“To gain a data-driven understanding of the life sciences labor market that we are preparing participants to enter, we partnered with LMIS to conduct quantitative research on the skills and experience necessary for learners to break into the field, as well as qualitative assessments of what lifesci employers seek in entry-level applicants. Our partnership was essential for the design of our curriculum and programming, and it continues to directly nurture the success of our trainees.” – Casey Lardner, PhD, Executive Director, Genspace

Genspace is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit widely recognized as the first community biology lab in the world and occupies a unique and important space within the life sciences ecosystem in providing public access to life sciences technology.

In 2024, with funding from NYC Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC), Genspace developed a modified program model, Break into Biotech (BiB), to offer underemployed and low-income adults an onramp into the growing life sciences field through lab-based skills and access to industry professionals. Part of this commitment to expanding services included engaging LMIS to bring a research lens to program development and implementation. LMIS’ contributions include developing a program application that enabled a deeper understanding of applicants’ profiles and priorities as well as the success of current recruitment strategies; adding a labor market perspective through secondary data analyses and employer focus groups to ensure that BiB’s curriculum responds to labor market trends and employer priorities; and conducting an on-going program evaluation of the BiB pilot to distill which aspects of program delivery are having the intended effects, and which invite refinement.

In 2024, the organizations co-presented about the collaboration and pilot evaluation to New York City’s LifeSci Consortium and in 2025 presented to a wider audience of workforce development policymakers and practitioners at an LMIS Research Breakfast focused on the life sciences labor market.

In NY State, a fertile biotech landscape is attracting and growing companies. This includes $1 billion in New York City investments through the LifeSci NYC Initiative, and a $620 million Life Science Initiative Fund through Empire State Development (ESD), which features investments in a major research hub, a drug development AI laboratory, and new funding for startups (ESD, 2024). It is critical that NY’s workforce-development ecosystem leverage this incredible opportunity by creating pathways and trainings to pave the way for New Yorkers to join this lucrative growing field. Break into Biotech is a blueprint to inspire other workdev collaborations in this area.