The CapacityWorks™ Process
How a region catches the mismatch, and decides together what to do about it
Two steps: a System Snapshot™, then the Regional Alignment Launch Series
CapacityWorks™ is our process for launching regional workforce alignment, adapted from Collaboration Arts' participatory framework and designed with our Design Partner, Todd Erickson. It has two steps: a System Snapshot™, then the three-session Regional Alignment Launch Series.
Keep what you've built. Every region is different, so there's no template. The steps are the same; what goes into them is yours. We start with the programs, partnerships, and data you already have. Every engagement begins with a System Snapshot sized to where you are. The scope and process can be adapted to regions of different sizes and circumstances.
When it starts: usually right after a moment like this: a grant is denied, a program launches with no employer input, a public data point embarrasses someone, or the workforce board and a college disagree about a program and it goes nowhere. That's when 'we need to work with the other stakeholders' becomes an action item.
Through a structured intake process, cross-sector key informant interviews, and a participant pre-session survey, the facilitation team works with the client to understand regional priorities, identify where fragmentation is deepest, and assess readiness to collaborate. The client’s role is to provide access and context—not diagnose the challenges or prescribe solutions. The Regional Alignment Launch Series consists of three virtual sessions, each estimated at two hours.
What you walk away with: a direction your region built and owns, with ranked priorities, named leadership, and sector-level commitments. Not a consultant's report. A decision the whole region can stand behind.
Conveners: Make the call everyone stands behind.
Educators and employers: See what each side knows about the other, before you commit.
Funders: Agree on the results that matter most, before the money's spent.
What you can do next: act on it together, and take it to funders with one shared definition of success, before the money's spent.
It moves your region from trust, to a shared picture, to commitments people will act on, so nobody carries the decision alone.
