CMO has hit the ground running with financial and programmatic partnerships to create more career pathways for Virginians, especially in health sciences. We are proud to have received a major six-figure gift from Virginia Ready to continue its work increase credentialing throughout Virginia’s workforce and are in contention for additional philanthropic grants and awards that will help us expand our scope of work across the Commonwealth. Overall, we are proud to say our organization is on track to meet our initial fundraising and grantmaking goals for our launch phase.

One of CMO’s early achievements was the creation of an off-the-shelf guide for creating regional workforce development collaboratives. The guide is called Collaborating to Address Regional Workforce Challenges: A Roadmap and was created in conjunction with Secretary of Labor Bryan Slater and the Commonwealth’s new consolidated workforce agency, Virginia Works. The guide is being used by communities around the state to align the workforce development efforts of educational institutions, major employers, and other stakeholders.

CMO has also prioritized the engagement of young learners to help them experience health science curricula and imagine careers in healthcare. We are currently working with the Virginia Health Workforce Development Authority on a pipeline program to engage high schoolers and funded the creation of a new mobile learning lab in collaboration with Virginia Tech Extension/4H to engage younger students in their home communities.

Finally, we have continued our longstanding relationship with the Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science Careers based in Roanoke. This regional collaborative, which receives extensive support from Carilion Clinic and Claude Moore, is a powerful example of the regional collaboration we are working to foster around Virginia.

Tell us about a project or an area of work you’re most excited about. This is a great opportunity to highlight some things going on within your organization.

Even in our early days, CMO is pursuing a range of innovative programs to create career opportunities and pathways for more Virginians, particularly in healthcare.

We believe our emphasis on regional collaboration, as expressed in the Roadmap, is one of the most promising approaches to addressing workforce challenges in Virginia whether in healthcare or another industry of regional significance. We are working to support more communities around Virginia as they seek to build regional workforce collaboratives and recently hosted a statewide conference to help communities put the Roadmap into practice.

CMO is also pursuing innovative strategies to reduce veteran unemployment and underemployment as our men and women in uniform transition to civilian life. This includes work with the Virginia Community College System and other stakeholders to better leverage military medical experience for civilian credentialing and employment.

Also on the horizon is an exciting partnership with the Virginia Department of Social Services and Serve Virginia to develop strategies for creating a “youth mental health corps” to ensure young people receive the mental and behavioral health services they need to thrive.

Finally, we are continuing to forge new partnerships and deepen existing ones with school systems and educational institutions around the state who share our vision for more flexible and accessible career pathways for young and mid-career Virginians, with a particular emphasis on healthcare careers.

What else would you like your fellow funders to know?

Claude Moore Opportunities is building on the long record of success and collaboration established by the Claude Moore Charitable Foundation. We are proud to build our organization on such a solid record of achievement and are actively looking for collaborators and supporters to scale-up our work.

We would like our fellow funders to understand the scale and impact of Virginia’s existing and looming healthcare workforce crisis. As our population ages, demand for healthcare will continue to rise even as the workforce shrinks due to retirements and career changes. Healthcare workforce shortages increase costs for patients and providers and reduce accessibility in ways that cascade through regional economies. We must begin working today to train the healthcare workforce we will need tomorrow.

Our strategies have been proven within Virginia and around the country through the experience of organizations like Claude Moore Charitable Foundation, which plays an essential role as a nonprofit convener and supporter of regional workforce development efforts, as well as organizations like Blue Ridge Partnership for Health Science careers which is showing the tremendous progress that can be achieved when stakeholders align their visions, needs, and offerings.