Across the United States, various investments seek to catalyze regional quality job creation, training, educational pathways, equity, and climate resiliency in our communities. In California, we have seen both the launch and expansion of state and federal opportunities like California Jobs First (formerly the Community Economic Resilience Fund), High Road Training Partnerships, K-16 Regional Education Collaboratives Grant Program, Regional Climate Collaboratives, the Good Jobs Challenge, and the Build Back Better Regional Challenge, in addition to existing recurring funding like the Strong Workforce Program and Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act. For these investments to translate into better long-term economic outcomes for the most vulnerable Californians, we must also keenly focus on how change is implemented with these resources. The actionable strategies will drive us to a more equitable future.    

Throughout 2023, Jobs for the Future (JFF) met with members of its inaugural Future Ready California Advisory Committee, a group of trusted partners representing regions across California, with expertise including education, workforce, economic development, and community development. Our collective vision is to grow our economy differently, prioritizing asset-based, cross-sector approaches to build community resilience and close equity gaps. Together, we grappled with examples of what works (and what doesn’t) across California’s diverse geographies when trying to use external investments to close equity gaps.   

Today’s funding opportunities have evolved in many ways, incorporating a broad range of requirements to facilitate this goal. They may include community engagement, population-specific strategies, employer leadership, and cross-sector collaboration. While these changes have made strides toward systemic transformation at the local and regional levels, state-level decision-makers who design programs across California’s diverse regions often need support to implement these objectives and promote coherence across initiatives. It is also important to lay the foundation for sustainability early and often, which may require new accountability structures, changes in ways of working, leadership development, and even culture change.   

Here, we provide nine examples designed to give policymakers, funders, and other state leaders a snapshot of high-impact regional efforts throughout the state that are undertaking the real, messy, painful, and courageous work of advancing equity every day. These regional examples will offer lessons for state leaders looking to maximize the equity impact of their investments.