Let’s bring the human into your human capital initiatives.

A high-growth startup wanted to prioritize team members’ well-being while also achieving ambitious growth goals. 

A tech company was going through a reduction in force and wanted to ensure the process was conducted in a human manner.

A company needed to develop new leadership training that centered DEI. 

A nonprofit wanted to create a new talent strategy to help unlock employee voice.

We helped them all get it done.

Our Services

At Future Forward Strategies, we help you center equity and innovation in your human capital initiatives. Here’s how.

DISCOVER

We help you identify challenges and opportunities for specific initiatives or across your human capital portfolio.

DEFINE

We work with you to create a strategy that centers equity and innovation, leveraging research, best practices, and relationships.

IMPLEMENT

We partner with you to create a roadmap for putting strategy into action — and serve as your coach throughout the process. We also help broker partnerships and evaluate progress.

Case Studies

Microsoft

Making a meaningful impact on the lives of jobseekers

  • The Good Jobs Challenge, a program by the Department of Commerce and EDA's American Rescue Plan, aimed to make once-in-a-generation investments in high-quality, locally led workforce systems to transform America's communities. The program sought to expand career opportunities, ensuring more Americans could achieve their potential and secure good-paying jobs while producing a skilled workforce that empowers the United States to innovate, compete, and succeed in a 21st Century global economy.

    While the EDA understood the importance of equity, their team lacked the deep expertise necessary to properly evaluate Good Jobs Challenge proposals from this lens.

  • Future Forward Strategies came onboard, leveraging our expertise in workforce development, collective impact, and systems change to conduct a merit review of the Good Jobs Challenge proposals.

    Using the Good Jobs Challenge Scoring Rubric, developed by the EDA, Future Forward Strategies evaluated each proposal based on eight merit review criteria, including identification of regional needs, employer partnerships, workers served and job placements expected, regional investment and sustainability, and equity. Our consultants’ expert insights ensured that each proposal was thoroughly evaluated, and only those with the highest potential for success were chosen for funding.

  • Thanks to the partnership between the EDA and Future Forward Strategies, the Good Jobs Challenge was able to provide the necessary investments in workforce systems to rebuild regional economies, create good job opportunities for American workers, and ultimately drive economic growth and development across the United States.

Advocate South Health System

Leveraging technology to hire and retain diverse talent

  • Microsoft’s Skills for Employability initiative seeks to help people excluded from the digital economy build the foundational, role-based, and technical skills to gain jobs and livelihoods. But the initiative was struggling to meet its goal of providing relevant and effective training to job seekers and connecting them with employers in high-demand industries.

  • Microsoft turned to Future Forward Strategies for help in improving the program's design, delivery, and impact. Future Forward Strategies conducted a thorough market analysis and needs assessment, identifying key areas for improvement and opportunities for growth.

    Our consultants worked closely with Microsoft's Skills for Employability team to develop a strategic plan that included customized curriculum design, enhanced training delivery methods, and targeted employer partnerships. We also provided ongoing support and guidance as the program was implemented and evaluated its effectiveness.

  • Thanks to the support and expertise of Future Forward Strategies, Microsoft's Skills for Employability initiative saw significant improvements in its outcomes. Job seekers who participated in the program reported higher levels of satisfaction and skill development, and the program was able to connect them with more relevant and high-paying job opportunities. Employers also reported increased satisfaction with the quality of job candidates they received from the program.

    Overall, Microsoft's partnership with Future Forward Strategies proved to be a successful and effective approach to improving the Skills for Employability initiative, and helped Microsoft to make a meaningful impact on the lives and careers of job seekers.

US Department of Commerce and Economic Development Administration (EDA):

Bringing equity expertise to The Good Jobs Challenge

  • The Advocate South health system faced a challenge of identifying the right talent management system to identify, recruit, train, and promote based on skills while reducing biases in the hiring process. With a plethora of applicant tracking and talent management systems available in the market, Advocate’s leadership was unsure which one would work best for their team.

  • Future Forward Strategies consultants partnered with The Advocate South to help them navigate the competitive and opaque landscape of applicant tracking systems. We provided a comprehensive analysis of the market, highlighting the growing number of applicant tracking systems that use machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence to screen and analyze job applicants.

    Our consultants conducted a thorough analysis of 30 different Applicant Tracking and Learning Management Systems to identify the one that best aligned with Advocate South’s goals and existing technology stack.

  • Through this process, Future Forward Strategies Consultants helped Advocate South health system select a talent management system that streamlined their recruitment and hiring processes, reduced biases, and improved their ability to identify and promote talent based on their skills and potential for success. This helped the health system improve their workforce development strategies, increase diversity and inclusion in their hiring process, and ultimately better serve their patients and communities.