Brief written by research assistant Kait Johnson

Kait Johnson is a third-year student at UW studying Law, Societies, and Justice. They are a research assistant at the Bridges Center, where they have consulted with leaders in workforce development in Washington and beyond to understand how the state can develop more worker-centered solutions to the issues of working people.

Putting Washington on the High Road

In this brief, we summarize select Washington workforce development programs and approaches, examine how High Road Training Partnerships (HRTPs) have operated in California, and investigate the potential opportunities for and benefits of HRTPs in Washington state. The framework for this research came from initial meetings and collaboration with Ligaya Domingo (Racial Justice and Education Director at SEIU Healthcare 1199NW and member of the Seattle-King County Workforce Development Board), Ana Luz Gonzalez-Vasquez, (Project Director for POWER in the Workforce Development at the UCLA Labor Center), and Sarah L. White (Labor Policy & Research Director, Institute of Transportation Studies at UC Davis).  Additional framing and information was provided by Rachel McAloon (Workforce Development Director, Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO), Casey Gallagher (California Regional Director at the Machinists Institute), Kate Dunham (Workforce and Human Services Division Director, Social Policy Research Associates), and Pamela Egan (Director of Labor-Management Partnerships at the UC Berkeley Labor Center.) We extend our gratitude to each of these individuals for their time and thoughtful input.

Read the full brief here.