Workforce Leadership Academies in Action: Lessons from Albuquerque and North Carolina

Haley Glover

Senior Director

Alison Yost

Communications Consultant

Workforce Leadership Academies (WLA) bring together leaders across siloed fields of practice, organization types, and government policies involved in workforce development within their cities and regions.

With local partners and facilitators, the program strengthens fellows’ ability to design and sustain effective workforce strategies, build deeper collaborations with employers, and expand the number and quality of leaders who advance opportunities for low-wage workers and job seekers as they meet employers’ talent development needs.

In September, we spoke with leaders from two communities currently engaged in the WLA process to learn about their local contexts and approaches to organizing. This year’s cohort is working to embed skills-first practices as a central theme — exploring how these practices align with broader workforce strategies, what supports are needed for community members to implement them, and the benefit that scaled adoption could deliver.

This brief highlights two WLA communities: Albuquerque, New Mexico, and the Research Triangle region of North Carolina. It is the first in a series; we will revisit these communities in early 2026 to assess their progress and challenges.