Keri Funkhouser is a Senior Communications Strategist for the Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC). Her team at My Colorado Journey answered some questions below to help librarians around Colorado learn about their organization, agency, and/or services.
Below, you’ll learn about My Colorado Journey and its potential to help you serve your community. In addition, at the end of this post we’ve included some of their resources for you to view and/or use.
Tell us who you are and what you do for the Colorado Workforce Development Council (CWDC).
My name is Keri Funkhouser and I am a Senior Communications Strategist for the CWDC. In my role, I help promote My Colorado Journey, resources for career navigation and pathways, and the impact of stimulus-funded programs. I also serve as lead project manager of the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act State Plan.
How can the CWDC partner with a library to offer resources or programming to the local community of library visitors and users, including My Colorado Journey?
The pandemic has strained many people. Today, libraries and staff members find themselves on the front lines of social work, in an ever-evolving role serving patrons who need help and access to resources, tools, and valuable information that is crucial for skill enhancement.
Libraries serve as community hubs, ensuring access for all citizens and inclusive environments for diverse learners. By aligning and leveraging our resources, workforce programs can tap into this knowledge repository, reaching broader audiences and fostering collaboration in social and professional development.
The CWDC can help the library offer additional access to a wealth of workforce development resources through My Colorado Journey—a free and secure online tool that connects job seekers of all ages to transformational work and education opportunities. This powerful platform makes job and career planning easy and personalized by suggesting actions based on your ambitions and stage of life.
Our vision is that every Colorado employer has access to a skilled workforce and every Coloradan has the opportunity for meaningful employment. Our purpose is to connect Coloradans to career pathways, tools, and workforce information about top jobs in our state, so individuals can map out the steps to accomplishing their career goals – whether they want a new job or find a training program nearby.
Also, if libraries are not already connected to their local workforce board or center and all the resources they provide, we can help with that connection as well.
What needs or challenges can My Colorado Journey help libraries address for their communities?
My Colorado Journey can help libraries serve patrons, whether they’re starting their education, switching careers, transitioning into civilian life, trying to establish themselves as citizens, or looking for a better job. My Colorado journey can help them explore what’s out there and the steps needed to find a rewarding career. Best of all it’s free and secure.
My Colorado Journey:
- Has tools like a resume builder to get started, a support directory to connect with wrap-around services, and career pathways to explore in-demand jobs in Colorado.
- Our Careers in Colorado tool identifies a number of in-demand careers in Colorado, the types of jobs for entry, mid-level and advanced positions, how much money you can potentially make and the steps needed to get into those industries.
- Through our Career Cluster Survey, you can find help in identifying your interests and the activities you would like to do in the future.
- Connects users to learning and work opportunities in just a few clicks.
- Is secure and private, with users controlling the information they share at every step of their journey.
- Is available in Spanish and other languages (after the account is created).
My Colorado Journey follows the same process that an experienced career coach might follow. It’s easy to create a My Colorado Journey customer account. You’ll simply need your first name, last name, date of birth, and a working email. Once you create an account, you’ll check your email and create your password.
What regions – cities, counties, areas – of Colorado does your organization reach?
My Colorado Journey is online – so it serves you where you are and where you are at 24/7.
Does My Colorado Journey cost any money?
My Colorado Journey is free for users, and it is secure. You do need to sign up and create a private account, and you must have an email address that you can access in order to create your account.
Do libraries have to provide any funds or apply to any grants to use My Colorado Journey or work with CWDC?
No. This tool is free for all Coloradans to use.
What support can you offer libraries to help them access additional resources or funding to bring My Colorado Journey and other CWDC workforce support programs/ services to their library?
We can offer posters, flyers, and postcard print collateral to hand out to interested patrons who are seeking educational and workforce resources. We are happy to give presentations on the platform and, in addition, several informational videos are available online for users.
Welcome to My Colorado Journey
In addition to these resources, you can always open a support ticket if you run into challenges. If your library patrons are having trouble accessing My Colorado Journey, the Support button featured on every page of My Colorado Journey.
Let’s say one of our librarians, directors, or staff contact you and says, “We want to bring My Colorado Journey to our community!” What will the next step look like?
Contact keri.funkhouser@state.co.us and we will work on our next steps together to meet your unique needs.
***
Not every resource or partner that we highlight will meet the needs or fit in with the mission of every library or community that will read this post. Furthermore, no single interview can include every available opportunity to work with CWDC.
If you’d like to learn more about My Colorado Journey or speak with Keri and the team at CWDC, then please join us for our Virtual Partner Forum on Tuesday, March 19 at 1PM where you can ask questions specific to your library, get ideas or insights on potential avenues for engaging their services or resources, and maybe make that first connection that can be difficult to make otherwise.
If you cannot attend our Virtual Partner Forum on email me – Cristy Moran, Adult Library Services Senior Consultant at the Colorado State Library – at moran_c@cde.state.co.us or Keri and/or the CWDC directly at the contact information listed in the interview above.
- Program Spotlight: Broomfield Library’s Taylor Swift Friendship Bracelet Bonanza - April 22, 2024
- Are You Eligible for Student Loan Forgiveness? Now is the Time to Check!(Before 4/30/2024) - April 18, 2024
- Colorado Libraries at PLA 2024 - March 22, 2024