From Convenings to Collective Action: Alaska’s Workforce Future

How do you turn regional projects into a shared statewide workforce strategy?

Client: Alaska Workforce Investment Board, Alaska Department of Labor, and Alaska Safety Alliance
Services: Strategy & Facilitation
Focus Areas: Workforce Development

Workforce Promise Meets Persistent Barriers

Alaska’s workforce story is one of contrasts. The state’s robust industries—maritime, healthcare, and energy—need skilled workers. Yet Alaska faces a shrinking working-age population, persistent outmigration, and barriers such as housing shortages and geographical obstacles that make connecting workers to training and jobs uniquely challenging.

Leaders across the state are piloting creative solutions—like mobile driver’s license clinics in rural regions, career pathway projects on the Kenai Peninsula, and new industry–education partnerships. Still, what was missing was a common vision that could knit individual efforts together and build sustainable momentum towards meeting its workforce needs.

Convenings as a Catalyst for Strategy

To shift from fragmented projects to a shared workforce agenda, the Alaska Workforce Investment Board (AWIB) and state partners called for a conversation that brought employers, educators, policymakers, and communities to the same table.

Kinetic West partnered with AWIB, the Alaska Department of Labor, and the Alaska Safety Alliance to design and facilitate a series of statewide convenings in 2023 and 2024.

  • Over 100 stakeholders and leaders participated in the first convening in fall 2023

  • 25 community-based organizations brought critical perspectives

  • 60+ employers contributed through surveys, interviews, and discussions

These conversations surfaced hard truths and practical solutions:

  • Employers spoke candidly about licensing delays, the need for apprenticeships, and challenges recruiting young Alaskans.

  • Stakeholders aligned on the need for a coordinated workforce data system.

  • Leaders began to see themselves not as siloed actors but as part of a larger statewide movement.

From Ideas to Implementation

A Plan Backed by Leaders, Powered by Collaboration

The convenings laid the groundwork for Alaska’s Workforce Future Report, a blueprint released in 2024 by the Alaska Safety Alliance, the Department of Labor, and AWIB, and endorsed by the Governor. The plan outlined six statewide goals, from enhancing career awareness to strengthening infrastructure and retention.

To carry this work forward, partners established the Alaska Workforce Alliance (AWA), a coordinating body designed to connect industry and education, pilot new practices, and track progress through public dashboards.

Early implementation is underway, with regional listening sessions and career awareness pilots signaling a new way of working across the state.

Lessons Beyond Alaska

Alaska’s journey shows how convening power can unlock systemic change. Other states and regions can learn from its approach:

  • Convening power is catalytic. Intentional gatherings build trust across vast geographies.

  • Employers as co-architects. Industry leadership is essential to designing sustainable workforce systems.

  • Shared data creates alignment. Accessible, coordinated data systems transform isolated efforts into statewide strategy.

  • Better doesn’t mean bigger. Success came not from creating new organizations, but from aligning existing ones around common goals.

  • Balance urgency with vision. Convenings delivered immediate wins while laying the foundation for systemic change.

Tackling a workforce challenge of your own?

Want to explore how convenings can move your region from fragmented projects to collective action? Kinetic West partners with leaders to design strategies that align industry, education, and community for long-term workforce success. Connect with us to start shaping the future of your state or region’s workforce strategy.

Contact: merilee.teylan@kineticwest.com to learn more.