Transcript -Community Colleges Leading Economic Resilience - Future of Work Conference Panel Discussion Episode 158

Tony Cordova [00:00:00]:

All roads lead to workforce. Everything that we do really is intended to be able to provide an opportunity for our students, our community members, our adult learners, whatever that is, they're learners, to be able to provide them an opportunity to get into these careers. And I say careers because it's more than just a job. I mean, we can get a job anywhere. We could go to McDonald's and have a job, but it's not that sustainable career that's going to be able to provide benefits, security, food on the table for our family and put us into that. So that's one of the core missions of what our community colleges focus on.

 

Christina Barsi [00:00:40]:

The workforce landscape is rapidly changing, and educators and their institutions need to keep up. Preparing students before they enter the workforce to make our communities and businesses stronger is at the core of getting an education. But we need to understand how to change and adjust so that we can begin to project where. Where things are headed before we even get there. So how do we begin to predict the future?

 

Elaine [00:01:04]:

Hi, I'm Salvatrice Cummo, Vice President of Economic and Workforce Development at Pasadena City College and host of this podcast.

 

Christina Barsi [00:01:13]:

And I'm Christina Barsi, producer and co host of this podcast.

 

Salvatrice Cummo [00:01:17]:

And we are starting the conversation about the future of work. We'll explore topics like how education can partner with industry, how to be more equitable, and how to attain one of our highest goals, more internships and PCC students in the workforce. We at Pasadena City College want to lead the charge in closing the gap between what our students are learning and what the demands of the workforce will be once they enter. This is a conversation that impacts all of us, you, the employers, the policymakers, the educational institutions, and the community as a whole.

 

Christina Barsi [00:01:51]:

We believe change happens when we work together. And it all starts with having a conversation. Hi, I'm Christina Barsi.

 

Salvatrice Cummo [00:01:58]:

And I'm Salvatrice Cummo. And this is the future of work. It is my pleasure now to introduce and bring to the stage our Director of Operations for Economic and Workforce Development here at pasadena City College, Ms. Leslie Thompson.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:02:15]:

Welcome back. As Sabatry shared, my name is Leslie Thompson. I'm the Director of Operations for Economic and Workforce Development here at Pasadena City College. And I'm thrilled to moderate what promises to be an engaging and insightful panel discussion. Our panel today brings together exceptional leaders from education, industry, workforce development and community organizations, each bringing unique perspectives on mobilizing for recovery and regional renewal. In our discussion today, we'll explore innovative strategies for workforce development, the evolving partnership between education and industry, and practical approaches to Building economic resilience in our communities. So we're going to go down the panel here and have the panelists introduce themselves. And panelists, as you introduce yourself, can you share one lesson or moment from your experience that shaped how you think about resilience, whether in your organization, your community, or personal? Let's orient this in the human experience.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:03:09]:

Right. And we'll start with Monica.

 

Monica Banken [00:03:11]:

Hi, everyone. Monica Banken with the office of Supervisor Barger. I serve as her workforce and Economic Development deputy along with a few other titles as well, and sit on a number of different boards also focusing on workforce development across the county of Los Angeles and for various sectors for resilience. When I was young, I worked in the state legislature and I had this great bill. It was so fantastic. I wrote it. It was my baby, worked and nurtured it for a whole year. Got it all the way to the governor's desk and it got vetoed.

 

Monica Banken [00:03:49]:

Never had a no vote on it. I was so unhappy and so upset. Like, I cried. I really was upset. Also, I was 21 or 22, so that's part of it. Then a few days later, the governor introduced it as an executive order with his name on it. And then I was even more annoyed at that point because I'm like, it was good. Why didn't we you sign it? It taught me a lot of resilience and what goes around comes around because the people behind that ended up being investigated by the feds for taking illegal campaign bribes.

 

Monica Banken [00:04:24]:

So ended up working out in my favor.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:04:26]:

Dodged it. Very good. Very good.

 

Tony Cordova [00:04:29]:

That's a good one. That's a good one, right?

 

Leslie Thompson [00:04:30]:

That's a really good one.

 

Tony Cordova [00:04:31]:

Resilience and full circle. Thank you guys for allowing me to come up here today and have the conversation with you. My name is Tony Cordova. I'm the Vice Chancellor for Workforce and Economic Development for your California Community College Chancellor's office. That's a long title, right? I think that's why we use so many abbreviations and what we do. So in my role, I also get the honor to be able to serve the 116 community colleges, advocate for our eight regional consortias, really do the implementation of our Vision 2030 document, it's really the roadmap of how we're leading the state of California in the implementation. And there's a strong emphasis on workforce. So there's a lot of weight on the work that we're doing.

 

Tony Cordova [00:05:16]:

But there's a lot of visibility and a lot of greatness that's happening with that. When you asked a question about the resilience. It really, it made me start to think, right. It was one of those thought provoking opportunities for me to go back and reflect. And I always try to make something that's personable. So I went back in my history. I won't tell the number of years, but I'm also a Navy veteran, so I served in the US Navy and it was during the Persian Gulf War. So a lot of that really set that resilience up.

 

Tony Cordova [00:05:48]:

When you're having to be deployed for six months on times you're being displaced, you're being relocated from your family, you're being out in the middle of nowhere. And this was before cell phones, this was before the technology that we have today. You're just out there and you're doing what you need to do. That built up a little bit of that resilience. And then I came across a video. It was the speaker, Jocko, if you haven't heard it, he has a YouTube video and the subject aspect of it is, so you didn't get that job. Good. What are you going to do about it? What are you going to learn from it? Right.

 

Tony Cordova [00:06:21]:

And that's where I've always lived. My model is there's never a failure, there's always an opportunity. There's always something for us to take away from and look at how we're going to overcome and knock down those barriers. Don't let the governor knock you down. Right. I also have one of those bills. I won't go there. But that's a little bit about the resilience component of it is just look at everything as an opportunity.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:06:46]:

Wonderful, wonderful. Very good. No pressure down at the other end there. Go ahead, Lizzy.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:06:51]:

My name is Lizzie Okoro Davidson. I am the director of the Women's Business Center. We are hosted right here at Pasadena City College. We are a state and federal funded resource for small businesses. So we just like to to say that we help small businesses launch and grow. And of course the title, it's in the name. We're a women's business center, so we do hyper focus on women entrepreneurs though it's open to everyone in Los Angeles and we just help really identify what are some of the challenges that women entrepreneurs face and how can we help them get over those hurdles, but also what are the opportunities? Where are women entrepreneurs really kicking butt and how can we continue to help them continue to kick butt? So yeah, and then in terms of resilience, I guess what comes to mind is I was a child actor from the ages. I know.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:07:46]:

It's my fun fact. It's my, like, two truths and a lie.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:07:49]:

How do we not know that?

