Growing Business & Community - Workforce Leadership Academy

As printed in Niagara Frontier Publications Sentinel/Tribune on 3/24/23.

This year the Chamber of Commerce board has taken a look at what positive economic growth means for our members and region.  One of the topics that was brought up multiple times through surveys and discussions with members is regarding the workforce.  It’s no surprise that many of our businesses are lacking employees for a number of reasons.  As a tourist community, we visibility see it in the hospitality segment of our membership. 

Earlier this year, I applied for the Aspen Institute Workforce Leadership Academy for Buffalo and Niagara Falls.   This is a program that partners the New York Association for Training and Employment Professionals (NYATEP) with the Aspen Institute (an educational and policy studies organization based in Washington D.C) and local stakeholders. 

As a fellow in the program, I will attend multiple day long sessions per month beginning this week through November for a 10-month fellowship.   The Academy will strengthen my ability in my role at the Chamber to develop and sustain strategies, collaborate more deeply with employers and other strategic partner organizations, and expand the number and quality of leaders who advance opportunities for workers while meeting the talent needs of employers. 

The goals of the Academy are to:

• Expand and deepen professional networks and partnerships;
• Strengthen organizational and systems leadership skills;
• Apply a race and equity lens to assess and improve workforce services and strategies;
• Apply systems change framework to Fellows’ work;
• Deepen understanding of effective strategies and programs; and
• Provide a forum to work collaboratively to identify local and regional systems-based challenges and create shared solutions

NYATEP has partnered with the Aspen Institute to offer this Workforce Leadership Academy because a high-capacity, responsive, agile workforce ecosystem is critical for a region’s sustainable, equitable economic growth.  By investing in leaders’ knowledge, skills and relationships, the Workforce Leadership Academy is well positioned to build nimble collaboration that is crucial to the success of the region. Since 2014, the Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program has worked with local organizations to deliver 14 Workforce Leadership Academies in 11 cities with over 200 participants.

I am honored that the Chamber Board has supported the application process for the Academy and provided letters of reference for me to be a part of the program.  Workforce development is an area that our Chamber has identified as an integral part of strengthening the economic outlook for the region.

Jennifer Pauly
President
Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce