At National Skills Coalition, we envision an America where every person is guaranteed valuable skills, good jobs, and economic prosperity. Racial equity is essential to achieving that vision.
People of color –including immigrants of color –make up a substantial and increasing share of the U.S. workforce. Today’s working class, which makes up the majority of the U.S. workforce, looks different than it did just a generation ago. People of color make up nearly half of the working class and are projected to be the majority of the working class by 2032. Meanwhile, immigrants, who are majority people of color with Asian and Latino immigrants making up the largest shares of new Americans, account for nearly 1 in every five U.S. workers.
This rich diversity is a national strength that helps spark American innovation and economic growth. Workers from different backgrounds bring talent, experience, and cultural knowledge that yield real benefits in the workplace, including enhanced creativity, increased productivity, and better problem-solving. In fact, a 2023 McKinsey study showed that companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity were 39 percent more profitable than those with less diversity. When our nation invests in workers of color and immigrants, we all benefit.
But we also know that our current systems were shaped by policies that have blocked equal access to education, training, and good jobs based on race and ethnicity. Those inequities were built into the foundation of our economy, and their effects continue to shape opportunity today. For example, Black women are overrepresented in caregiving and service jobs that, despite being essential, often pay less, offer limited benefits, and provide fewer opportunities for advancement. This pattern isn’t coincidental. It’s the legacy of an economy that undervalued work historically done by Black and brown people — one that also denied full protections, fair pay, and equal access to education, training, and connections that open doors.
Persistent racial disparities in educational attainment, employment, income, and wealth are the result of policies and practices that opened the door to a few while shutting it on many others. If we are serious about strengthening our economy, we must be equally serious about removing the structural barriers that prevent Black, Latino, and other people of color from fully sharing in the prosperity they help create.
Since its founding in 2000, National Skills Coalition has brought together a broad-based coalition of workers, students, local businesses, and practitioners who craft and advocate for workforce policies based on their on-the-ground expertise. We do this to make sure that the policies we advance benefit the people most directly affected by them.
That work made it clear that expanding economic opportunity is also about advancing racial equity. Many of the policies National Skills Coalition was founded to reform – including safety net and workforce programs that prioritized rapid placement in low-wage jobs over family-sustaining careers – were shaped by harmful narratives about race, work, and who “deserved” public investments. Without addressing racism directly, we could not fully solve the economic challenges we sought to fix.
We formalized this commitment through our 2019 Roadmap for Racial Equity, naming racism in workforce and education systems as a barrier we must confront directly. But publishing a roadmap was not the end of our work — it was a milestone in an ongoing journey that requires sustained commitment, reflection, and action.
That journey continues, and it shapes the work we do every day— the policies we advocate for, the voices we elevate, the stories we tell, and the ways we examine and align our own internal practices, decisions, and leadership with the values we promote externally.
We do this because it’s the right thing to do. And we do it because our economy cannot reach its full potential when racism and discrimination limit how we invest in people.
As National Skills Coalition moves into the next phase of our organizational life, we remain steadfast in our commitment to racial equity. When we build an economy where everyone has a fair shot at real opportunity, we build a stronger economy for us all.
Brooke DeRenzis
Chief Executive Officer
National Skills Coalition
