Consortium for Worker Education

What Consortium for Worker Education does

The Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) is a New York City-based non-profit workforce development organization founded in 1985 and operating as the designated workforce development arm of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO. CWE oversees a network of over 40 partner job training and placement providers delivering services across all five NYC boroughs, serving both incumbent union members across 36 affiliated union locals and non-union community members. Annual scale is approximately 34,000 individuals enrolled across 3,700+ funded classes and placement initiatives.

CWE's service portfolio spans ten core programs: Union Initiatives (primary service for incumbent union members), Pathways to Industrial & Construction Careers (PINCC), Jobs to Build On, Worker Service Centers, The Child Care Facilitated Enrollment Project, The Facilitated Enrollment Scholarship Program, Health Care Training, the Workers United Education Program, the Astoria Worker Project (Queens-focused), and Work in Progress. Collectively these programs target labor-shortage sectors including construction, industrial careers, healthcare, and child care, with newer offerings reaching into self-employment/entrepreneurship, gig-worker advocacy, and accessibility-focused training (e.g., ASL training for MTA workers). The organization maintains an active media and policy-influence function, commissioning workforce research reports and engaging in advocacy through coalitions such as the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities.

The business model is non-profit and grant/publicly funded. CWE receives NYC city budget allocations for worker training programs and operates as a managed-services intermediary, channeling public funds through its network of 40+ training providers. There is no disclosed pricing for services to end users (training is provided to union and community members at no charge). The organization has 51-100 employees, is headquartered at 305 7th Avenue, 3rd Floor, New York, NY 10001, and has no disclosed subsidiaries, M&A activity, or venture funding. Revenue figures are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Consortium for Worker Education

Legal name

Consortium for Worker Education

Website

https://cwenet.net

Company type

Private

Founded year

1985

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

The Consortium for Worker Education is a NYC-based nonprofit workforce development organization founded in 1985, operating as the workforce development arm of the NYC Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, and serving approximately 34,000 union and community members annually through 40+ partner training providers across the five boroughs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development Services

NAICS

Apprenticeship Training (611513), Technical and Trade Schools (6115)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAAAOAA

Public Workforce Development Programs (WIOA/One-Stop Career Centers)

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Workforce Development Initiatives

SECONDARYEDAAAOAC

Apprenticeships, Pre-Apprenticeships & Work-Based Learning

Education/Adult & Continuing Education/Workforce Development Initiatives

Keywords

• Workforce development services
• Job training programs
• Career pathway services
• Union training services
• Workforce placement services

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Public Funding and Grants: CWE operates as a non-profit workforce development organization primarily funded through public funding sources. The organization receives city budget allocations for worker training programs and operates as the workforce development arm of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

The Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) is a New York City-based non-profit workforce development organization that oversees a network of over 40 job training and placement providers across the five boroughs. Operating as the workforce development arm of the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO, CWE delivers job training, skills development, placement services, and career pathway programs to approximately 34,000 individuals annually through more than 3,700 funded classes and initiatives. Programs span union member training, industrial and construction careers, child care, healthcare, and community-based workforce services.

Product overview

The Consortium for Worker Education (CWE) is a non-profit workforce development organization that operates as a platform of interconnected programs and services rather than a single unified product. The core offering consists of workforce development programs overseen by a network of over 40 job training and placement providers across New York City's five boroughs. Key programs include Union Initiatives (the primary service for incumbent union members), Pathways to Industrial & Construction Careers (PINCC), Jobs to Build On, Worker Service Centers, and specialized initiatives like the Child Care Facilitated Enrollment Project, Facilitated Enrollment Scholarship Program, Health Care Training, Workers United Education Program, Astoria Worker Project, and Work in Progress. These programs collectively served approximately 34,000 individuals through over 3,700 funded classes and placement initiatives, with services delivered in partnership with the New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Union Initiatives Core workforce development program providing training services to incumbent union members across 36 union locals in New York City.
• Pathways to Industrial & Construction Careers (PINCC)
• Jobs to Build On
• Worker Service Centers
• The Child Care Facilitated Enrollment Project
• The Facilitated Enrollment Scholarship Program
• Health Care Training
• Workers United Education Program
• Astoria Worker Project
• Work in Progress

Quantifiable outcome

• 34,000 individuals enrolled in training annually
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD)minorOthersCWE is a member of the Consortium for Constituents with Disabilities (CCD), a coalition of over 25 disability rights and justice organizations. Through this membership, CWE participates in advocacy efforts including recent requests to the U.S. House and Senate for funding of Assistive Technology (AT) Act Programs that provide assistive technologies and services to people with disabilities.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Year Up: Year Up is a national workforce development nonprofit serving young adults with combined training and corporate internships; it is comparable to CWE in target-population approach but broader in geographic reach and not labor-union affiliated.
• Goodwill Industries of New York and Northern New Jersey: Goodwill's regional affiliate delivers job training, placement, and credentialing across multiple occupational paths in NYC; it competes with CWE for public workforce funding and shares the broad community-based training and placement mission.
• National Fund for Workforce Solutions: The National Fund is a national intermediary that invests in regional workforce partnerships; it operates one tier above CWE's direct training delivery but is comparable as a funding/coordinating body for community-based workforce initiatives.

Direct peers

• Per Scholas: Per Scholas provides tuition-free technology and IT training with employer partnerships leading to careers in infrastructure and cybersecurity; it competes for the same public workforce funding pools and underserved NYC populations that CWE serves.
• STRIVE: STRIVE is a national nonprofit workforce development organization focused on intensive job-readiness training and long-term retention for individuals facing barriers to employment, with longstanding NYC operations comparable to CWE's training and placement model.
• 1199SEIU Training and Employment Funds: The 1199SEIU training funds provide workforce development for healthcare workers represented by 1199SEIU—a structure highly analogous to CWE's role as the AFL-CIO central labor council's workforce arm, with industry-specific training pipelines in NYC.
• Henry Street Settlement Workforce Development Programs: Henry Street Settlement operates workforce development programs in lower Manhattan targeting immigrant and low-income New Yorkers with job training and placement—functionally similar to CWE's community-member training initiatives delivered in the same NYC labor market.
• Nontraditional Employment for Women (NEW): NEW prepares women for skilled trade careers in NYC's building, construction, and infrastructure sectors through direct training and union-connected apprenticeship pipelines—overlapping closely with CWE's PINCC, Jobs to Build On, and union-initiative programs.
• Opportunities for a Better Tomorrow (OBT): OBT is a NYC-based nonprofit providing job training, placement, and career pathways to opportunity youth and adults—an essentially identical mission delivered through classroom-based programs and employer partnerships in the same NYC labor market as CWE.

Regional players

• Building Trades Employers Association (BTEA) Training Programs: BTEA coordinates union construction apprenticeship and training programs in NYC, overlapping directly with CWE's construction-sector and apprenticeship-focused offerings through a similar labor-affiliated delivery model.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/CWENYC
• Instagraminstagram.com/cwe4nyc
• Facebookfacebook.com/CWENYC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/consortium-for-worker-education

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Consortium for Worker Education