they had the skills to get there, or they didn't know how to get there. And they're not trying to get into a union job because they don't have the transportation to get to those union shops. And so we had-- when we ran the program, we put over 150 students through that program. And of the 150, 60 of them got jobs with those subcontractors. 

So it was partnering with the employer to say, what do you need and how can we scale it to your needs, not ours? I would have loved to-- we had a conversation with them about doing further training through our workforce board that when they-- you know, seasonal work, right, winter comes, the subs aren't hiring those guys. They lay them off. What if we worked with the WIB to put them into further training to skill them up? When they come back, they're a little bit more skilled, and the WIB pays for part of that training. 

So those are things that-- we didn't get to it. I'm sorry we didn't, but that was a thought that was on the table for a while. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Thanks, Steve. Once I heard an employer say, we hire for the technical skills, and we fire for the soft skills. That's how important it is to send students in with soft skills. Susan has a question, how are or can be these training programs translate into career pathways for people who are interested? 

STEVEN CASPERITE: Oh, thank you, Susan. That's a question right up my alley. So we have a CMA program on our campus. We have the Yale Healthcare Grant, but our campus up in Grass Valley doesn't need CMAs. It needs CNAs. But if I go to my web here for my school here, they won't put an CNA on the ETPL list because they don't think it's a living wage. So here we go, here's that braided fund that should be there, but it's blocked. 

And so I go up to the workforce board up in Nevada County and they say, hey, we'll put CNAs on the ETPL list because the ETPL list is subjective to the region, because we know in this area that is a living wage. And I said, OK, now what we can put together is a real pathway, CNA to CMA, because CMA is higher skilled, CNA is very entry level. People with English language skill needs, you name it, new to the country, you name it. CNA is entry level. ETPL list, fantastic. 

Then what we do is we create an online training program that can go from CNA to CMA while they're working their CNA job, and make their way towards the CMA program. And then they can make their way to the local community college for that RN program or that LVN program. But we have to tie the connective tissue together, and then we have to help them walk from one step to the next step, to the next step, because fear gets in the way, anxiety, the inability to see how to get through the community college, fill out the community college reg form, you know, to register for classes. 

So we have to walk the-- we have to be their prosthetic executive function to help them see the next step that they can realize, and build it into their plan right as they start entering the program. So they get into that CNA program. What's your goal? I'd like to be a nurse someday. OK, let's take a look at what academic skills you're lacking that we can meet the needs of at our adult school. And then let's look at what it's going to take for you to get to that next path while you're actually gainfully employed in that first path. I hope that answered the question. 

MEGHAN MCBRIDE: Thank you, Steve. We have come now to the end of our time together. Several things emerged from the conversation we've had with Steven, and Heather, and Sokun. That you need to really begin with a clearly defined need. Use data, whether it's LMI data, employer input, the learner experience, together to build a bridge from employment to the pathway. We need to create structures that outlast individual champions, that employers will continue. And we need to measure, what gets measured, gets monitored. So measure the outcomes for our students and the employers so that we can continuously improve our partnerships. 

Not Heather, what's her name? Holly has been dropping some links in the chat to our upcoming regional trainings. We hope to see you there. The CAEP Summit is also coming. There's a link to that. And we'll have our second showcase where you'll hear from other colleagues of yours from around the state on September 3th. And if anybody has any questions before they go, you can drop them here. Otherwise you can-- Debi, go to the next slide-- reach out to me or Debi. 

Actually, it's just Debi here. Reach out to Debi. We can connect you with Steve and Heather or Sokun. Or you can reach out to them, if you guys want to drop your contact information in the chat. You gave us a ton of information, and we really appreciate you taking your time to share your experience and expertise with us. 

SPEAKER: Yeah, and we do have-- I mean, I have a little bit of time. Did anyone have any questions? I know we told them they could ask questions at the end. I know we're a minute over. Did anyone have any really important questions they wanted to ask right now? 

HEATHER MALOY: I'll stay a little longer if they have any questions for us. Don't all go at once. Off mute, please. 

HOLLY CLARK: And we would love your feedback and the evaluation, too. So please. You can save the chat. You can hit the three dots in the upper right hand corner of the chat, and save that, and get all those links to register and do all of that. But if you have questions, now is the perfect time to ask them. 

It may not-- you know, it may have been such an informative session that there may not be any questions. You may have asked them all, or you may have answered them all during your presentation. 

HEATHER MALOY: Yeah, but please reach out. I mean, that's what we're here for. I think these sessions are really important because it highlights the work. We're such a large state and there's a lot of great work that's happening. And so I appreciate us being allowed to highlight and showcase what we're doing in our region. But I know that there's many others that are doing also really great, awesome things I've come to learn and find out. 

And even as long as I've been a part of this for the last 10 plus years, I'm still learning. And so that's something to keep in mind, too. Please come to these sessions. Please provide feedback, because these sessions make a difference in really accelerating different models for different locations. So please. 

Thank you so much, Holly, and Debi, and Meghan, and Steven. This is a great set. And my counterpart, thank you so much. This was great. Much appreciated. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Thank you. 

HOLLY CLARK: Thank you. It doesn't look like we-- Yes, it doesn't look like we have any questions. So with that, we will go ahead and move to close out. Steven, Heather, Sokun, Meghan, Debi, thank you so much for this. We do look forward to the next event. We did drop all the links in the chat. Go ahead and save the chat, register. We look forward to-- I can't go and see you guys on the Megan and Debi road show, wish I could. 

But I will be here for your September 30th, for part two of this amazing session. And once this is remediated and posted, I will email everyone and let you know that it's available. So we will see you at the next event. Thank you, everyone. Bye bye. 

HEATHER MALOY: Thank you, Holly. 

SOKUN SOMSACK: Thank you. 

HOLLY CLARK: Bye bye.