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:07:51]:

I was a child actor from the ages of like, four or five until I was a senior in high school. It explains everything, right, Leslie?

 

Leslie Thompson [00:07:58]:

It's all lining up now.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:07:59]:

It's not about me. And so, I mean, to me, you can't tell me anything. Like, I literally had to go into rooms from the time I was a little tiny child through my very awkward, you know, prepubescent adolescence and going to rooms where there were, like, superstars in there, you know, and you still had to walk in and give it your all and know that you were not going to give it the job because they've already given it to Raven, Simone or someone else. And so I just had to go through that, the constant rejection, because clearly I was not successful, because you would have. You would know me if I was. So go in there, still give it my all, give it my best, try my best, and be told no. And often with acting, it isn't about talent. It is like we're telling you no because we don't like the way you look.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:08:43]:

We don't think you have what it takes. And it is personal. And I still had to say, you know, I'm still going to try. So for me, most people, it's not that you can't tell me anything, but I've really had to flex that muscle and build that over the years, and it served me well. So I would say that that's my personal example of resilience.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:09:04]:

That's another great answer. Thank you. And I don't know how we didn't know that about her, but I can't wait to lear more Fun fact. Fun fact after this, Kelly?

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:09:12]:

Thanks so much. I feel like I've already learned so much about my fellow panelists who I already knew, and it's so great. I'm Kelly LoBianco. I'm the director of the LA County Department of Economic Opportunities. So happy to be here. We're the county's economic development agency. So folks that don't know us, we oversee the LA County Workforce Board, our Office of Small Business, our community development activities and programs. So ultimately, if you're a worker, a small business, a major industry or community, or we're here to support your growth and opportunity and mobility.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:09:40]:

When I think about resilience. So we were created three years ago thanks to the Board of Supervisors, Supervisor Barger, and the rest of the Board of Supervisors coming out of the pandemic and so between the pandemic and the fires, immigration enforcement actions, and everything in between, over the last three years, my team and I have talked a lot about, like, what resiliency means and that economic disruption is a norm. And so resiliency is something that we need to practice every day, from prevention to being able to respond to economic disruption. And so when I think about resiliency, it's really in the context of my team and what we've been through over the last three years and, like, shifting the paradigm. And I know people often say, like, hope is an action. We've been talking about how, like, resiliency is an action, and it has to be something we practice every single day.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:10:29]:

Excellent. Thank you. Thank you all for those responses. Going to start by setting the stage. We'll start with Monica. If you could take us back to those first few days when the wildfires began. What stands out in your memory, the moment you realize how serious this was and B, what the community needed right away most.

 

Monica Banken [00:10:48]:

Yeah, it was a very traumatizing few weeks for all of us. I know a lot of tears shed. And we were working pretty much 247 in our office, taking calls from people asking about which roads I could take to get out. Or this sheriff said this and a different sheriff said this, and I'm not sure, or where could I go? I don't know. It's late and I don't have a place to stay because my house burned down. So all sorts of questions came into our office. And we were just trying our best to keep up and provide people with real truthful information. So I think that kind of stood out to me a lot.

 

Monica Banken [00:11:25]:

This size and the scope I was receiving. Probably all of us were so many texts and calls personally from people saying, do you remember so? And so their house burned down. Hey, do you know my aunt? Her house burned down. So just on top of all of that, we all had a very personal connection and relationship with the Palisades and the Altadena community. Those were some of my recollections and what was needed, I guess everything at that moment. And we were really lucky. I had a lot of upset people, but we also had some people that really wanted to help. And there's one gentleman that we knew.

 

Monica Banken [00:12:07]:

He works in a foster care program. That place was evacuated, and he lived down the street. His house burned down. And he calls me the next day and say, what can I do to help? I know there's other foster youth being displaced. And I just thought, you know, there's so many people with these beautiful hearts and that even though they're going through something, their first instinct is, how can I help others? So got to see some really scary and horrible and sad things, but also some really beautiful, selfless acts of caring for others.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:12:37]:

That reminds us that this is about human need and human participation. We heard earlier also talking about how people turned up, showed up despite having been impacted themselves. Right. So we're going to move on. We're going to do economic and workforce recovery. We're going to do a little bit small business. So I'm just going to go down the line because I'm not going to be that flexible. So for Kelly, the first question.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:12:58]:

Kelly, your department, the Department of Economic Opportunity, plays a pivotal role in connecting displaced workers and small businesses to recovery resources. What's one innovation or lesson that should be institutionalized for the next disaster.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:13:12]:

To like, build on what Monica said, like, we had a completely different vision for the last nine months of what our department will be working on. You know, everyone recognized the severity of the moment, that this was not a neighborhood and neighborhood issue. This is a regional, if not state, an unprecedented tragedy and disaster and that we were going to be on a long journey together for our recovery. And so, you know, I've been very grateful for the leadership of our board and for those in our region who have set the vision that we want community return and we want a rebuild and we want to invest in our workers and our small businesses and our community members throughout that process. But you know, the interesting thing about what's innovative is it's not really like innovative in and of itself. I think it's like what we really know, but it's spending the time in doing it. So I think when we were in Covid, there was a group of city and county and CBOs, CDFIs and other community business organizations that came together under this umbrella of Together for la, sort of grassrooted a connective infrastructure to get information and resources out to the small business community, to our entrepreneurs, and to make sure that we were harnessing resources and making it as easy as possible for folks to access all of them. I think about that connective infrastructure because we tapped into Together for LA when we saw the tornado in Montebello, we tapped into that infrastructure.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:14:42]:

And when we see massive road closures or a public works disruption on a corridor and also in the windstorms and wildfires. And so I think it's spending the off time investing in that connective infrastructure so that when it happens, we're Just turning the light on and not building it from scratch and asking everybody, what can I do? Because there's a lot of goodwill, and it's good if we can direct people to something that's useful and impactful. And so in addition to that sort of, like, communication connective infrastructure, I think we've thought a lot about, there's this moment of, like, relief. There's this crisis moment. The fires were burning. People are having disastrous impacts on their livelihoods, both their personal and professional, and then there will be a period of recovery and rebuild. But we built a lot of things from scratch in that moment, too. We know from our conversations, community people needed cash relief.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:15:36]:

We needed to activate partnerships at the local, state, and federal level to bring that relief and through our philanthropic partners. And we managed to do it with, like, blood, sweat and tears. And again, like a board that really, like, encouraged us to do that. It was a lot of work to build to then support the community. And so what we can build as, like, a permanent infrastructure to activate in those moments, I think is the innovation that I saw and that I want to make permanent so that we are ready in the future.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:16:04]:

Making that connective infrastructure permanent is important. And when you think about community colleges as a hub for resources for retraining workers, supporting displaced students, and rebuilding the workforce pipeline, I wanted to ask Tony how our system can better mobilize quickly and equitably after a crisis so that we can leverage our existing connective infrastructures or shore those up or create those for the first time ever, as the case may be.

 

Tony Cordova [00:16:31]:

From a personal perspective. One of the things that I mentioned, I was a Navy veteran, right? And when you're in the military, your goal is to be able to react and respond, right? We don't stand by. We go out there and we hit the charts, right? And that's been my mindset from day one, right, when I was a youth. So it just really resonated with me. But in my journey through where I'm at today, I've seen a lot of crisis, right? I mean, We've lived through 9, 11. I've lived through wars. I've been in wars. We've seen.

 

Tony Cordova [00:17:01]:

Seen the fires. We've seen tragedy. But going back to the resilience, we've been able to persevere, right? We've still been able to come out of that. It still hits everybody different. So there's a little bit of that PTSD aspect of it, because I remember from a personal perspective, when the fires happened, I happened to be driving through Right. So I was leaving the LA area up on the 5 and I looked in the rearview mirror and I saw the chaos behind me, right? But in my life I've seen a lot of that throughout whatnot. So immediately one of the things I did is I picked up the phone and said, we got to do something, right? We as the community colleges to our chancellor, what are we going to do? We got to be able to do something. So I'll get a little bit more into that one.

 

Tony Cordova [00:17:44]:

But to answer your question, let's break that down a little bit, right? When you start thinking about the hubs, the crisis hubs, one of the things that we've been talking about is some climate infrastructure and, and really talking about how our community colleges, I mean, heck, we've got community in our title, right? So we are part of the community and we act as some of those crisis centers and we develop these hubs to be able to have that security of a safe place to go to, secure, to provide housing, to provide water, electricity, your basic needs. But one of the things that we've been talking about is how do we implement uninterruptible power supply or better known as the micro grids, to be able to be self sufficient in case of a crisis out in the community. We're still going to be power on, right? Lights on, mentality. So there's that aspect of it. That's one of the things that we've been doing and the goal to be able to continue to do that. Then you break down the other areas, the workforce, the development component of it, the pipeline. This is what we've been doing, this is our mission. I've been doing this little bit of a tagline and I know Narnay's heard it a couple times now, but all roads lead to workforce.

 

Tony Cordova [00:18:59]:

Everything that we do really is intended to be able to provide an opportunity for our students, our community members, our adult learners, whatever that is, they're learners, to be able to provide them an opportunity to get into these careers. And I say careers because it's more than just a job, all right? I mean we could get a job anywhere, we could go to McDonald's and have a job, but it's not that sustainable career that's going to be able to provide benefits, security, food on the table for our family and put us into that. So that's one of the core missions of what our community colleges focus on and then is establishing the partnerships. So that way we could be most effective of implementing those outcomes and being successful, of meeting Our ultimate goals.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:19:43]:

From the perspective of the city, state and or the county, what partnerships or funding strategies have worked to best align rapid response, education and employer needs during recovery. And maybe we could talk a little bit of how an initiative like LA Rebuild can shape future models. Because in order for us to have that infrastructure maintained to do the things that we want to do, there has to be funding, right? We have to have money to pursue these initiatives, so.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:20:08]:

Yeah, it's going to take a lot of resources to recover, we know that. And in the context of a very uncertain time right now, but sort of back to like the planning aspect, I think it's knowing where on the funding side, it's knowing where we need to tap into funding right away to marshal resources in. Because to your point, workforce is everything. And so like immediately upon the fires even happening, we're talking to the state to unlock what we call national dislocated worker grants and additional assistance grants, but essentially dollars that support paid work stipends, long term reattachment to the workforce for dislocated workers or folks that have been impacted by the fires. And you know, the state came through and invested $20 million in our region that is now being deployed through our job centers. And we actually have an event this Thursday for fire impacted workers right in Altadena to get connected to job training and work. And so I think it's knowing where there are resources that are for these moments, you know, similar like community development, block grant, disaster recovery and unlocking those. I think it's also being creative, knowing that there's a long time horizon.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:21:16]:

This isn't like a one and done resource. There's going to be different resources that workers and businesses need over time depending on how they were impacted by the fires. And so, you know, the county's pursuing a disaster recovery district, a tax increment approach to rebuild. We had great partnerships and I know everyone here was part of this with our philanthropic community, our corporate foundations, just everyday person who wanted to see how they could support and identifying dollars that we couldn't pull in from government because of a couple reasons. There's like a time lag or restrictions in the ways we can spend or even our most vulnerable workers, like those that lack immigration status here, couldn't tap into. And so the philanthropic community was able to allow us to push grants and other resources out to the community. And so I think it really was knowing that we needed more but for the right reasons and for what and when. And so like we're continuing to have that conversation and one thing I'll just say about partnerships because I think it brings to this idea of resiliency.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:22:20]:

You need partnerships in place and funding in place. And I think if we are investing in strong industries here in LA county, strong construction industry and workforce, strong hospitality, and we also are investing in our small business community and the connecting infrastructure. Like I said with everyone here, we are upskilling folks and building on training and employment systems that already exist in crisis, not trying to out of magic develop a surge workforce that's going to rebuild. We need to have a strong construction workforce every day in a county like Los Angeles, not just in a crisis like this. And we do have those. Right? As we're thinking about what the next 10 years look like.

