The city of San Diego is not renewing funding for two key programs at San Diego Workforce Partnership that helped young people land full-time work, the nonprofit organization said Thursday.
This is the first time in more than 10 years that the city will not fund the organization’s efforts. The nonprofit, which helps develop San Diego County’s workforce, receives most of its revenue for these programs — about $29 million during fiscal year 2022 — from local, state and federal funds as well as from private sector grants.
San Diego Workforce Partnership discussed the ramifications of the cutback in funding at Thursday’s workforce development board meeting. It also provided updates on organizational leadership changes and the continued search for a CEO after cutting ties with its previous chief executive.
Parina Parikh, vice president of sector initiatives explained to the board that the loss of money would impact two programs, TechHire and Connect2Careers. Previously, the city funds for these programs supported subsidized wages for paid internships at local private companies with the goal that these opportunities for young people would lead to permanent employment and higher lifetime wages.
For example, the TechHire program backed internships in the technology industry and between fiscal years 2018 to 2023 it fully funded interns for 278 San Diego companies, according to the nonprofit.
While the city of San Diego’s budget has yet to be finalized, San Diego Workforce Partnership was not included in the latest revision for the economic development department. Generally, since 2012 the city has provided approximately $1 million to San Diego Workforce Partnership annually. Last fiscal year, it provided $750,000 for these programs.
The city did not respond to a request for comment on why the funding was not renewed.
The programs may not go away immediately or completely, but San Diego Workforce Partnership will have to find other funding, the board said, such as other government sources and private entities.
A majority of California’s 45 local workforce development boards operate as a city or county department to facilitate government-funded job training and workforce programs. However, San Diego Workforce Partnership is one of a handful of workforce development boards in the state to operate as a nonprofit. With this structure, it’s backed by government funds, and it can also seek private funding.
The organization is governed by a workforce development board comprised of local business leaders and a policy board made up of two San Diego county board of supervisors, two San Diego city council members and the CEO of the United Way.
San Diego Workforce Partnership also updated board members Thursday about the organization’s leadership. The vice president of finance, Dennis Kingery, has left the nonprofit for another job after joining Workforce Partnership less than a year ago in June.
With this departure, San Diego Workforce Partnership has had six different financial leaders — including chief financial officers, vice presidents and directors — within the past eight years, based on a review of the nonprofit’s annual financial filings.
Additionally, San Diego Workforce Partnership has yet to name an interim CEO to lead the organization. The nonprofit is looking to hire a temporary leader, while it also searches for a permanent CEO.
San Diego Workforce Partnership is in a state of leadership transition after the nonprofit chose to part ways with its previous CEO, Peter Callstrom. After leading the organization since 2012, the policy board opted not to renew his contract after June 30.
In December, Callstrom and San Diego Workforce Partnership were named in a civil lawsuit filed by a former employee who alleges she experienced race-based and sex-based discrimination in the workplace. Callstrom has denied the allegations and the lawsuit is scheduled for a preliminary hearing on Friday
The organization has been without a top executive since last month, when the interim-CEO resigned after serving in that role since November while Callstrom was put on paid leave.
“Clearly, our organization is going through a challenging time,” said Desiree Daugherty, vice president of customer experience and spokesperson for the San Diego Workforce Partnership in an emailed statement. “Our team remains focused on the real work we have to do to foster a workplace where everyone is heard, valued, and empowered, as well as the work we do in the community every day to serve San Diegans.”
The nonprofit’s next policy board meeting is May 26.
This content was originally published here.
