WBD is proud to support the Madison-based Latino Academy of Workforce Development as a 2023 Mission Partner. Their mission helps to strengthen their diverse communities by providing linguistically and culturally competent adult education programming that advances opportunities to ensure that individuals and families thrive socially, economically, and civically.
Executive Director of the Latino Academy, Baltazar De Anda Santana, applied for assistance from WBD on a project that provides an accessible truck driving training program that includes more personalized and industry-specific business support. If accepted, their request would help improve on a program offered in the past to address core needs: (a) a local workforce need for transportation workers, and (b) the Latino community’s need for high-demand and good-paying jobs with short-term training requirements.
As this program has increased in size, and now with a long waiting list for CDL holders and small business owners to be able to join, the Academy has launched an innovative, hybrid CDL training that meets the more stringent federal requirements for an approved training provider and also offers the instructional flexibility that their working students need. They will begin each cohort with digital skills training and their resource navigators will engage with each student weekly to ensure that they are learning the material effectively and without technology barriers.
With a grant from WBD, the Academy will:
- Create a seamless training and business development experience that will efficiently move more South Central Wisconsin residents through the CDL training and into establishing their own transportation businesses
- Establish personalized education programs for each candidate before they enroll, where they will identify together the student’s goals and what they need in order to achieve them
For more information on the Academy’s mission, values and future projects, visit www.latinoacademywi.org/.