 

Tony Cordova [00:23:00]:

I'll add a little bit. So when I said I wanted to make that phone call and we have to react and how we're going to be able to do that, we immediately ended up putting in together a strike force team that was focusing on supporting the community, focusing on re establishing and strengthening those relationships. At the same time, we're fortunate enough to be able to have some relationships with the Department of Finance and the Governor's office. So we immediately went into an ask situation to be able to provide funding to support the immediate needs. Our Chancellor had a meeting with the local CEOs, right. Of the LA consortia and had a discussion with them and put together a little bit of a proposal and trying to identify how we're going to support the expanded construction trades and really grow out the pathways and look at different opportunities for colleges that have the capability of developing new programs to be able to help support and then also look at the sustainability. Because you're absolutely right, we gotta continue to look at it. I mean, it's not only the crisis component of it, but it's the ongoing and sustainability that we have to be mindful of. And then we're also looking at doing another ask, right? So we're in the process right now of doing another budget ask.

 

Tony Cordova [00:24:15]:

Our Board of Governors did approve us to go back to the Department of Finance and start negotiating on some additional resources to be able to help expand. And it is for us, it's about the opportunity to create those sustainable pathways, create those opportunities. But it's also, we know that we also need the employers, we need the location that they're going to be working at to step up to the table and be a partner with the work that we're doing. So it's more than just the funding, it's that collaboration, the partnership because you got to be able to have a location that's going to be able to support the work.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:24:52]:

I agree with that very much. Actually, the employer partnerships are super important. And while we're certainly appreciative of the funding we do get, the funding is a real concern. Right. So it's a real issue. So I wondered if we could talk a little bit about what barriers still limit our ability to make recovery efforts sustainable. Because I heard sustainable a couple of times, particularly for colleges and local workforce systems. What really needs to change to move us beyond short term funding cycles? So often we chase the money, right? We live by the deliverables.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:25:21]:

What do we need to do to move beyond that short term funding cycle life?

 

Tony Cordova [00:25:25]:

So great question. And you know, when we start talking about barriers and the short term funding component of it, we know in career education, our operating costs are probably double, if not triple, your traditional courts, right? So by comparison, a construction course is going to cost way more than an English course. Right. Historically, we've never been able to institutionalize a lot of the funding here. Recently, back in 2016-17, we were able to procure what we call the Strong Workforce Program. And the Strong workforce dollars have been really instrumental in being able to expand and grow out our tagline more and better career education CTE courses. Right. And then we were able to build in the K through 12, strong workforce that's supporting our high school students to be able to matriculate into the community colleges.

 

Tony Cordova [00:26:20]:

Right. That's one of the expectations, is that there's a pathway into the community college. And then we're expanding the dual enrollment aspect of everything. So it's not so much the short term funding, it's being able to look at how we could institute, institutionalize the dollars that we have right now, but at the same time how we can maximize those resources. So I know we've got the High Roads Training Partnership, we've got the jobs first, we've got a variety of different entities out there, but there's ways for us to be able to brave those funds to increase the outcome of what we're looking at doing. Right? And that's the rebuilding aspect of it. It's also looking at our capacity. So one of the things that our team ended up doing was working with our adult education consortia itself.

 

Tony Cordova [00:27:03]:

And we put together a dashboard to bring out the visibility, be more visible of what the supply and demand is for your certain areas. So when you have a better understanding of what the demand is, then you can know what your supply needs to be and once you start building out your supply, then you're closing that gap of the demand itself. Right. And that's how you look at the long term installation, institutionalization aspect of everything. Because you could take a look at the trends and records of the historical supply and demand and you'll know what you're going to need and where you're going to need to increase your allocation for dollars.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:27:39]:

I'll just add super quickly, I agree with all that. Our most sustainable workforce dollars are also the most restrictive. And so those have not taken us very far. Like the amount of dollars that we get from the Department of Labor, from the Workforce Innovation Opportunity act have not grown over time. Right. So we've been offsetting it, you know, in strong workforce, you know, county investments, etc. We need to do a couple things I think, which is one, continue to advocate and tell the story of how longer term training opportunities, different kinds of training models that emphasize employers long term economic mobility, that those are the models that actually make a difference for our economies. Because at the end of the day I think that's compelling.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:28:25]:

And then also stop aligning our flexible dollars to the most restrictive dollars as we braid them together. And I do think it's just a paradigm shift too. It's like the way we look at data. We need to not just count our inputs and our outputs like we got this many people enrolled and this many people trained, but really build our program models so that we're looking at employment in quality jobs and advancement over time. And that means spending money on retention and advancement staffing models too. Right? And stipends for people telling us about how their outcomes look over time. It does take both advocacy, intentionality and maybe just a paradigm shift in the way we've run the public workforce system.

 

Tony Cordova [00:29:08]:

So you know, when we start talking about barriers, there's so many different aspects of it. And I'm going to put this out there and, and you could quote me by saying this, we need to get out of our own ways. Too many times we've got this big headed ego that is going to not allow us to continue to move the work. Right. So it's being able to find the individuals like Salvatrice that are leading the initiatives right at the local level that have that desire to continue to implement and drive the outcomes, drive the implementation component of it. And one of the things that I've looked at is right now the community colleges, your California workforce development boards, your labor workforce development agencies, the consortias, they are in the best place right now that I've seen historically in my short tenure of the desire and the leaders that are actually wanting to do the work have that strong partnership, have the collaboration, because without that, our egos stops everything. So that I think is another one of the barriers that I think we've been able to overcome. And as I said, right now's our time.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:30:20]:

Now is the time. And for the sole purpose of this conversation, one of the sole purposes is to build that workforce. However, we have to get to it. Right? But we're talking about workforce in general. The sustainability is tied to those long term outcomes to sell the, the benefit to the economy. Talking about workforce trends, I wanted to ask Monica over the last few months, are there trends regarding what type of workforce is needed for recovery? But how should we highlight immediate job needs to those entering the job market are looking to help in some way?

 

Monica Banken [00:30:49]:

Thank you. I think apprenticeships, I know that there's a lot of state dollars in apprenticeship programs, but not a lot of people are applying or taking advantage of those. And that's because you have to first have a good apprenticeship model and then number two, have to have some sort of agreement with an employer that those people that went through your program will get a certificate that's allowed by the state, which is not that many either. Then number two, then they get 100% job placement and that works. But for a lot of groups, some people are already doing that, they're just not officially calling themselves an apprenticeship model. It would probably be beneficial to do that. And there's lots of people that are looking for work right now, including fire victims. Another thing we noticed is we have a deep need for childcare facilities that burn down in Altadena.

