Prosper Waco Helps Wacoans Prosper

by Hermann Pereira, Chief Program Officer, Prosper Waco, and Tiffany Gallegos Whitley, Director of Workforce Initiatives, Prosper Waco

Inception and overview of Prosper Waco

Prosper Waco is an innovative approach to community work that consolidates and builds upon the efforts of existing nonprofits and community leaders. Our vision is a Greater Waco in which all people and institutions work together for the common good.

Prosper Waco, as a backbone organization, coordinates communitywide work and promotes collaboration through the following seven core elements —

1. shared visions for change that lead to a common agenda,

2. shared measurement systems to track pursuit of a common agenda,

3. stakeholders working together in mutually reinforcing activities,

4. continuous communication designed to build trust among stakeholders,

5. public will and leadership in pursuit of common goals,

6. mobilized funding from within and beyond Waco, and

7. public policy advanced in support of community goals.

Positive change in peoples’ lives is directly linked to improvement in education, health and financial security. These are three primary drivers of change toward prosperity. Both research and results-based best practices show us that improving the quality of life for all Waco residents requires looking beyond a single data point or a single sector to the interrelated nature of these three.

Education and workforce needs in our community

Our focus within education and workforce is to help align educational programs with workforce needs. Education builds a community by helping its youngest members develop into productive and engaged adults. A high school diploma signifies basic education and is critical to adult thriving. Post-secondary education or training enables residents to expand their economic opportunities. Businesses are vital to economic growth and add new jobs to our community. Over the years, businesses have increased demand for jobs that are considered “middle skill,” which require some postsecondary education or training, but not a bachelor’s degree. These jobs also provide a path to a living wage. While living wage jobs are available in our community, who is getting these jobs and who is not? When we look into access, we see opportunity is not equitable across our community.

During COVID-19, McLennan County experienced the largest workforce fluctuation in recent history. Pre-COVID, our unemployment rate averaged 3%, spiking in April 2020 to 12%.

Throughout 2021 and into 2022, unemployment has steadily decreased, with the average rate slightly above pre-pandemic levels at 3.4%. While this is a positive for our community, even before COVID, McLennan County needed employer-driven workforce training that could be targeted to specific high-paying demand occupations. A 2015 study conducted by the Upjohn Institute showed McLennan County has high rates of residents working low-wage jobs with median household incomes below the state average. Additionally, data shows low postsecondary attainment rates, with 62% of our population having only a high school diploma/equivalent.

These trends remain consistent and when data is disaggregated by race and ethnicity, disparities are apparent. For instance, White residents earn $55,101 in median household income while Hispanic/Latino and Black residents earn $39,552 and $29,285. Looking at postsecondary attainment, Black and Hispanic/Latino students have lower persistence and completion rates.

Additionally, less than 25% of Black and Hispanic/ Latino residents are employed in top high paying demand occupations. Yet, we have high demand jobs going unfilled. Access to the skills training required for these jobs along with earn and learn opportunities are limited. Local efforts are often disjointed and inconsistent, with earn and learn opportunities primarily geared for youth ages 16-24. Overall, we found our community needs more equitable and accessible workforce development.

What is UpSkill Waco?

UpSkill Waco is an initiative to increase equitable workforce training pathways in high-demand occupations across McLennan County. The goal of the initiative is to ensure businesses have the skilled workers they need, and individuals are able to earn family sustaining wages.

Through collaboration we seek to increase flexible and accessible skills training, credential attainment, and job placement support in high demand occupations.

Each training location is intentionally selected in underserved neighborhoods to meet people where they are. In addition to providing credentials with labor market value, each training course provides the holistic, individualized coaching and support needed to help participants successfully find and keep employment.

Our current goals for UpSkill Waco include the following:

• Increased completion of credentials and degrees with labor market value

• Increased program alignment, data tracking, and sharing at the regional level

• Increased hiring of skilled talent for local businesses

• Living wage attainment for households

Future outlook for UpSkill Waco

The UpSkill Waco initiative is evolving and growing based on our learnings and demands in our community. We are very excited about these upcoming opportunities.

New Adult Training Course with Stipend

Texas State Technical College is hosting its first 12-week mechatronics course in partnership with Education Service Center Region 12. Prosper Waco is providing stipend training spots for UpSkill Waco participants.

New Youth Mechatronics Summer Internship

We are partnering with Triple Win and Communities in Schools to offer a paid mechatronics summer internship for incoming juniors and seniors. This expands the initiative’s work to include out-of-school-time and summer programming for in-school youth. We received funding from Texas Mutual Insurance to be able to pay for training/ stipend costs and open internship spots to students across McLennan County. All students will receive industry credentials as part of the internship.