English language learners face cultural, language, educational and other barriers that limit their access to services and opportunities to gain skills and experience leading to family-sustaining jobs. California is investing Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) funds to expand and enhance workforce development services for English language learners (ELLs). This grant program is a celebration of California’s incredible diversity and opportunity.
In April 2021, $1.6 million was awarded to six organizations to implement programs that develop critical job skills that ELLs need to enter careers in growing local industries. These organizations will use an Integrated Education and Training (IET) service model, which provides a large spectrum of career services to prepare ELLs for high-quality jobs with sustainable wages. The grant funding also provides for Technical Assistance and Evaluation of this project led by the IRC, in partnership with Social Policy Research Associates. For more information about the California English Language Learner Navigator Initiative, you can visit their website.
- Diversity in Health Training Institute in Alameda County
- Hospitality Training Academy in Los Angeles County
- Los Angeles County Workforce Development Board in Los Angeles County
- Richmond Workforce Development Board in Contra Costa County
- Somali Bantu Association of America in San Diego County
- Sonoma County Workforce Investment Board in Sonoma County
You can view and download project resources from Box here.
If there are project resources that you are looking for and cannot find in this folder or you are having issues accessing these resources on Box, please reach out to [email protected].
Meeting notes, decks, and recordings are available to be viewed and downloaded from Box here.
Meet the team providing technical assistance and evaluation support:
Erica Bouris, Ph.D. - Project Director
Contact: [email protected]
Dr. Bouris serves as the Director Economic Empowerment at IRC and supports the development, implementation, evaluation, and resourcing of economic opportunity programs that serve immigrants and ELL individuals in 25 cities across the U.S. She brings a particular focus on workforce development programming for youth and adults, career pathway programs, innovative models of vocational ESL, and strategies to effectively serve adults with basic skills deficiencies. Dr. Bouris has served as the co-lead of TA under California’s ELL Co-Enrollment Pilot Project (2019-2020).
Amber Shevin – TA Lead
Contact: [email protected]
Ms. Shevin serves as an Economic Empowerment Technical Advisor at IRC focused on workforce development with an emphasis on sector specific programming. In her role at IRC, Ms. Shevin provides TA to a wide-range of workforce programs that serve more than 10,000 ELLs a year. She has served as one of the TA leads in the ELL Co-Enrollment Pilot Project, working closely with grantee teams across four regions in California with a strong focus on building sustainable partnerships, sharing data, and adapting to deliver services through the COVID-19 pandemic. Within IRC, she has been particularly instrumental in the development, implementation, and scaling of skills-training programs in the hospitality, customer service, and manufacturing sector.
Kate Dunham – Senior Advisor
Contact: [email protected]
Kate Dunham is a Principal and Director of SPR’s Workforce Development and Human Services Division. She specializes in qualitative research, program evaluation, and technical assistance and training for workforce development, offender re-entry, and health projects. She has managed a variety of projects and tasks, including an evaluation of technology-based learning, technical assistance to the U.S. Department of Labor on National Emergency Grant reporting, and an evaluation of efforts to combat sex trafficking. Prior to joining SPR, Ms. Dunham served as School-Linked Services Coordinator for Alameda County, worked as a consultant in Hanoi, Vietnam for Oxfam Hong Kong and Action Aid, and was China and Taiwan Programs Director for Volunteers in Asia. She earned her Master in Public Policy from the University of California, Berkeley, where she focused on collaboration and social and educational policy. Ms. Dunham received her B.A. in Politics and Economics from the University of California at Santa Cruz.
Renatta DeFever, Ph.D. – TA Data Collection Lead
Contact: [email protected]
Renatta DeFever is a Senior Associate at SPR with expertise in education policy, educational accountability frameworks, second language acquisition, and survey and quantitative research methods. Her research has focused on how state and school level policies impact the academic achievement and language development of English Learners. She has experience in survey design and implementation, and collecting and analyzing data from school districts and data from other public sources. Prior to joining SPR, she was a Research Associate at Public Policy Institute of California and a Senior Research Analyst at the University of California Office of the President. She received a Ph.D. in School Organization and Education Policy from University of California Davis, an M.A. degree in Political Science from San Francisco State University, and a B.A. in International Relations and Political Science from Universidad Iberoamericana in Mexico City. She is fluent in English and Spanish.
Mahika Rangnekar – TA Data Collection Coordinator
Contact: [email protected]
Mahika Rangnekar is an Associate with experience in community engagement, program evaluation, and mixed-methods research related to health systems strengthening. Her research interests lie at the intersection of health, policy, and social and economic justice. Before joining SPR, Mahika worked for Marin County Health and Human Services as an Eligibility Worker for SNAP, TANF, and Medicaid, and more recently she conducted monitoring and evaluation research in the Bay Area, Seattle, and Peru. Mahika received dual Masters in Public Health and Public Administration from the University of Washington in Seattle, and dual Bachelor of Arts in Social Welfare and Spanish from the University of California, Berkeley.