Building Equitable Workforce Development Strategies in Boone County, Missouri

Reaching community consensus on priorities to propel people out of poverty and narrow racial disparities can be challenging. Yet in Boone County, Mo., community leaders have found success in collectively addressing systemic inequities.See Neelu Panth’s Aug. 17, 2020, Bridges article, “Philanthropic Culture Leads to Lasting Partnership in Columbia, Mo.” Over the past year, community leaders have collaborated to identify which disparities or challenges to prioritize for potential action. Building upon their progress, Boone County was selected to join the Reinventing Our Communities (ROC) Cohort Program to build capacity and address workforce challenges through local solutions.

In this article, several Boone County community leaders participating in the program’s 2022 cohort share their experiences and some key takeaways for creating an equitable workforce development strategy.

About the ROC Cohort Program

The ROC Cohort Program was launched in March 2020 by the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia to support and strengthen community leadership on racial equity and inclusive economies through practical and applied training, technical support and peer learning. In 2022, the St. Louis Fed joined the program for the first time, and Boone County was selected to participate from the Eighth Federal Reserve District. It was one of 11 communities across the U.S. participating last year.

Engage Those with Lived Experiences, and Start with a Data Walk

Prior to joining the ROC Cohort Program, Boone County participated in the Urban Institute’s Boosting Upward Mobility initiative. Through the initiative, Boone County hired local stakeholder facilitators who utilized the Results-Based Accountability curriculum to lead community conversations.

Joanne Nelson, director of the Boone County Community Services Department, believes that these facilitators were critical. “We, as the lead organization, didn’t want to come in with preconceived notions on community needs and action steps,” she said. “We looked to our community facilitators with lived experience and reach in the community to lead these critical conversations in attaining resident perspectives and community engagement throughout the life of the project.”

Boone County was identified as having the lowest level of upward mobility in Missouri.See the June 2022 report Improving Upward Mobility in Boone County: Boone County's Upward Mobility Action Plan (PDF). U.S. Census data show a slowly widening disparity in employment, earnings and educational attainment (PDF) for Black and white members of the labor force. To understand what this means for the community and to contextualize and understand the data, Boone County held a “data walk.” Utilizing locally available disaggregated data from a variety of sources, the effort involved more than 40 residents participating in an interactive session to review posters and presentations and provide feedback on what most bothered them, what they would like to change, and what the results could be if these systemic issues were addressed.

Nelson acknowledged that these conversations were tough—but necessary—to have, and that they continued to unfold as the group settled on the following results statement: Boone County is a flourishing community where everyone can live, learn and grow.

Partner to Change Employer Practices

Not wanting to duplicate work already happening, Boone County ROC program cohort members relied on strong cross-sector partnerships to address the community’s disparities, including how to implement business practices that advance upward mobility.

Darin Preis, executive director of Central Missouri Community Action, stated, “ROC gave us tools, strategies and the space to host conversations to build on the momentum started by the [Boosting] Upward Mobility initiative.” In response, the chamber of commerce in Columbia—Boone County’s largest city—created an inclusion council, and as part of a land acknowledgment, Regional Economic Development Inc. (REDI) established a Sharp End retail incubator to help minority-owned businesses rebuild what was once a Black business district that was bulldozed and cleared in the name of urban renewal in the 1950s and 1960s. Cohort members are still working to improve community messaging around the importance of business community and worker support, and the group continues to meet to refine its plan.

Additionally, cohort members are working diligently to look at the hiring practices and job application forms at their individual organizations in an effort to put more emphasis on soft skills versus academic achievement or background checks, which often create barriers for people of color.

Some past and present members of the Boone County ROC program cohort. Back row, left to right: Jarrell Morton, Job Point; Samantha Evans, St. Louis Fed; Randy Cole, Columbia Housing Authority; Steve Smith, Job Point; Darin Preis, Central Missouri Community Action. Front row, left to right: Stacey Button, REDI; Jessie Yankee, formerly of Central Missouri Community Action; Neelu Panth, St. Louis Fed; Nikki McGruder Carter, University of Missouri Health Care; Gary Anspach, former Housing Program Manager for the city of Columbia.

Key Takeaways for Creating Equitable Workforce Development Strategies

The pillars of the ROC Cohort Program are based on power-sharing and building capacity within community groups. According to Jay Sparks, entrepreneurship specialist at REDI, that’s just what the program did, enriching the Boone County cohort’s collective vision and knowledge to implement strategic actions outlined in its upward mobility action plan (PDF).

The idea that sustainable systems are able to change has equipped Boone County cohort members to reassess their existing ecosystem and practices using communication and accountability tools like Affirm-Counter-TransformSee the Government Alliance on Race and Equity report Advancing Racial Equity and Transforming Government: A Resource Guide to Put Ideas into Action (PDF). and Adaptive Process. Recently, some cohort members who served on the board of the Cradle to Career Alliance dissolved the initiative to redirect funds to the Boone County Children’s Services Fund to strengthen its upward mobility initiative.

Steve Smith, president and CEO of Job Point, pointed out that without tools provided by the ROC Cohort Program, implementing Boone County’s upward mobility action plan would not have progressed as fast as it did.

Notes

1. See Neelu Panth’s Aug. 17, 2020, Bridges article, “Philanthropic Culture Leads to Lasting Partnership in Columbia, Mo.”
2. See the June 2022 report Improving Upward Mobility in Boone County: Boone County's Upward Mobility Action Plan (PDF).
3. See the Government Alliance on Race and Equity report Advancing Racial Equity and Transforming Government: A Resource Guide to Put Ideas into Action (PDF).