Chicago Workforce Investment Council

Who We Are

Our vision: Chicago will be the talent capital of the nation.

CWIC star logo

In today’s challenging economic climate, the City of Chicago’s top workforce priorities are to ensure that Chicagoans have the skills they need to compete in the workforce; that they can find and keep jobs; and that Chicago businesses can access the skilled labor they need.

For this reason, Mayor Daley created the Chicago Workforce Investment Council (CWIC).

"Today, through [the Chicago] Workforce Investment Council...we are improving the way we invest more than $300 million in workforce development funds to assure that any citizen who needs or wants to attain the skills of the future can do so." Mayor Richard M. Daley, State of the City Address, 8/4/2010

CWIC is an independent 501(c)3 nonprofit organization led by a Board of business and civic leaders that is chaired by the Mayor of the City of Chicago.

Our mission is to ensure that Chicago has a skilled and educated workforce to keep our businesses, economy, communities, and families thriving. To achieve this mission, CWIC:

Monitors over $350 million of annual public investments in education and workforce training, and coordinates resources across the City to ensure these investments support the overall health of our economy
Provides strategy development, project management and data analysis for our workforce and education partners so that they can show results and save time and money
Provides staffing to the Chicago Workforce Investment Board, the federally mandated body that oversees Chicago’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) allocation and other federal grants
Serves as the permanent home for the work previously initiated through the Mayor’s Chicago LEADS (2007-2009) initiative