Ensuring everyone in our region can thrive means ensuring access to economic opportunity and quality employment, especially for people who’ve been excluded in the past, while also addressing one of our most pressing problems- climate change.
The Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative, led by All Home and the Bay Area Good Jobs Partnership for Equity, has been awarded a California Jobs First Fund planning grant by the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research to develop and implement inclusive, sustainable economic strategies in the Bay Area.
What is California Jobs First?
In 2021, Governor Newsom launched the $600 million Regional Investment Initiative (formerly known as the Community Economic Resilience Fund, or CERF) to support California’s 13 regions to create quality jobs and bolster their resilience to climate and global challenges impacting the state’s diverse regional economies. As part of this program, each of the 13 regions has built a California Jobs First Collaborative tasked with developing a clear vision for their region’s economic future.
California Jobs First will support high-road economic development plans to create equitable access to quality jobs. High-road economic development supports environmentally sustainable businesses that pay living wages and create opportunities for career growth. As California recovers from the economic distress of COVID-19, California Jobs First aims to ensure that the state’s economy works for all California residents, particularly those who have historically been marginalized.
About the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative (formerly HRTC)
In the Bay Area and 12 other regions in California, organizations have come together to create the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative (formerly High Road Transition Collaborative) that include balanced representation from workforce, community, labor, business, government, economic development, education, philanthropy, and indigenous communities.
The State has chosen one Jobs First Collaborative in each region to receive a California Jobs First grant of $5 million for a two-year planning process. After the initial $5 million planning grants are provided, an additional $500 million for implementation will be administered in rolling, competitive grants. Learn more about the planning and implementation phases.
At the request of multiple Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative partners, All Home has taken on the role of regional convener, responsible for coordinating with experts and stakeholders across all nine Bay Area counties to deliver on the purpose of California Jobs First and run a transparent, inclusive, and democratic planning process that the region can rally behind.
All Home is focused on creating regional solutions to improve housing and economic security of the over-one-million individuals living in Extremely Low Income households in the Bay Area, many of whom could benefit from the high-paying jobs and economic infrastructure that California Jobs First funds will help create.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee is responsible for governing the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative, providing overall guidance and direction to the Collaborative. Additionally, the Steering Committee has voting power on all major decisions, including financial oversight, contractor approvals, and the ultimate strategic direction of economic development advanced by the Collaborative.
- Aaron Burnett, Canal Alliance
- Amber Twitchell, On the Move
- Andreas Cluver, Building Trades Council of Alameda
- Ada Chan, ABAG / MTC
- Jessie Hammerling, UC Berkeley Labor Center
- Carolina Martinez, California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity (CAMEO)
- Chris Rico, Solano Economic Development Corporation
- Christa Brown, San Francisco Foundation
- Jeff Bellisario, Bay Area Council Economic Institute (BAC)
- Kim Tavaglione, San Francisco Labor Council
- Kit O’Doherty, Bay Area Community College Consortium
- Ky Le, County of Santa Clara
- Louise Auerhahn, Working Partnerships USA
- Paul Fong, CA Federation of Teachers
- Stephanie Reynolds, Indian Health Center of Santa Clara Valley
- Tamia Brown, Contra Costa Workforce Development Board
- Tamisha Walker, Safe Return Project
- Zoe Siegel, Greenbelt Alliance
See the 2024 Steering Committee.
Catalyst Program
The Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative is distributing $9 million of Catalyst funding for development/design activities for initiatives that will help build a long-lasting regional economic development infrastructure in the Bay Area. At the end of 2024, the Collaborative accepted proposals that center and empower communities and workers, creates quality jobs, and address long-standing inequalities and climate vulnerabilities. Applicants were able to apply for up to $1 million for single-county projects and $1.5 million for multi-county projects. On January 10, 2025, we announced the ten projects selected to receive the Catalyst funding.
Implementation
Below are documents related to the California Jobs First Regional Investment Initiative funding.
Materials and Documents
Below are key documents related to the work of the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative.
Executive Summary of the California Jobs First Proposal
California Jobs First Proposal
Regional Plan Part 2 (Final)
Stipends, Honorariums & Participant Compensation Policy – this policy can also be found on the SFOEWD directives page.
Past Stakeholder Meeting Materials
Get Involved
The Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative is still growing. If you or your organization are interested in getting involved, have questions about the Bay Area Jobs First Collaborative, or would like to receive updates about California Jobs First and the Collaborative’s process, please fill out this form or email [email protected].