 

Monica Banken [00:31:41]:

Those youth still have to go somewhere. I think that's something we want to focus on in terms of rebuilding, is that it's not just homes, it's not just businesses, it's all types of of businesses. And in that vein, it's also human services positions as well. So that could be your school mental health counselor, you know, that could be your after school program with kids, all sorts of things that are supporting the human and especially youth very much in need all over the county, but probably especially now when we were talking about mental health needs. And the third is the number of people which we've all kind of mentioned as well that were working from home or were independent workers. And a lot of them were artists. You know, they had their own art programs, they were selling art or music or they were a videographer, all sorts of different things. And I Think that kind of piece of it has gotten a little lost in the recovery and the rebuild.

 

Monica Banken [00:32:46]:

So I think something focusing on that or even like entrepreneurship as a topic. I went to Occidental College down the street a long time ago, maybe a few years back, I learned that they had like a class and an entire program for the year on like learning entrepreneurship skills. And I thought that is so smart because a lot of these kids have wonderful and great ideas. But. But if you talk to a lot of small businesses over many, many years, which I have, a lot of them kind of just tried to do things on their own and then eventually they found out there was this other resource that could have helped them. And without fail they're like, ah, I wish I knew that. But hey, I was just starting up, I really didn't know where to go. So I think trying to highlight some of those programs to help people, because a lot of these people, they do want to continue to own their own business and they do want to run their own business.

 

Monica Banken [00:33:39]:

And you know, maybe they just also need a little helping hand on like really great business practices, including having insurance for your small business in your home, so.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:33:50]:

Speaking of needing to highlight those stories, those small businesses that are not necessarily, maybe they're kind of falling out of the spotlight. I think, as you said, I think Lizzie can speak to a lot of that. Being involved with the immediate response and partnership with the SBDC and the SBA and all that happened here on campus. Lizzy, can you talk a little bit about what unique challenges small and women owned businesses face in recovering from disasters and what specific supports or policy changes have you seen make the greatest difference on the ground?

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:34:21]:

Sure, it was a perfect segue. Honestly, I'm a former entrepreneur, I started my own business, heads down, completely in a silo, did not even think about any sort of resources that could really be out there until I googled one day. You know, I needed like every entrepreneur, we immediately start with the passion and the heart and we realize we're broke and we need money from somewhere, right? And where is this money going to come from? And so the only reason why I even got tuned into how many resources were actually available for small business was my brokenness was, you know, driving that motivation to find money. And all of a sudden the SBA came up as a resource to understand how to get a loan. And my like 20 year old self said, I have an idea and a dream and passion and I'm going to get a loan from something called the sba. And they very Quickly told me, girlfriend, no, you actually need to build an actual business first and then we can talk about that. But in the meantime, why don't we connect you with something called an sbdc, a Small Business Development center. And that person can help you actually take what's up here and create an actual business.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:35:31]:

And so, you know, again, I was in my early 20s and from there I was then every time I tried, tried to start a business, I remembered this resource and I was just so amazed. And I told all of my friends who were also in the business community, oh my goodness, you need to connect with the sba. You have to connect with the sba. And they never really did, honestly, because it just seemed too good to be true. Why would the government have any sort of incentive to actually help small businesses? And when you think about it, it actually makes sense. Over 50% of people who are employed are employed by a small business. I always say this, they're not employed by Google, they're not employed by Met, employed by your local small business. And small business is also defined as it depends on who you're talking to.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:36:14]:

Right. So small businesses doesn't necessarily just mean one or two person businesses. It can actually be something as big as a 500 person operation. That being said, there's always a lot of skepticism that we have to overcome running some of these programs. People just don't understand that free actually does mean free because we are a community and we all want to see see our economy grow and thrive. And the only way to really do that is to invest back in to small businesses. So there's a bit of a learning curve in marketing that we have to do. But what I have seen, especially in light of the Eaton fires, is all of a sudden people became hyper aware of all of the resources that were available.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:36:55]:

In fact, it became overwhelming for the average small business owner, especially in times of crisis. Your house just burned down. Your house that also housed your business just burn down. And you have to figure out and navigate really complex paperwork and systems. And it was just, you're literally traumatized. As many of you know now all of a sudden there's a bunch of acronyms coming at you telling you, we've got this, we've got this, we've got this. And you're trying to figure out what's a scam, what's true, what's real, how do I get my insurance, how do I apply for this grant, how do I apply for this loan? And, and I think that what we can do just, I think I'M even just sitting here listening to everybody's answer is just have this single source of truth. For me, that was LA D E o Honestly, it was sending people like LA county just one particular website.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:37:46]:

We can help you, but just go to them because it's a comprehensive resource. So I don't even know if I'm answering your question anymore. But really the. Yeah, the answer is just that small business owners, for whatever reason we create and say silos. We think that we just have to be heads down and just get our product out there. Not understanding that a lot of people want to see you win because we need to see you win. We need our economy to thrive. And even if we don't understand it in those very, you know, complex economic terms, we can understand that we are all a part of the same community.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:38:22]:

And so just know that like there's a ton out there for you. And if you need help navigating those things, there are partners to literally hold your hand through that process.

 

Monica Banken [00:38:32]:

Lizzie, when you were talking, I worked for the U.S. chamber of Commerce and their statement was always every large business was a small business. So we all have seen those photos of someone in the garage and it's one guy, Bill Gates or something, and they're just kind of in the desk in a garage. And then all of a sudden it's one of the biggest companies. So we tell small business that you don't always have to be small, have that big mindset because one day you'll be big business and look back and say, I remember when I was small. So that's a great reason, I think, why government really does care quite a bit. We want you to succeed. And then when you're a big business, that's even better.

