ROXBURY WORX is a Roxbury-focused workforce development initiative launched by TACC and partners in Fall 2022 that is bringing the untapped talent of Roxbury’s hidden workers and middle-skills workers into the talent pipeline in three expanding sectors: Biotech/Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Green/Blue Tech.
Registration is open for the Roxbury Worx Conference on November 14 at Roxbury Community College.
1. Reserve your free ticket on Eventbrite.
2. Check out last year’s schedule; our 2023 schedule with an inspiring group of local speakers will be posted soon.
3. Breakfast and lunch from Fresh Food Generation will be served.
4. All are welcome–please join us for all or part of the day.
Concept: By developing a Roxbury-focused workforce development model that is responsive to resident- identified barriers to accessing meaningful jobs, Roxbury Worx will change employer recruitment and retention practices, develop pathways to in-demand roles using existing educational assets, and engage more Roxbury residents in the workforce. By focusing on hidden workers and middle-skills workers, Roxbury Worx will change the narrative about Roxbury workers from one that is deficit based (e.g., low- skills, low educational attainment) to one that is asset based (e.g., unique capabilities, lived experience) and embraces the diversity and multiplicity of talent that exists in the community.
Based on a successful model implemented in San Antonio, TX and supported by research findings published by Harvard Business School (see Hidden Workers: Untapped Talent (2021) and Bridge the Gap: Rebuilding America’s Middle Skills (2014)), Roxbury Worx will increase workforce participation by historically underrepresented groups (e.g., Black and Brown residents, caregivers, immigrants, justice- involved/impacted) and open up pathways to meaningful careers; this will have an exponential positive impact that extends beyond an increase in each individual’s socioeconomic status to greater family stability, increased wealth, and the shared prosperity of the Roxbury community.
Within the Roxbury community, middle-skills workers (those with some college/Associate’s degree, but do not hold a Bachelor’s degree) make up close to 25% (24.4%, 8,330 residents) of the total population age 25 and older; and hidden workers (those underemployed and those unemployed but seeking employment or willing to seek employment under the right circumstances), while not a homogenous group, include immigrants (15.2%), caregivers including female householders (27.3%, highest percentage in the city), and those previously incarcerated, all of whom are overrepresented in the Roxbury community, compared to the City of Boston and Commonwealth as a whole. (Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2016-2020 American Community Survey, BPDA Research Division Analysis).
Roxbury Worx is a place-based model that can support additional or different sectors over time. Bio Tech/Life Sciences, Healthcare, and Green/Blue Tech jobs were selected due to the scale of the opportunity in these sectors due to sector growth (e.g., 2022 Massachusetts Life Sciences Outlook spotlights 10,360 middle-skills jobs) and federal investments.
Concurrently, TACC will launch a Roxbury Jobs CEO Council that will regularly bring together CEOs and Chief Human Resource Officers from Boston’s leading employers around their shared commitment to Roxbury workers and to scale effective strategies (e.g., return on investment apprenticeship system).
Contact: If you have questions or are interested in getting involved in the Roxbury Worx partnership, please reach out to Willie Bodrick II, President & CEO, willie_bodrick@tamcc.org or 857.308.3010.