About Us
The Boston Private Industry Council – also known as the PIC – is the city’s workforce development board, appointed by Mayor Michelle Wu, and its school-to-career intermediary organization. The PIC is one of the Commonwealth’s 16 MassHire Workforce Boards. As a nonprofit organization, the PIC hires and deploys front-line staff to work directly with priority populations in order to create a tight loop between policy and practice, continuously informed by data analysis and research.
For more than 40 years, the PIC has worked at the intersection of education and workforce development to connect Boston residents to promising career pathways, while creating a diverse talent pipeline for local employers.
The PIC convenes business and education, along with government, labor, and community leaders, to align education and workforce development systems, address racial and socioeconomic inequities, and better serve Boston residents and employers.
Our work is grounded in the belief that meaningful employment changes lives, lifts people out of poverty, and strengthens the local economy. The PIC strives to embed equity-minded practices in all we do in order to address implicit bias, encourage cultural awareness, and implement asset-based approaches.
We do three kinds of work:
Convening business, education, government, organized labor, and community leaders in order to:
- fulfill our responsibilities under the federal Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) by chartering career centers
- organize employers by industry sector, along with education and training providers, to share information, advocate for effective policies and practices, and implement initiatives collectively
- align education and nonprofit partners to advocate for and implement policies, programs, and pathways that support youth and young adults, both in-school and out-of-school
Connecting students, employers, and schools in order to:
- develop jobs, internships, and career exploration activities and to assist in the implementation of these program opportunities
- prepare and match high school students with jobs, internships, and career exploration activities
- re-engage young adults who have left school or college without earning a diploma and connect them with educational options, training, and career-oriented employment
Measuring progress and outcomes for PIC programs and city-wide education and workforce development initiatives in the context of current labor market trends and challenges.