 

Monica Banken [00:39:11]:

More people. So just wanted to throw that in.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:39:13]:

Something to hope for, for sure.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:39:14]:

Yeah. A lot of folks when they have engaged with government, it hasn't always been a positive experience for them. Right. But there's so much. And one thing that I feel as someone who's worked in government for my whole life and some of the reasons I joined government was really for the public good and community service as a career, which I think is an amazing thing to be able to wake up to every morning, is that we need to better promote the things that folks need and want. And we do that through reaching out to community and delivering services in partnership with partners like we have right here at the table. And I also think on the topic of resiliency, it's thinking about. I was just thinking, as Lizzie and Monica Were talking about the multitude of resources that were available during this like, window of time, right? And now folks are like, okay, what's next? As we have this like long tail of recovery, not only do I think are we all thinking about like, what resources do we need to deliver by who now and then into the future, but also like, was getting the same Grant with like 10 different applications at one time the thing we needed for, for relief and recovery? I think that's something we're reflecting on too.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:40:24]:

And what are the kinds of resources, capital tools that people need that are a little bit different at each point in time? And how can we start to be more creative in the ways that we deliver those too?

 

Leslie Thompson [00:40:35]:

That also goes along with the idea of you have to plan, but you also have to be ready to pivot. And so as you're delivering services, you have to switch those up too, Right? So I wanted to ask Lizzie, many small businesses owners don't really think about the planning aspect until it's time or too late. And maybe they don't have the wherewithal to pivot the way a larger organization or system might be able to. What's one low cost, high impact strategy you'd recommend to help them prepare? And can you share a real world story that captures the kinds of challenges business owners are facing right now?

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:41:07]:

Well, who would I be if I didn't plug myself? My God. And the women business that's right here at Pasadena City College, you know, I a product, my business was only successful when it did become successful. It was literally because I reached into that or tapped that resource of a small business development center. And granted, I had to seek that out, but I found it and I hung onto it literally for over a decade. And I knew that, you know, when I was struggling with my business and not making any money, literally one penny is what I was making with it, that I had this completely free resource that I could tap into and go there and get one to one advising mentorship. And it was free. It was completely free. No cost, no catch.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:41:54]:

And so that's the same with women's business centers. Without going into the whole entire context, both small business development centers and women's business centers are funded by mainly the same federal and state resources. So to me it's just, you know, you don't have to build in a silo, you don't have to build by yourself finding what other organization, even if it's not mine, they're just googling and figuring out what are the free resources for small business owners and keeping that in your back pocket, I will say to toot our own horn, when people come, they say, I can't believe I didn't know about this before. How did I know about it before? And I said, because we don't have any money, we don't have any money to advertise. We technically cannot use our grant dollars to advertise. So it's really truly word of mouth. So. And again, we heard that after the fires of I can't believe I did not know about this resource before, but I'm glad I know know it now.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:42:44]:

So that's one thing. And then to answer the second part of your question of just, you know, what are we seeing with small businesses at this moment? People are still struggling. You know, we can't really sugarcoat it. To say that businesses are back and better than ever before would be really unfair and really out of touch. The reality is that the businesses that have survived were greatly impacted. Whether it was the ptsd, the actual trauma of going through something like having your neighbor lose their home or their business and you're still standing, that survivor's remorse is very, very real. Having the slowed foot traffic, it's very, very hard. And all of this on top of, as we've said, the impact that the rates have had, the impact that the just economy has had, the impact of COVID Some people are still dealing with the ramifications of COVID But, you know, most entrepreneurs didn't get into this to play it safe or have it easy.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:43:39]:

A lot of us kind of knew what we were getting into and we said, we're still going to persevere. So resiliency is baked into the nature or the DNA of an entrepreneur, for better or worse. And so I'm just so grateful. And I, as we keep saying, as much as you can, continue to shop small and shop local and tell your friends and small business owners in your life, you know, I may not know what that crazy girl on that stage said or there was an acronym that she said, but she said that just Google it. And there's business centers out there. Please tap into those.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:44:09]:

So I love that that's a nice broad recommendation for SBDCs and for those technical resources broadly. But can we talk a little bit about women's business centers in particular and why they're so essential in the Eaton fire recovery effort in particular? How are issues like child care, caregiving, access to capital shaping women entrepreneurs specifically and their ability to rebuild and stay in business? Are there. Are you noticing any, you know, trends there.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:44:34]:

Yes. So I mean women across the board are starting businesses faster than our male counterparts and black and Latino entrepreneurs in particular are starting at an even higher rate and starting with even fewer resources. So I think women's business centers, the way that we really distinguish ourselves from other resources is that we do have a deeper understanding of those issues that or we try to at least get make sure that we're really smart about the issues that women are facing. And therefore what we've learned is what works is not just answering your questions from a technical perspective, but really providing mentorship, long term mentorship. Right. You can come and see us as many times as you want, set up recurring meetings and have someone truly hold your hand and sit down with you to make sure that your business at every level we have people that are coming in at idea stage and people have been in business for 18 years and longer who are coming to us asking, you know, for help and support. So I think that that's really our secret sauce is just understanding and going deep and not just going wide with our clients. You just mentioned the industries that women entrepreneurs are really persevering in and really just innovating in are some of the most essential industries like childcare.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [00:45:56]:

And we saw a lot of folks who had in home daycare facilities that were impacted. And as we know people need childcare. We're already in a childcare crisis. Can't go to work if you don't have childcare. So it's really, it impacts everyone at every level, even if you don't have children. With the women's business centers in particular are really trying to make sure that we are addressing how do we support child care facilities. That was something we were doing pre the before the fires and it's become even more of a necessity now so.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:46:30]:

Switching now to equity access and long term recovery, we'll start with LA county disasters deepen existing inequities from housing to access to capital. How is LA county embedding equity into its recovery frameworks so that the most vulnerable aren't left behind?

