California’s Approach to Recovery and Resilience: Centering Equity and Job Quality

Questions about the future of work have shifted in this time of pandemic, prompting overdue discussions about workplace health and safety, the unemployment system, health insurance, and fair wages and benefits. What policies can support a thriving future of work? What roles do we want private business to play? And what strategies will build a future of work that addresses long standing inequities and inequalities and provides opportunities for all to thrive? California’s Future of Work Commission and Jobs and Recovery Task Force have been working on these questions since before the pandemic and have begun implementing innovative policies to address the critical challenges facing working people in today’s economy and tomorrow’s. This discussion features Julie A. Su (Secretary, California Labor and Workforce Development Agency), Angela Glover Blackwell (Founder in Residence, PolicyLink; Member, Governor’s Task Force on Business and Jobs Recovery), and moderator Meghan McCarty Carino (Workplace Culture Reporter, Marketplace).  The Economic Opportunities Program’s Opportunity in America discussion series is taking a pause as we all do what we can to slow the spread of COVID-19. But the conversations about the changing landscape of economic opportunity in the US and implications for individuals, families, and communities across the country remain vitally important. We hope you will participate as we bring our discussions to you in virtual formats, and we look forward to your feedback.  We are grateful to the Ford Foundation, Prudential Financial, Walmart, the Mastercard Center for Inclusive Growth, and the Surdna Foundation for their support of this series.