More than 350 people zoomed in to the October 1 COLEGAS webinar, Latinx Workforce: Completing the Promise, to hear a broad range of panelists discuss ideas and actions to reach workforce goals for Latinx students across the system and in partnership with industry. As the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on Latinx workers and students has compounded existing inequities, colleges face stiff challenges. Panelists from the community colleges, the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office, a national organization, and industry weighed in on how community colleges are supporting students to overcome the challenges of navigating the evolving workforce world.
The imperative is clear. Rosa Garcia of the Center for Law and Social Policy (CLASP) provided recent statistics describing the outsized economic impact of the pandemic on the Latinx community: Six in ten Latinx households reported that one adult in their household had either lost their jobs, been furloughed, or experienced loss of wages or hours worked. While the unemployment rate at the national level is reported at 10.5 percent for Latinx workers, the California Budget & Policy Center released a recent study showing the statewide unemployment rate for Latinx workers is actually 15 percent. Among college students, over 70 percent are first-generation students and many of them are having to really contribute to their families at this time. Patricia Ramos of Santa Monica College stated, “We need to be brave to ask what are the outcomes for Latino students, we need to develop the culture of asking for data, where are we across [college] disciplines, what are the post college gains, where are they getting jobs, what are the labor market conditions for our regions. We can all ask the questions to apply to closing these gaps.”
Panelists included: Jackie Cruz, Vice President of Advancement and Development and Hartnell College Foundation at Hartnell College; Rosa M. García, Director, Postsecondary Education and Workforce Development at CLASP; Yscaira Jimenez, CEO of LaborX; Patricia Ramos, Dean, Workforce & Economic Development at Santa Monica College; and Sandra Sanchez, Assistant Vice Chancellor at the California Community Colleges Chancellor’s Office.
- Access the webinar recording or download the presentation.
- View the resource list of articles, reports, videos, and other materials provided by panelists.
- Register for the final COLEGAS series webinar on October 29, 2:30-4:00 p.m., Adelante! Learning from Latinx Student Leaders the Way Forward.
- All webinar recordings are available on the COLEGAS web site.