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:46:46]:

We certainly know that crisis doesn't hit everyone equally and our response has to recognize that. So I would say three ways that we are thinking about equity are one, as an economic development agency, we are running economic impact studies that involve both qualitative and quantitative research methods because we want to truly understand the impact. And that means like by the numbers, by the stories, understanding how it the real economic toll that it has across all 400,000 square miles of LA county and who's being impacted the most. And that helps drive the level of resources that we need for emergencies. That helps us drive the resources to the right places that may not look the same in every neighborhood or city or part of our county. So right now we're doing a year long study on the fire with LA EDC as well as a study on immigration enforcement impacts with LAEDC and LEAF and really making sure that we understand what it looks like so we can make the right decisions. We also, as we stand up programs, we design them with community voice and evaluate its impact based on how well we've changed the reality for our community members. So I mentioned that one of the grant funds that we stood up during the fires, the LA Region Worker and Small Business Relief Fund, this has supported so far over 2,300 small businesses and 1300 workers and going.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:48:14]:

But part of that is not just sort of having an application and having it come first, come first serve is really like being thoughtful about our design and prioritization so that those that were hardest to hit by the fire get resources first and foremost. And you know, in this case we've actually been able to raise enough money to disperse grant dollars to everybody who was eligible for the program. But that's not always the case based on limited resources. And so really making sure that those that are hardest hit, that might have the hardest time to bounce back, get first access to resources and then last, I'll say is we deliver our programs, all of them. This fund being one good example in partnership with community based organizations. So making sure that in addition to having a great and fully functional and easy to use application on a digital platform, that we're investing in our community based organizations that have the trust of the community, that are able to offer services in the language of a community, have cultural competencies, are able to provide, like Lizzie said, like really one on one support for folks to apply for a program or have, you know, ongoing support throughout their recovery and the life cycle of a business. And so those are some of the ways that we think about equity.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:49:23]:

Monica, can you provide some examples of innovative plans you've seen to stabilize the existing or remaining economy and help those businesses that want to reopen and rebuild in the region.

 

Monica Banken [00:49:32]:

I'm going to use a few ideas and examples of how to innovatively rebuild. Some of that is there is standing in open buildings of which the tenants have left or just maybe that was kind of a struggling location anyway. How can we use those buildings in the meantime while we're rebuilding? We know rebuilding won't Be a few months, it'll probably be a few years, and I hope I'm wrong and it's faster than that. But to plan ahead and think about that part of that is, hey, wait a second. And in the county, we are looking at some of those properties as well and saying, well, if it's empty and we need to lease it and we have this need, why couldn't we help this owner of this building in the meantime, help the people that need this space. And it's kind of a win win for everyone while we're rebuilding. For those of you really familiar with Altadena, it's also trying to rethink of ways you can use your standing business if you have one. We have a pharmacy, Webster's Pharmacy, and they also are now a post office to help people.

 

Monica Banken [00:50:37]:

So, you know, you might think a pharmacy and a post office, that's kind of weird. Although when I was a kid we went to a pharmacy and a post office in one. But you know, it's kind of thinking about those things. It's like I wouldn't have put these two things together. But it's going to help in the meantime to bring in some revenue while we're struggling, which is great. Obviously, the county has been working to try to streamline our programming, our rebuilds, our certifications, permits, et cetera. We set up a one stop shop in Altadena. We now have an Altadena America's Job center.

 

Monica Banken [00:51:09]:

So we're trying to put those resources in the community so we don't have the community having to drive a whole long way to various offices that have various office times and maybe they didn't answer the phone. So you're not, you don't know if it's available? No, we want to make it as easy for you. And part of that is to streamlining a lot of the county processes, which we are doing. Just streamlining in general, I think is always good. And I also think any technical assistance that we or others can provide, like sbdc, which is a great resource for those businesses that are struggling or kind of thinking through this and saying, hey, I don't have customers right now, or you know, I'm not really sure how can I restart this up. Please use some of these resources and programs so we can kind of work together. And it might mean you need to pivot, it might mean you're going to kind of move your products into a virtual space. It might mean you start exporting, which I also think is always a great idea for people.

 

Monica Banken [00:52:13]:

If you're making some sort of product or whatever, why not sell it in other countries? There might be a really big need for that. And that's another market that a lot of small businesses don't really think about. They think about kind of their community. Hey, let's think broader. Get the world in on it. And you might be really booming soon.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:52:32]:

Excellent. That'll require some sort of intentionality in planning. Right. So I wanted to have the last question for Tony. How can the education and workforce systems intentionally support recovery in communities that are often last hired, first fired?

 

Tony Cordova [00:52:46]:

I'm going to go back and. And you know, you talked about the focus of equity, access and vision. 2030 is built off of three primary goals. And those goals are equity and access, equity and support, and equity and success. Right. So those are the primary pillars of the work that we're doing. And one of the things that I've really increased my intention of is the equity and support because we say we do a great job at that. And I know we could do better.

 

Tony Cordova [00:53:17]:

Right. We as individuals, as community members, as colleges, we could always do a little bit better in what that equity and support means. Going back to the question, one of the things that recently has come about when I think of last hired, first fired concept, I honed in on those four words and started to really reflect upon, you know, the state budget allocated $25 million for us to be able to develop the Career Passport and the Career Passport. So we were challenged when I say we, the California Community College Chancellor's Office was challenged on implementing it. But the basis of that is focused on two primary modalities, and those modalities are E transcription. So we're focusing on being able to provide an opportunity for our students to be able to transfer seamlessly into their higher education attainment level, whatever that is. Right. But then also the other one is credit for prior learning.

 

Tony Cordova [00:54:16]:

So the CPL model is really focusing on identifying the skills that we have. Right. So when I go back and I reflect to say, well, why am I first. First fired? Right. Do I not have the skills that are going to allow me to retain that job? Why am I last hired? Do I not have the relevant skills to put myself in an elevated position to be first hired? Right. So in my mind, the Career Passport is really going to be that digital wallet that's going to take the skills that I have. The skills that I've either possessed during my work experience. Because I was an adult learner, I didn't want to go to college right away.

 

Tony Cordova [00:54:57]:

School was not for Me. So I went right into the workforce or I went into the military. Right. So those are skills that individuals possess. We just need to be able to figure out the way to articulate those skills and transfer them over to applicable credits to increase the accelerated pace of an individual attaining that degree, that certificate, whatever that is, to be able to elevate their status. Right. So I'll say the status component of it. So, you know, when I look at that, that's one of the tools and resources that I really think is going to be an equitable game changer, to be able to provide our students the platform for them to be first hired and never fired.

 

Leslie Thompson [00:55:37]:

Thank you for that. That sounds really great. We'd like to open it up to the audience if there are any questions for our panelists.

 

Elaine [00:55:43]:

Hi, everybody. Elaine from Leaf, thank you so much for the conversation. I wanted to add something. This is for Anthony, I think, and to like the points that everybody's bringing up. Right. So in addition to the skill set. So I love the fact that we're talking about how do we quantify the skills that we already have. Because similarly, I didn't come to PCC until five years after I graduated from high school and I had learned already so much about small business.

