Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation

The Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation, formerly known as the Hampton Roads Workforce Development Corporation, a 501(c)(3) organization with 509(a)(1) public charity status, is established to receive assets to implement policies that complement and support goals of the Hampton Roads Workforce Council. The Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation enables the organization to implement programs that cannot be funded with federal funds or where such funds are insufficient to cover the entire program cost. The Hampton Roads Workforce Council, which is in the final stages of merging with its counterpart on the Peninsula (the Greater Peninsula Workforce Board), serves as the regional leader of workforce development. It ensures the strategic alignment of efforts that facilitate meaningful employment and economic growth in the fifteen cities and counties of Hampton Roads, while excelling at the delivery of business, workforce, veterans and youth funded services. It seeks to develop and implement a system that prepares the existing and emerging workforce to meet the needs of the current business community, attract high quality employment to the region and support new, high-growth, innovative enterprises.
Specifically, we seek to: (1) lead stakeholders in the creation and implementation of a common regional workforce development strategy that has tangible employment and economic growth results; (2) be recognized as the regional workforce development knowledge leader and provide valuable labor market information, models and best practices to job seekers, employers and stakeholders (3) deliver effective workforce development services through funded programs with excellence and ensure their alignment with the common regional workforce development strategy; and (4) ensure strong organizational health including a high performing staff and robust funding.

1) lead stakeholders in the creation and implementation of a common regional workforce development strategy that has tangible employment and economic growth results; 2) be recognized as the regional leader in workforce development knowledge and provide valuable labor market information, models, and best practices to job seekers, employers and stakeholders; 3) deliver effective workforce development services through funded programs with excellence and ensure their alignment with the common regional workforce development strategy; and 4) ensure strong organizational health, including a high-performing staff and robust funding.

The Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation utilizes the professional staff of the HRWC for financial management that encompasses best practices and internal controls – measures such as requiring dual signatures on checks, a separation of duties, and process documents mandating a series of reviews and approvals before expenditures are incurred. Final approval rests with the President/CEO and the Chair of the Foundation for all expenditures. Additionally, the HRWF and the HRWC contract with an external, independent accounting firm for annual fiscal audits. These controls have resulted in clean audits for the HRWF and the HRWC for many years. All required Federal and State regulatory reports of the HRWF have been punctually submitted and are current. Copies of past annual fiscal audit reports are available upon request.

As a fiscal agent, the Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation can receive contributions from private companies, government entities, and grant‐making organizations, allowing it to disburse available funds to training partners based on the achievement of metrics as determined by an advisory board to the program or the Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation Board of Directors.

The staff of the Foundation, through the HRWC, has extensive experience soliciting and managing funds from a multitude of sources, establishing funding contracts, monitoring the progress of funded programs, and maintaining necessary reporting mechanisms. Over the past five years, the Hampton Roads Workforce Foundation has maintained and administered over $2.5 million in private, community and corporate contributions and grants.

Successful projects that utilized the HRWF as the fiscal agent include:
The HRWF serves as the fiscal agent for private businesses and non-profit organizations to provide paid internships to teens and young adults through the NextGen Regional Internship Program. Businesses and other organizations provide a $2,000 sponsorship for each intern, and the HRWF directs those funds to enable payments to the interns. The payments account for a $1,440 academic stipend and cover other administrative necessities, such as background checks, drug testing and worksite injury insurance. To date, the HRWF has managed over $300,000 for this project.

The HRWF serves as the fiscal agent for the Hampton Roads Veterans Career Compass (HRVCC), a three-year, $500,000 project funded by the Hampton Roads Community Foundation. The Compass is an online platform to provide direct connections between employers and veterans or transitioning service members. An extension of the Hampton Roads Veterans Employment Center, the custom-configured portal streamlines the job seeker and employee recruitment experiences – specifically targeting the military community. The Foundation continues to provide the fiscal oversight for this project.

In 2020, the HRWF partnered with the Shipbuilding Pre-Apprenticeship Program administered by Tidewater Community College to act as the fiscal and administrative agent for a paid internship element newly added to the curriculum. The partnership allows the Foundation, through the staff of the NextGen Regional Internship Program of the HRWC, to provide all fiscal and administrative processes needed for the students to intern in shipbuilding/repair. The budget for this project is anticipated to grow to $240,000 per year. The HRWF is in the process of generating additional donations and sponsorships to support this effort.

The HRWF served as the fiscal agent for the Maritime Industrial Base Ecosystem (MIBE) Rapid Workforce Gap Assessment conducted in 2019-2020. This assessment was conducted by ESOP Advisors Inc., on behalf of MIBE through a $412,500 grant to the Foundation from The Old Dominion University Research Foundation.