Have you ever finished a webinar, closed the window, and thought, “That was good… but I’m still on my own to figure out what to do with it”?
That feeling is more common than most people admit. Workforce professionals are juggling a lot at once—helping jobseekers, answering to employers, responding to policy changes, trying to understand AI, and keeping up with all the “new” that keeps showing up. There’s training, there are conferences, there are memos and toolkits. But in between those moments, many of us are quietly trying to piece things together by ourselves.
Grow With Communities exists to soften that “you’re on your own” feeling. It’s meant to be a place where you can take a breath, compare notes with others, and talk about what’s really happening on the ground.
You can sign up and explore the communities anytime at growwithcommunities.com.
So what is Grow With Communities, really?
Think of it as a series of small rooms rather than a big crowded hall.
Instead of one giant conversation about everything in workforce development, Grow With Communities is organized into focused groups—career development, workforce training, talent attraction and retention, next-generation workforce issues, and more. You don’t have to be everywhere at once. You simply wander into the spaces that feel closest to your day-to-day work or your curiosity.
Inside each community, the tone is meant to be practical and human. People share what they’re trying. They talk honestly about what isn’t working. They trade ideas, forms, conversations, and small experiments instead of only big, polished “best practices.” You can jump in, ask a question, or just read along quietly until you’re ready to say something.
Why create yet another place to log in?
Most of us don’t need another platform competing for attention. What we do need is somewhere that feels less like a broadcast and more like a conversation.
Conferences are great, but they come once or twice a year. Webinars can be helpful, but when they end, the chat disappears and everyone scatters back to their inbox. Agency emails and policy updates are essential, but they’re usually one-way.
Grow With Communities is meant to fill the space in between. It’s the place where you can say, “Here’s what we’re dealing with right now—how are you handling this?” and get answers from people who truly understand the pressures, acronyms, performance measures, and human stories behind the work.
You might log in one day just to see how others are explaining AI to jobseekers. On another day, you might share a workshop outline that went well and ask how others would improve it. Some days, you may simply look around, take a couple of ideas, and head back to your own team a little better equipped than before.
What it feels like to participate
Imagine you’re working on a new workshop and wondering whether anyone else has tried a certain approach. Instead of reinventing everything, you post a short note describing what you’re thinking. A few people from other states chime in with how they’ve handled something similar—what they added, what they cut, how they kept people engaged.
Or maybe you’ve just read something about AI and hiring and you’re not sure how to talk about it with your clients. You bring that question to a community focused on frontline practice. You find out how others are explaining applicant tracking systems, AI screeners, and résumé scanners in plain language. You borrow a few phrases, adapt them to your style, and use them in your next appointment.
Over time, those small exchanges add up. You realize you’re part of a bigger circle of people who are wrestling with similar challenges. The work doesn’t become easy—but it feels a little less lonely and a little more supported.
How it connects with IAWP and your existing work
If you’re already involved with IAWP or other professional associations, Grow With Communities isn’t trying to replace that. Think of it as a companion.
The newsletter gives you ideas and updates. Webinars and courses give you structured learning. Conferences give you energy and big-picture perspective. Grow With Communities is where all of that has a place to land, settle, and turn into real conversations after the event ends.
It’s also a way to meet people outside your usual circle—someone in another state, another agency, or another role who just happens to be working on the same problem you’re facing this month. That kind of connection is hard to create through email alone.
A simple invitation
You don’t need to arrive with a big plan, a polished profile, or a perfect question. You can start small. Visit growwithcommunities.com, look around, and find one community that seems close to your world. Read a few posts to get a feel for the tone.
When you’re ready, introduce yourself: who you serve, what kind of work you do, and one thing you’re curious about or struggling with right now. That’s enough to start.
Grow With Communities is, at its core, about this simple belief: workforce professionals shouldn’t have to figure everything out on their own. There’s too much change, too much complexity, and too much opportunity for any one person or one office to carry by themselves.
If you’ve ever wished you had a place to talk through the real work with people who understand it—beyond the agenda, beyond the slide deck—that’s the space Grow With Communities is trying to be.