Workforce Solutions
Your community has talent.
Give it a reason to stay.
Workforce development fails when schools and employers speak different languages. We install a shared vocabulary of human talent that connects education, employers, and community, so your people stop leaving for somewhere that understands them.
— The challenge
The talent is there. The pipeline is broken.
Most workforce development programs focus on technical skills. The gap isn’t technical. It’s cultural. Students graduate without knowing how to articulate their value. Employers hire without knowing how to retain talent that doesn’t look like them.
When a student’s strengths language matches their employer’s language, belonging happens fast. Turnover drops. Productivity rises. The community wins. This is the Rhode Island model. It moved a state from #49 to #1 in “I use my strengths every day” in a single year.
— The proof
Rhode Island went from #49 to #1 in one year.
Leadership Rhode Island added a shared strengths language to their existing programs. That one change, applied across police officers, teachers, nonprofit directors, and government officials, moved the state from last to first nationally for workforce engagement.
Your chamber. Your region. Any community. The model is replicable. The results are documented.
The only question is who goes first.
— What we build together
Three ways we work with chambers & workforce developers.
The Catalyst Cohort
A shared training cohort for leaders across education, workforce, and government. One language. One room. Silos dissolve. Shared investment makes this fiscally accessible for smaller communities.
SHARED COHORT
FROM $6000 across partners
Employer Catalyst Certification
Train your key employer partners as Certified Strength Catalysts. They learn to hire, mentor, and retain talent using the same language students are learning in CTE programs. The match gets stickier.
STARTING AT $6000
Community Catalyst Initiative
A well-being and engagement initiative modeled on the Rhode Island and Blue Zones frameworks. Grant-eligible. Built for communities ready to make belonging a strategic priority. Only for 2026-2027.
3 AVAILABLE
$8000 for 1yr commitment
— For funders and grant writers
This model is grant-eligible.
The Practical Strengths Community Catalyst model aligns directly with federal and state workforce development funding priorities. Jo has worked with non-profits, chamber presidents and educational institutions to position this as a billable, grant-supported initiative. If you’re writing a grant, we can help you frame the ask. Case in point, all work with Nicolet College was grant funded.
What funders want to see
System-level change. Measurable outcomes. Replicable models. Shared investment across sectors. The Practical Strengths model checks every box.
What we provide
White paper, case study data, Rhode Island precedent, and a proposed budget narrative you can drop directly into an RFP response. DOWNLOAD THE WHITE PAPER