 

Elaine [00:56:06]:

Right. And thinking about, like my career now and where I am and working in small business, I'd love to think about how do we quantify cultural competency and knowledge, Right? Because now as an executive director, when I hire folks, I think about lived experiences are worth so much more than skills. Right? Because as we're working in community, as we're reaching the hardest to reach, as we're working with small businesses, the lived experience, I can't teach that. Right. And that's gotta be worth something. So as we think about what do we do for the next 2030, how do we quantify lived experiences? All the folks that are here at PCC over the last five, 10 years, and I've seen the growth and the difference in the city, I think are going to have a lot to say and, or contribute to the economy in that sense. And so I'd love to think about how you guys are all thinking about quantifying and putting that, like I said, for my organization, I hire for lived experiences because those are the things that I can't teach. The skills.

 

Elaine [00:57:06]:

I teach everybody how to come up with a business plan, a marketing plan. Right. But the lived experiences, those are, those really matter.

 

Elaine [00:57:13]:

So I'd love to hear how you guys are thinking about that as well.

 

Tony Cordova [00:57:15]:

It's not Easy. It's not going to be a simple task. Right. So credit for prior learning is based off of three different modalities. We know that the veterans itself is already done. Right. We've already successfully been able to implement the veteran equivalency and evaluation for credits and units that are redone. The other one is going to be like your maybe I went to a tech school or maybe I went to the employers and the employers provided a lot of technical training because I've been able to do that.

 

Tony Cordova [00:57:43]:

There's that way to articulate the transcript. So the employer gives you your transcript of your training and what you've been able to accomplish. The most challenging one is that experience, that work experience. But it's not impossible. It's us being able to really evaluate in the system. These talk about skills based hiring, right? From one of the things that we're really focusing on at California community colleges is it skills informed hiring. And what I mean by the informed is because now the information is being articulated and transferred over. So we're taking all of that experience and we're trying to figure out a seamless pathway to articulate those years of lived experience and put them into some type of practical credit that would be able to give you.

 

Tony Cordova [00:58:30]:

You mentioned the cultural right. There is relatability. We have cultural studies, we have different ethnic studies that we just need to be able to assess it and develop the platform. But I say all that and I truly, truly, I'm the optimistic individual. But I truly believe that we will get to that point where we can start to acknowledge the lived experience more relevant for those degree attainments.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:58:57]:

I also have to shout out Elaine. If folks don't know Elaine, she runs Leave. It's an incredible organization. So when I'm talking about partners who help us do our qualitative economic impact studies, do that in community technical assistance. It's Elaine. And you should work with Leif. They're great. So thank you.

 

Kelly LoBianco [00:59:13]:

I'm excited about the opportunities to quantify lived experience and better apply it into our hiring practices. I will say, like, I feel like we're at a this great point in Los Angeles county where folks are sort of, there's like a consensus building that we should value lived experience. Not just degrees, not just your typical pipeline to higher practices. And so I think like that's step one. I kind of feel like that about the way we've, we've talked about equity too, which is like, okay, we need to have equitable practices, but like, what does that mean? And so I look forward to working with you. And one thing I just wanted to mention is that LA County's Department of Human Resources is actually convening a working group around lived experiences for our own hiring practices, which I'm really excited about, because we know how opaque it can be to get into the civil service that exams and how that translates and being kicked out because of educational requirements or time and county requirements or other things. And so I think there might be even an opportunity for folks to lift up to Monica and I ideas of what that could mean too. And maybe the county can be a model employer for this in the future.

 

Kelly LoBianco [01:00:24]:

And then I will say part of it is on figuring out how we value and define lived experience. And part of it is the action of the employers too. I think what we're saying about LA county is there's a step towards it, but for me, I'm trying to get rid of educational requirements on my own job descriptions, right? Forcing aperture opening of applications. And I think we have to really think about our hiring practice a little bit differently. It can be difficult in the county processes, but I often think, you know, not your traditional interview methods. Ways to see the demonstrated skill and how they might apply their skills and experiences and qualifications and interest and passion in a different way is something we really need to think hard about as employers.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [01:01:07]:

Yes, Elaine is amazing. And I'm sitting here in part because of Elaine, so she's wonderful, if you don't know her already. I want to say that I'm actually seeing it from the small business owners. I think that one thing that I've always really talked to small business owners about when I was advising and counseling them, it stemmed from my work in the social impact space. I was in social impact consulting and I would see these organizations launch a grant, launch a program and crickets, right? And they would say, well, if I build it, why aren't they coming? And I'm like, well, because you're not willing to actually show up where the people are who need it, right? You built these amazing things and then you just wait for people to come. Small business owners do that too. I'm even guilty of it, right? I build this amazing genius product and I'm going to be. It's going to be the next Apple.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [01:01:52]:

And I did not think about who my customer is, where they are, what their habits are, what, you know, what are the things, things that they like. I just built it and expect that they're going to come. That is a horrible, horrible way to build anything. You have to be willing to roll up your sleeves, get into the community, talk to people, understand what they actually need. And that's how you should, you know, build any sort of program, any sort of business, anything. And so I think when small business owners think about their lived experience and intertwined out or weave that into their marketing, they then start to actually apply that to all aspects of their business, including their hiring practices. Right. Like, I'm not just going to talk to you about your resume.

 

Lizzy Okoro Davidson [01:02:33]:

Throw the resume away and talk to me about why you're good at this job, what you're going to bring to the organization, how you're going to help us move the needle forward on our business. And I just, I see that very organically happening with small business owners when it unlocks in their head of how important the story is, not just the skill, so.

 

Leslie Thompson [01:02:50]:

Wonderful, that was a great question. Thank you for that. And I'd also like to thank the panel for your time, your expertise and your thoughtful responses. If you could all just join me in thanking them for participating today. We really appreciate it.

 

Salvatrice Cummo [01:03:06]:

Thank you for listening to the Future of Work podcast. Make sure you subscribe on your favorite listening platform so you can easily get new episodes every Tuesday. You can reach out to us by clicking on the website link below in the show notes to collaborate, partner or just chat about all things future of Work. We'd love to connect with you. All of us here at the Future of Work and Pasadena City College wish you safety and wellness.