The National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) advocates for over 590 Workforce Development Boards across the country. These boards play a crucial role in connecting job seekers, businesses, and community partners to create a skilled workforce that meets regional economic needs.
Curious about how workforce development boards help shape your community’s success? This short video highlights their vital role in connecting businesses, educators, and government leaders to build a stronger workforce. Explore how workforce boards empower job seekers, support businesses, and drive economic growth from the ground up.
NAWB forges partnerships and secures funding to help workforce boards innovate and grow. By providing essential resources, we support talent development and advance national workforce initiatives. Together, we build capacity and create a more competitive workforce.
The Family-Centered Employment approach integrates workforce development with family support services, addressing the broader needs of job seekers and their families.
Both job seekers and their families benefit from this initiative, particularly those facing multiple barriers to employment.
Workforce boards can adopt the Family-Centered Employment model by partnering with community organizations to provide comprehensive family services alongside traditional employment programs.
How Workforce Councils Are Transforming Futures Across The Nation
As a NAWB member, you connect with leaders shaping the future of work. Access insights, policy expertise, and opportunities for collaboration that drive real change. Together, we strengthen workforce systems and create opportunities for businesses and job seekers.
In the summer of 2018, the National Association of Workforce Boards (NAWB) and the Bertelsmann Foundation (BFNA) kicked off a series of dialogues in several cities and regions with vastly different economic and occupational profiles to learn how technology and automation – “the future of work” – is impacting workers, businesses, labor markets, industries, and, more generally, the community at large.
NAWB and BFNA visited three cities: Orlando, Florida; Las Vegas, Nevada, Riverside, California, where they partnered with local workforce boards to convene leaders in business, education, workforce development, and government to discuss the future of work and its impact locally. From these conversations, BFNA developed a microsite that highlights key analysis, video content, and other insights derived from research conducted during the visits.
To view videos and insights from the project, visit the microsite Transatlantic Cities and Future of Work.
The Solar Training Network is a former initiative funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s SunShot Initiative, and was designed to meet the workforce needs of the solar industry through solar training and strategic employment partnerships. NAWB was a key partner in this effort to train 75,000 people for careers in solar by 2020.
The Solar Training Network supported this growth by building connections that created long-lasting careers to help power the next generation of energy leaders.
SolarTrainingUSA.org was developed as a connection hub for solar job seekers, solar companies looking for new hires, solar training providers, and workforce development boards.
Our team of dedicated professionals and volunteers works together to drive workforce strategies that fuel growth and prosperity across communities, empowering local boards to meet the needs of businesses, job seekers, and industries nationwide.
NAWBlog is NAWB’s medium for highlighting stories of interest in the workforce development world through the eyes of our staff. These blogs will cover a range of topics from local success stories, advocacy, breaking news, in demand career sectors, and much more.
May 7, 2025— This week, NAWB was proud to co-author a letter laying out formal recommendations for congress as they consider reauthorization of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The Letter– signed by NAWB President & CEO Brad Turner–Little, National League of Cities CEO and Executive Director Clarence Anthony; US Conference of Mayors CEO and Executive Director Tom Cochran; National […]
President Trump’s initial FY26 budget, released today, proposed to dramatically reduce non-defense discretionary investments, where workforce development and other domestic program funding is derived, by $1.63 billion or 22.6% overall. The budget proposes to increase defense spending by 13% and further proposes a 65% percent increase in funding for the Department of Homeland Security. This proposal now […]
April 24, 2025– Last night, President Trump signed a slew of Executive Orders (EOs) pertaining to a number of topics, including workforce development. Among these EOs was one titled Preparing Americans for High-paying Skilled Trade Jobs of the Future. This EO is focused on the Trump Administration’s wider efforts to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing in the United […]
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