You may recognize David Bolton; he has served on GuilfordWorks’ Board for a couple of years. Before joining GuilfordWorks, David was with the Community Foundation for the last few years, where he began the work of GuilfordJobs 2030 (GJ30). In October 2022, David joined GuilfordWorks as Assistant Director of Community Impact. He brings GJ30 and loads of experience, including grant writing, which will be invaluable as we move forward.

What does GJ30 hope to accomplish?

GJ30 is a multi-sector partnership between GuilfordWorks, educators, high-growth industry employers, and community leaders. As it currently stands, GuilfordJobs 2030 aims to increase the percentage of Guilford County’s population with post-secondary—“non-degree” through Bachelor level—credentials from its current rate of 46% to 60%. This effort requires educating 30,000 students and ultimately seeks to provide local employers with a more robust workforce while lowering the poverty rate amongst traditionally marginalized communities in Guilford County.

I am grateful to the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro for spearheading this project and very excited to bring this work to GuilfordWorks. GJ30’s focus on working “hyperlocal” with community leaders, ensuring barriers are at the forefront of this work and increasing credentialing across the county fits perfectly into GuilfordWorks mission. I am excited to work with the incredible staff at GuilfordWorks, not only on this initiative but in community outreach in all areas.

— David Bolton, Assistant Director of Community Impact, GuilfordWorks

What’s happening now?

Currently, David is identifying and developing local leadership in East Greensboro and South High Point to help build a workforce ecosystem unique to their communities. This undertaking includes identifying community access to the network, barriers to education, local industries and career opportunities accompanying them, best outreach and recruiting strategies, and conducting asset inventories.

Honing and refining

GJ30 was not developed in a vacuum but has had many advisors and supporters along the way. There are case studies showcasing similar activities with tremendous results in other communities. One such support system is myFutureNC, a nationally recognized, statewide initiative that aims to provide 2 Million people with high-quality credentials or post-secondary degrees by 2030. Their mission is to engage local, regional, and statewide stakeholders to communicate the need for greater attainment and eliminate the gap between the skills employers require and the education and training available throughout the state. They partnered with the UNC School of Government’s ncIMPACT to support local initiatives. GJ30 is one of only fifteen regional programs in the myFutureNC/ncIMPACT collaborative statewide. Through both initiatives, GJ30 has engaged with other like-minded collaboratives, shared and learned best practices, understood how to build an effective team, attended forums, and collaborated with UNC and Duke University faculty and CivicLab to develop plans, set outcomes and capture outcomes data. If you’re interested in learning more about GJ30, contact David today.

In December, David Bolton and Guilford County community partners attended the myFutureNC Local Educational Attainment Collaboratives Forum in New Bern. During a breakout session, David shared inspiration and presented insights into Guilford Jobs 2030.

How does this impact our community?

This work comes at an optimal time, as Guilford County is experiencing unprecedented economic growth. Companies such as Toyota, Boom Supersonic and Publix have recently invested over $2 Billion and committed to 3500 additional jobs. Yet, current employers struggle to maintain adequate staffing to meet their everyday needs. There is no way to meet this county’s employers’ current and future needs without being equitable.

Achieving equity in education is not only required to ensure equal opportunities in populations historically marginalized throughout Guilford County but is the only way to provide the needed workforce. As such, the equity goal of this initiative is to create an ecosystem that elevates all demographics to 60%. 

We are excited to welcome David to our staff and are enthusiastic about the possibilities he and GJ30 present to this community.