The Oakland Workforce Investment Board (WIB) is appointed by the Mayor to serve as the oversight and policy-making body for federally funded employment and training programs and services in Oakland. Its broader mandate is to oversee the integration of all services and programs to meet the needs of employers and job seekers.

Vision, Goals, Priorities
The vision of the Oakland WIB is to establish and direct a results-oriented workforce development and business services system that:

• Provides job seekers with the education and training needed to achieve self-sufficiency.
• Merges public and private sector resources and expertise to create an integrated workforce development and business services system capable of sustaining itself through fee generation.
• Creates job opportunities for youth and adults and advancement opportunities for the underemployed through comprehensive business development, retention, and expansion services.

The WIB's priorities are to:

1. Enable clients to obtain full employment and self-sufficiency.
2. Serve those most in need including unemployed and under-employed.
3. Meet the workforce needs of local employers.
4. Create a fully integrated service delivery system.
5. Create a system that is driven by a results orientation.
6. Create a framework for the WIB that encompasses all public and private workforce development funding and resources available to serve Oakland residents and employers.

Structure
The Oakland WIB has 36 board positions, a minimum of 19 of which are reserved for business sector leaders. Its committee structure includes:

• Executive Committee - Forms committees, sets agenda, oversees business of the Board.
• Youth Council - Develops youth employment and training policy and recommends funding for youth service programs to the WIB.
• Quality Assurance Committee - Monitors performance of the entire service delivery system including sub-contractors and the One-Stop system.
• Business Services Committee - Develops policy recommendations for the Executive Committee on ways to meet the workforce needs of Oakland's employers.
• One Stop Leadership Committee - Integrates the services and resources of workforce development programs into a comprehensive and seamless One Stop system that is responsive to needs of employers, job seekers and career changers.

WIB's Fit within City Structure
As mandated by the Workforce Investment Act of 1998, the Mayor is ultimately responsible for the administration of federal job training funds in Oakland and is authorized to appoint the Workforce Investment Board. Generally speaking, the Mayor and the WIB share equal authority according to the federal legislation. The Oakland City Council, under the leadership of the Community & Economic Development Committee, oversees program performance through the Job Training Performance Standards System and authorizes the City Administrator to appropriate funding and enter into contracts with the System Administrator and One Stop Career Center Operator.