Building Resilient Workforces Through Place-Based Economic Policy

As jobs are created, transformed, and displaced—often accelerated by AI—cities face urgent choices about how to address economic distress and build resilient, productive workforces. This event explores place-based approaches that help cities partner with community colleges and employers, align workforce efforts to local labor market needs, and use data to make clearer decisions about what to scale, adapt, or stop. Gain research insights and explore Economy in Place, an open-access data visualization platform that helps practitioners compare economic conditions across U.S. regions and commuting zones. The discussion will focus on how cities can redesign budgets and implement countercyclical workforce policies that expand training capacity during downturns to support durable, locally grounded growth.

Co-sponsored with Reimagining the Economy and the Malcolm Wiener Center for Social Policy.

Doors open and lunch available at 11:45 a.m. The program begins at 12:00 p.m.

Virtual event is open to all. The in-person event is open to all Harvard University ID holders. Registration is requested as space is limited.