The Aspen Institute Economic Opportunities Program

To further the adoption of industry-specific workforce development, The Aspen Institute’s Economic Opportunities Program developed the Communications Initiative. The Initiative sought to strengthen the communications capacity of five of the field’s most innovative practitioners, position the Aspen Institute as a credible source of research on the subject, and seed common language that would define and position the field for future development.

To achieve these objectives, the LGI team began with framing and language research during which LGI discovered a common language that today is the basis for the emerging field of industry-specific workforce development. LGI was responsible for designing and conducting the framing, language, and messaging research instrumental in re-branding the field from "sector employment intervention" to "industry-specific training." This qualitative research was specifically designed to determine the framing and language nexus of three distinct audiences: practitioners, employers, and federal, state and local policy makers, and to differentiate these new programs from previous workforce development efforts.

LGI then combined a program of national outreach activities for the field and customized, individualized strategic marketing support for the five grantee organizations. LGI strategic counsel to the organizations ranged from new product launch plans, brochure development, and branding recommendations to customized focus group research among their members. Leaders from all organizations received LGI’s customized media spokesperson and Speaking the Language of Business training in preparation for field-wide outreach. These new skills in language, messaging, and positioning were then leveraged by the organizational leaders during the broader campaign, including LGI’s placement of them as spokespeople at national venues, a journalist audio conference, regular media interviews, and media placement.

Other LGI workforce development success stories include the Ford Foundation Corporate Involvement Initiative, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the National Network of Sector Partners, and many others.