D4AD initiatives aimed to expand access to education and career data to provide students, workers, and jobseekers with better data-driven information leading to more informed career decisions in a changing economy. A particular target audience of D4AD was Americans who are unemployed or underemployed and facing structural racism or economic marginalization. Given growing economic disparities and the uneven recovery from COVID-19, this work has become even more important. To meet these challenges, D4AD initiative partners worked to create a clear theory of change that articulated who would benefit from new workforce tools, what the workers and jobseekers needed, what was the best way to provide tools and resources along with additional supports, and how to measure whether the tools were adding real value to workers’ and jobseekers’ lives. That work included:

• Improving partners’ understanding of who the workers and jobseekers are that agencies and organizations are trying to reach.

• Designing human-centered tools and information that are more accessible to the workers and jobseekers that need them most.

• Being prepared and willing to change processes, perspectives, and tools using a model of “constant co-creation” with users.

• Creating strategic communications to connect with these workers and jobseekers.

• Developing strong partnerships within the community and among employers.

• Garnering ongoing support from communities and policymakers.

The D4AD initiative provides valuable insights into efforts to improve workforce training and development systems that can provide organizations and agencies with strategic approaches in each of these areas moving forward.