The focus on diversity, equity and inclusion, and the removal of systemic barriers, is of utmost importance. Meeting people where they are to build a pipeline of candidates requires bringing together partners focused on the same target: to get and keep individuals in sustainable careers.
Originally, Messer and Easterseals Serving Greater Cincinnati partnered on a careers collaborative that began in 1994. By 2017, this had evolved into a new approach bringing together Messer, Cincinnati Children’s and Easterseals Serving Greater Cincinnati/Building Value to launch the Uptown Workforce Development Initiative (UWDI) on a group of neighborhoods in Greater Cincinnati.
The goal was to bring 50 residents (from neighborhoods surrounding Cincinnati Children’s new Critical Care Building) into full-time, sustainable careers through paid training, social support, the promise of a full-time job upon completion and a strong career outlook. We met the goal, with 50 people employed across Messer and 16 different subcontractors.