Jacob Carter Succeeds Joe Connolly as PWE Director

Jacob Carter has been named director of The Partnership for Worker Education (PWE) at UMass Amherst. Carter, who previously served as assistant director and recently earned his doctorate from the College of Education, succeeds Joe Connolly, who co-founded the partnership and served as its director for nearly 36 years. Housed within the Office of Human Resources, PWE develops partnerships with employers and unions that address the changing workplace, including new skills for employees and initiatives that address employee advancement, engagement, retention and morale.

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“It is such an honor to steward PWE into this next chapter,” Carter says. “I am eager to continue our groundbreaking work in participatory and empowerment-focused education for workers in a way that enhances our campus and our commonwealth.”

Carter has served the university since 2010 and held leadership roles on campus since 2017, having previously co-launched two campuswide projects: the Facilities and Campus Services Career Ladder and the Building Bridges Public Art and Engagement Initiative, which is a collaboration among the Office of Equity and Inclusion, Civic Engagement and Service-Learning (CESL) and PWE. A three-time UMass alumnus, Carter was awarded a Fulbright fellowship to Guatemala in 2015. His scholarly work has focused on multi-stakeholder partnerships for education.

Connolly will continue to serve PWE in a post-retirement role as a senior technical advisor. Since submitting a proposal to launch the program in 1987, he has shepherded more than 200 successful funding proposals totaling over $10 million, including projects to underwrite educational services for campus staff and services for incumbent, displaced, underemployed and unemployed workers across Massachusetts and at sites in New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia and California.

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“As our name might suggest, partnership is key to all that we do. I can’t think of a funding proposal that I wrote alone; each was a team effort,” Connolly says. “There is not one PWE activity that we do in isolation, every activity involves our employer and labor partners. Partnership, common ground, consensus-building, joint employer-union sponsorship… I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Working with the Office of Human Resources, AFSCME Local 1776, the University Staff Association and the Professional Staff Union, PWE provides services for approximately 4,500 employees at UMass Amherst. This includes innovative education, training and career-ladder opportunities for service maintenance, food service, clerical and professional employees.

“There is so much common ground on campus around the need for tailored education and training. I have also seen the importance of elevating the voice and visibility of workers on campus. I look forward to working with our partners to help make all of this happen,” Carter adds.