IdeasCityWS to lead discussion on workforce development

Wake Forest University, New Museum’s NEW INC in New York City, and more than a dozen local businesses and organizations, are engaging in a unique year-long partnership under the banner “IdeasCity Winston-Salem.”

IdeasCityWS will host the second in a series of virtual case studies called Beta Bonfires on Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. The focus will be on workforce development.

Winston-Salem’s Shereen Gomaa, owner of Delicious by Shereen, will join three panelists from New York to discuss how businesses with equity as a core value can align profit and growth with community success.

The Beta Bonfire is free and open to the public. Register here. 

The discussion will be moderated by Winston-Salem Assistant City Manager Evan Raleigh, whose responsibilities include oversight of the city’s Office of Business and Inclusion and economic and workforce development programs.

Presenters include:

• Project Inkblot – consultants who partner with companies to build equitable products, services, and content,
• Ampled—a platform for musicians owned, controlled, and governed 100% by its artists and workers,
• Scope of Work – a talent development agency for young creatives of color working to build a more inclusive artistic ecosystem, and
• Delicious by Shereen– a catering company designed to empower members of the Syrian refugee community providing a pathway to financial stability, networking and opportunity.

IdeasCity, which began as a collaborative program of the New Museum, has taken many forms over the years as a platform that builds on the premise that art and culture are essential to the future vitality of cities. Winston-Salem joins a global list of cities that have hosted IdeasCity including Athens, Detroit, Istanbul, New Orleans, New York City, São Paulo, Shanghai, Singapore, and Toronto.

Throughout the 2020-21 academic year, community partners will host events to explore creative approaches to improve health and wellbeing, economic development, and justice and equity for members of the Winston-Salem community.

For more information about IdeasCityWS and to access a recording of the first Beta Bonfire on rethinking norms, visit https://ideascity.events.wfu.edu.