HUMAN CAPITAL POLICY INITIATIVE | THE PROJECT
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
From 2001-2007, the Human Capital Policy Initiative (HCPI) engaged the community in an ongoing discussion about the state of the workforce in Southwestern Pennsylvania and informed leadership at many levels about the importance of investing in human capital. HCPI included business, civic, and policy leaders as well as the broader community in this discussion.
Although HCPI is no longer an active project, it is our hope that community leaders continue to use the resources developed to support the initiative. This webpage is meant to facilitate this process.
HCPI PRESENTATIONS
Play to Win: New Thinking on Career Success
The job market today is not what it used to be. Resourceful problem solvers who know how to apply job-appropriate training will have access to the best positions. This presentation highlights often-overlooked career paths and provokes thought and discussion about realistic postsecondary choices in the new economy.
Student Guide >>
Parent Guide >>
Teacher Guide >>
SWPA Jobs Data >>
What After High School? >>
Healthcare Careers in Southwestern Pennsylvania: Right Time, Right Place
Health care accounts for 15 percent of employment in Southwestern Pennsylvania. Job opportunities in this field are diverse and expanding. Learn more about the variety of occupations in the healthcare sector, the education and training requirements, and the changing face of healthcare employment.
Student Guide >>
The Talent Trapeze: Connecting Business and Human Capital
For businesses to stay competitive, they must find workers who have cutting edge skills and knowledge. Many leading businesses are finding these top-notch candidates in the emerging workforce through internships. Find out why internships are so valuable to businesses, and learn more about the local resources that can facilitate the business-to-talent connection.
PROJECT ACCOMPLISHMENTS
Since 2000, HCPI:
- Collaborated with dozens of programming partners across the region to translate information about the importance of investing in human capital into dynamic, engaging presentations.
- Developed six presentation models, three workbooks, two interactive CDs, a blog and a website.
- Developed an innovative “student ambassador program” that enables peer-to-peer career exploration and information sharing.
- Developed relationships with the region's guidance counselors, social studies teachers, superintendents and other important information brokers.
- Built a network of contacts and venues that we can easily reach to deliver new, informative content.
- Convinced the region's HR association (representing 1300 HR professionals) to form a workforce readiness committee and to partner with workforce intermediaries. This partnership is now discussing a formal partnership between the state HR association and the department of labor.
- Attracted the US Assistant Secretary of Labor, Emily DeRocco to Pittsburgh to recognize the winners of the People DO Matter initiative – a program that celebrates human capital investments.
- Trained 250 adult speakers and 143 student speakers.
- Directly reached 175,734 individuals in southwest Pennsylvania through in-person presentations and dialogue. (Speakers deliver approximately 200 presentations a year.)
- Reached 87,756 middle and high school students in 177 school districts in the region through written materials and reached 26,131 students through in-person presentations.
- Reached more than 7,000 parents with career education materials.
The initiative's largest impact was on students. Based on presentation attendance numbers, HCPI has directly reached at least 11,131 students in 2006 alone. The project enabled students to have an information-driven framework for thinking about the economy and jobs. They refined their analytic and communication skills. They also had the opportunity to serve as mentors and leaders (within and outside of their school). Most importantly, they began to work on their career plans.
LEARN MORE ABOUT LOCAL CAREER LITERACY INITIATIVES
- The Future Is Mine – Unsure of what you want to do with your life? The Future Is Mine can help you explore the options.
- Smart Futures – Home of Keys2Work, e-mentoring and My Career Journey (a virtual environment to begin career exploration).
- Health Career Futures – A regional resource aimed at ensuring an adequate supply of high quality healthcare professionals HCF is also home to About Health Careers , an interactive resource for healthcare career exploration.
- CLAAY - a program of Duquesne University's Center for Competitive Workforce Development (CCWD) that helps youth define, pursue, and achieve their individual career and educational goals through one-on-one career mentoring, academic tutoring, and related programming.
- PRICE – This regional financial services sector initiative assists high school and post-secondary students explore internship and employment opportunities in this growing sector of the economy.
- Youth Works – Supporting career development in Allegheny County's community-based organizations.
Your local workforce investment board may also be able to help you find career literacy resources:
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HUMAN CAPITAL POLICY INITIATIVE
Letter from the Institute's Director
The Project
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