At the end of 2017, Irvine announced our Better Careers initiative to support efforts that connect low-income Californians to good, middle-skill jobs with family-sustaining wages and advancement opportunities. To inform our approach to this seven-year initiative, we spent the year prior to the launch listening to and learning from the field.

This effort engaged grantees, employers, thought leaders, and other California stakeholders in a series of interactive convenings and conversations to understand their perspectives, prioritize needs, and inform Irvine’s strategy. Our blog post details the insights we captured from this journey that highlight how we arrived at our initiative goals.

Convening participants identified areas with the most (and least) potential for impact to increase economic opportunity for Californians with low incomes. Their input is synthesized in this series of five reports.