The PEER Academy is open to workforce and economic development professionals of all levels. A maximum of 16 participants will be selected. Applicants should:

• Be located within the Southeast Michigan tri-county area of Wayne, Oakland, or Macomb counties OR work within Western New York, including Allegany, Chautauqua, Genesee, Niagara, Cattaraugus, Erie, or Orleans counties. 
• Work within workforce or economic development in nonprofit organizations, business associations, community colleges, universities, union-based training efforts, public agencies, or economic development organizations.
• Have prior understanding and experience collecting LMI organizationally or with partner organizations. This experience can range from novice to more advanced, but the cohort assumes some understanding of LMI and some use of it in the Fellow’s current position.
  • Examples of current use may include collecting program data on participant services and outcomes, collecting regional data such as demographic information to understand priority service populations or better understand the local talent supply (e.g., number of degree holders), or collecting regional demand data such as top industries for employment, the number of businesses in an industry, etc. If you are unsure, please submit questions here.
• Be interested in workforce or economic development efforts in the region related to systemic change to advance regional job quality and equity. 
• Committed to achieving equity across race, ethnicity, gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation.
• Eager to collaborate with others in both regions, open to being paired with another organization for activities, reflect on their current work, explore new and expanded uses of LMI within their roles and organizations, and gain feedback from colleagues.

A goal for the PEER Academy is to develop regional workforce and economic development staff capacity to increase retention and advancement for professionals in our field as well as to ensure that these professionals in our regions reflect those we serve. As such, inclusivity and diversity are core values of the PEER Academy. Diverse applicants are strongly encouraged to apply. Applicants will be selected based on alignment to the criteria above as well as to ensure a cohesive cohort that reflects similar LMI capacity, equal Southeast Michigan and Western New York participation, and a balance of the organizational types desired to foster systemic impact.

Fellows will actively participate in the Academy over a nine-month timeframe in various ways, including in-person and virtual training lessons, peer-to-peer exchange, reviewing pre-recorded lessons, conducting research activities associated with learning, reviewing reading materials in advance to support stacked learning and technical assistance. These activities will culminate in a capstone project designed to answer key questions about the fellow’s region to be used in advancing policy and practice. The work conducted by fellows to support product development and the products themselves will be shared with the entire cohort throughout the process to foster additional peer exchange and learning. The products developed may also be more widely shared as appropriate.

Beginning in October 2024, fellows will attend:

• A virtual 90-minute orientation on October 1, 2024, from 10:30 am - 12 pm EST
• A required, in-person opening one-and-a-half-day retreat with two overnights on November 19-20, 2024, in Buffalo, New York
• Seven virtual cohort modules: three held live virtually (via ZOOM) with required attendance and four pre-recorded modules (self-paced content expected to range from 90 to 120 minutes each)
• December 2nd – Pre-Recorded Module 2
• January 8th, 2025, from 10 am - 12 pm EST – Virtual In-person (via ZOOM) Module 3
• February 3rd – Pre-Recorded Module 4
• February 17th – Pre-Recorded Module 5
• March 5th, 2025, from 10 am - 12 pm EST – Virtual In-person (via ZOOM) Module 6
• April 7th – Pre-Recorded Module 7
• May 7th, 2025, from 10 am - 12 pm EST – Virtual In-person (via ZOOM) Module 8
• Fellows will have access to additional learning and support opportunities through technical assistance or office hours when completing their research activities and capstone projects
• A required, in-person closing one-and-a-half-day retreat with two overnights on June 11-12, 2025, in Detroit, Michigan

Fellows will also be expected to:

• Dedicate the necessary time between modules to complete partner and group activities aligned to cohort learning and the development of a quality LMI product through their capstone projects. It’s anticipated that Fellows will dedicate five hours per month, not including in-person sessions or modules, to be successful in the Academy. As Fellows begin to work on capstone projects, the time invested may reach 10 hours a month. The time investment may also increase based on Fellows' interest in engaging more with the material and the type of capstone project that they choose to complete
• Participate in a six-month post-cohort survey to share outcomes related to Fellows' experience in the Academy

We are committed to making our program as accessible as possible. Thanks to the generosity of our funding partners, any individual who wishes to participate in the PEER Academy, and is accepted, can do so at no cost to the them or their organization.

• Strengthen their competencies related to labor market information (LMI) data collection, analysis, and reporting, including around:
  
  • Defining and answering critical questions facing their communities and regions
    Collecting and reporting quantitative and qualitative data (including feedback from learners, workers, residents, and employers to better understand perspectives and validate secondary data)
  • Applying culturally responsive and racial equity lenses to their research and identifying and examining racial and other disparities in their labor markets
  • Utilizing data and information to improve workforce and economic development policy, programs, and practice (with emphasis on job quality and systemic impact)
  • Disseminating data in compelling and accessible ways through product selection, effective and succinct narrative building, presentation skills, and data visualization

• Leave the Academy with an LMI product that they can use to improve regional workforce and economic development policy, programs, and practice.
• Develop an action plan for sharing and using the LMI product they create to drive strategy, policy, program design, and/or practice.
• Access to Academy materials developed for this series and other tools that will be incorporated.
  Benefit from peer-to-peer learning (local and across regions), cross-sector collaboration and partnership (workforce and economic development), and exposure to other providers’ use of data for impact.

• Southeast Michigan and Western New York’s service providers, program participants, employers, policymakers, and the general public will have greater access to quality data that can help inform and improve access to critical workforce development resources, programs, and services
• Regional workforce and economic development systems will have an expanded pool of local staff and leaders to retain and advance with the necessary skills to affect systems change and drive equitable outcomes
• Greater local capacity and shared learning of key system players will result in developing and supporting a learning community of professionals who have developed the trust, relationships, competencies, and tools needed for greater collaboration to create shared solutions to regional challenges
• Lessons learned from the Academy will be shared in a brief
• Data products that are developed through the Academy will be shared with relevant audiences