The Power of Alignment in Workforce Development
by Katie Condit, Chief Executive Officer
May 30, 2025
Workforce development is more than job training and employment services. It’s a holistic approach to building a thriving community. It’s a coordinated strategy for building a stronger, more resilient economy, one that mutually supports both people and businesses. In Pierce County, that means aligning systems across education, nonprofits, government, labor, and industry to equip local talent with the skills needed to thrive in today’s evolving economy. This isn’t the work of a single entity, but a collective effort. At WorkForce Central, it has become clear that, when we act and focus locally and in alignment, we are building scalable, deeply rooted models of change that reflect the unique character and needs of our region.
In this moment, the call to operate from a place of clarity and shared purpose has been crystallized. Our county’s challenges and opportunities – economic disparities and mobility, business growth and development, community safety and belonging – demand that we move in coordination. This idea of alignment means each of us knowing our unique role in a shared strategy. By focusing on common outcomes and being extra clear on what those outcomes are, we survive and thrive through impact. This way of operating not only reduces duplication and expands reach but reflects how local actors can maximize limited and critical resources to move the needle on economic justice in a time of scarcity.
When we fall into a scarcity mindset, the consequences are real. Competing for limited funding and operating in silos keeps us from achieving the kind of systemic change Pierce County deserves. Courageous leaders in our region continue to remind me that fear and uncertainty cannot be our compass right now. In leading with collaboration over competition, several local organizations are already demonstrating how alignment can be a blueprint: from co-located services to braided budgets across organizations to shared services models that centralize administrative burden and beyond. Local models work because they are grounded in relationships, proximity, and trust, which we are fortunate to have in unique and abundant ways in Pierce County.
At WorkForce Central, we are imagining what’s possible when we strip away our titles, affiliations, and metrics of institutional success and ask the hard questions: What does success really look like for the people we aim to support, and how would they define that success? What is our role in shared, regional strategy towards that success, and where do we defer and amplify the role of other organizations? How do local businesses define their goals and values? What do those businesses need to thrive, not just survive? And most importantly, how do we work in lockstep with partners to bring aligned value, not duplication, to reach these outcomes? Asking these questions every day has become essential, and there’s no ecosystem of partners or region we’d rather be asking them with than this one.
