The Wilmington Is Working Ecosystem (established 2020-21) is a Collective Impact model that convenes partners from various sectors to create strategies around workforce initiatives for marginalized residents with a focus on justice-involved individuals. We were invited by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia in 2020, to be part of their inaugural cohort of Reinventing Our Communities (ROC) program and accepted to the National Fund for Workforce Solutions in 2021. Wilmington Alliance works to advance an equitable workforce and to address the challenges and identified barriers with both the legal and employment hiring processes, while providing direction and support for identification of policy changes and system based solutions.

 

We work to bridge the gap between employers, training organizations and service providers by facilitating relationships that result in job placement for trained individuals. We also identify and link job seekers to available wrap around supports and services through outreach, employment fairs and expungement events. Wilmington Alliance continues to provide stipends for individuals in workforce training through partner agencies, and additional wrap around supports to selected training programs. We recently partnered with Friendship House on a Fines and Fees Fund that provides financial assistance for lifting capias, covering new state IDs, new State Driver Licenses and/or Delaware Birth Certificates or other costs that impede individuals’ movement through the expungement or pardon process.