Event Summary

On February 28, AEI’s Brent Orrell hosted an event commemorating the launch of the Workforce Futures Initiative (WFI) website. WFI has been an ongoing research effort among the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Harvard Kennedy School Malcom Weiner Center for Social Policy.

The panelists of this event were the steering committee members leading the WFI. Members included Brent Orrell of AEI, Greg Wright of Brookings, Rachel Lipson of the Harvard Kennedy School Malcom Weiner Center, and Harry Holzer of Georgetown University. The panel began by discussing the initial objects and progress made through the initiative thus far. The panel then discussed topics such as the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act and innovation, sector-based training programs, community colleges and their connection to the workforce, and labor market data information. Mr. Orrell concluded the discussion by showing the viewers the home page of the newly launched WFI website.

The event wrapped up with the panelists taking questions from the audience. They discussed areas for future research and the future of the initiative.

—Josh Boynton

Event Description

The Workforce Futures Initiative (WFI) is a collaboration among the American Enterprise Institute, the Brookings Institution, and the Harvard Kennedy School Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy. The initiative reviews the latest research and evidence on various aspects of the workforce development system to help inform the work of policymakers at the federal, state, and local levels. Since August 2021, the group has provided a forum for researchers and practitioners to discuss policy ideas, evaluate evidence, and identify priorities for new research on the future of work and the public workforce system.

Join the WFI steering committee as it presents key themes and findings from the WFI and launches a new public website repository for the initiative’s work.