April 22, 2025
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council
Marléna Sessions , Director
Christopher Bernhardt , Senior Management Analyst
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 2 Our Region
2 San Mateo County
Santa Clara County
All 20 cities
7 cities: Cupertino, Mountain
View, Milpitas, Los Altos, Palo
Alto, Santa Clara, Sunnyvale
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 PY 24/25
Economic
Impact
$38m
Individuals
Served
1,642
Training
Scholarships
$863k
3 Our Impact
“We envision a vibrant region where growth and opportunity fuel shared prosperity .”
4 Who We Serve
Businesses
Career
Seekers
Young
Adults
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 • Career Advising
• Training
• Workshops
• Job Search Assistance
• Networking
Opportunities
• Talent Acquisition
• Employee Training &
Retention
• Outplacement Services
• HR Hotline &
Workshops
• Paid Internships
• Career Exploration
• Incentives & Support
• Job Search Assistance
• Training & Skills
Development
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 Develop
Sectoral
Strategies
Governance
Expand
Access
Points
Increase
Awareness
51%+
5 NOVAworks
Workforce Board
Stakeholders
Community
Based
Organizations
Partners
2025 STRATEGIC PRIORITIES19 MEMBER WORKFORCE BOARD:
Local area business
leaders in in-demand
industry sectors
Workforce
representatives
Adult education,
Higher education,
government,
economic and
community
development
regional convener of- -
Sunnyvale City Council
Chief Elected Official
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 Sources of Funding
6 U.S. DOL Workforce Innovation & Opportunity Act Allocation (Majority of funding)
State, County, City
Philanthropic & Private
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 77 # of WARNs 6,867
• Biotech
• Technology
• Manufacturing
• Hospitality & Food
• Retail
7 Local Workforce Climate
Affected
Workers
Top 5 Industries Top 5 Cities
• Sunnyvale
• Santa Clara
• SFO
• Mountain View
• Foster City
Current
Program
Year:
through April 15
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 8 The Workforce Challenge We Can No Longer Ignore
California is a global innovation hub, yet our talent pipelines fail to keep pace. The way we prepare people for work is outdated.
This isn’t just an education issue - it’s an economic issue. of employers face current
or imminent skills gaps
of adults without higher
education cite cost as a key
barrier to enrollment
of adults not enrolled in
education cite work
obligations as a key reason
1 2
1 - https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/beyond-hiring- how-companies-are-reskilling-to-address-talent-gaps 2 - https://www.gallup.com/analytics/644939/state-of-higher-education.aspx?thank-you-report-form=1 Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 9 The Disconnect Hurting Our Economy
For too long, education
and industry have
operated in silos. Business
is brought in at the end of
the process, when
curricula and degrees are
already set - this leads to
a skills mismatch.
3 - https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/people-and-organizational-performance/our-insights/beyond-hiring- how-companies-are-reskilling-to-address-talent-gaps of business
leaders believe
recent college
grads are
unprepared for
the workforce.
3 40
%
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 We connect talent with
opportunity, ensuring businesses
and workers succeed together -
but we need to think bigger.
10 Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 11 Research
Advocacy
Incubator
Quality Assurance
Compliance
Public Funding
Enter the NOVAworks Launch Lab
Workforce Development Board
Workforce Investment and
Opportunity Act (WIOA)
American Job Center
Foundation
Philanthropy
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 12 Examples of Bold Ideas We’re Piloting
SFO Initiative
Western Digital
Collaboration
Embedded workforce hub to
improve workers’ access to
careers at SFO
A registered semiconductor
apprenticeship program
with Western Digital
Whole Person
Project
Delivering wrap-around
services tailored to
individual needs
Marléna Sessions
[email protected]
13 Thank you!
Presentation to Sunnyvale City Council - April 22, 2025 Christopher Bernhardt
[email protected]