Inside the Shifting the Childcare Industry Initiative (Part 1)

Inside the Shifting the Childcare Industry Initiative (Part 1)

When people talk about fixing childcare, the conversation often centers on affordability for families or access to available seats. Those challenges are real, but they only tell part of the story. Behind every childcare classroom are educators whose working conditions shape not only their own futures, but the quality and stability of care that families depend on. In this first of two special episodes recorded during Shift Work Forward's June 2026 Childcare Cross-Site Meeting in Chicago, leaders from three communities participating in our Shifting the Childcare Industry [https://shiftworkforward.org/our-work/address-systemic-barriers/shifting-the-childcare-industry/] initiative share how they're working to improve job quality in the childcare sector. You'll hear how they're strengthening partnerships, engaging employers and providers, and building momentum for systems-level change that benefits educators, businesses, families, and children alike. Guests include Thomas Williams Jr. of Thrive by 5 Louisville, Bonny Yeager of Partner4Work in Pittsburgh, and Maria Spencer of the Early Childhood Resource Center in Akron, Ohio. --- Got a question? Send it our way for an upcoming listener mailbag episode using this link [https://form.asana.com/?k=yWDkhnXgPpUlH0q-1QbTAA&d=1119358901580282] or on the State of Our Workforce [https://shiftworkforward.org/media-center/state-of-our-workforce-podcast/] webpage.

Unpacked: Rethinking Childcare Through the People Who Know It Best

Childcare is essential infrastructure for workers, families, and local economies. Too often, people who make it possible are left out of the conversations shaping the future of the industry. In this episode we’re joined by Linda Dworak, Executive Director of the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative, to explore why Baltimore became fertile ground for centering workers to shape solutions to some of the industry's most pressing challenges. Linda will discuss how the project elevated worker voice and shares lessons from the effort, including policy challenges that surfaced and the strategies being used to sustain momentum for long-term systems change. This conversation offers a closer look at what becomes possible when workers are treated not just as participants in workforce systems, but as partners in redesigning them. Read "Breaking the Triple Bind:" https://shiftworkforward.org/breaking-the-triple-bind/ [https://shiftworkforward.org/breaking-the-triple-bind/]

Building an Economy Where Workers Thrive

Too often, workforce conversations focus on skills, training, and hiring. But workers need more than a job to succeed. For many workers, the biggest barriers to career success happen outside the workplace. Childcare, housing costs, transportation, access to healthcare. These challenges shape whether people can get a job, keep a job or move forward in their careers. In this episode, we’re joined by Daniel Enemark, Vice President and Chief Economist at the Policy and Innovation Center to discuss the real conditions shaping whether workers can thrive. Daniel will share how his team is approaching these issues in San Diego and the successes and challenges they’ve faced. The conversation will also look at what it takes to build workforce systems that truly support workers. We’ll discuss the role employers can play, why cross-sector partnerships matter, and what happens when communities start designing solutions around the realities workers face every day. Policy & Innovation Center [https://thinkpic.org/]

Unpacked: Empowering Bay Area Workers

The Bay Area’s workforce faces both historic inequities and new challenges—from climate risks to rising job precarity. How can philanthropy move beyond distant grantmaking to actually empower workers and build lasting power in local communities? In this episode, we sit down with Rob Hope, Director at ReWork the Bay, and Brianna Rogers, Initiative Officer at ReWork, to explore how proximate grantmaking is transforming workforce development in the Bay Area. Together, we unpack how this approach brings funding and decision-making closer to the communities it serves, empowering workers to become advocates for job quality and workplace equity. Tune in to hear how ReWork the Bay is building worker power, advancing equitable solutions, and redefining what it means to invest in local communities.

How Do We Shift Work Forward?

2026 is shaping up to be a defining year for the field of workforce development. We’re launching new programs. We have the SHIFT Conference coming up in Albuquerque this September. And across the country, conversations about job quality, worker voice, and racial equity are accelerating. In this special episode of State of Our Workforce, we’re joined by Amanda Cage for a candid conversation about this pivotal moment, and what it requires of all of us. Amanda will discuss the organization’s evolution form a collaborative philanthropic fund into a national catalyst reshaping workforce systems so workers, employers, and communities can thrive together. In this episode, Amanda reflects on that evolution and shares why this moment calls for something bigger. Whether you’re an employer, funder, policymaker, workforce leader, or longtime partner, this episode asks a timely question: How do we shift work forward — together? Listen now and join us in shaping what comes next. Learn more about Shift Work Forward: https://shiftworkforward.org/