Foundations Launch Sector-Specific Workforce Development Initiatives in U.S. Metros

Several foundations have announced major commitments to fund workforce development efforts focused on expanding the talent pipeline in metros across the country. Each of these efforts is intended to provide high school students and/or young adults with skills and experience necessary to match specific needs of regional industries. These new initiatives also are intended to help at-risk youth from low-income families to obtain and keep well-paying jobs, and to proper evidence-based training as well as address the youth unemployment crisis faced by U.S. metros.

JPMorgan Chase & Co.
As part of the $75 million, five-year global initiative, JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPMC) will provide funding to help U.S. states transform how they design and deliver career-focused education. New Skills for Youth is designed to increase dramatically the number of young people who complete career pathways that begin in high school and end with postsecondary degrees or credentials aligned with good-paying, high-demand jobs. In partnership with the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO) and the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium, JPMC will host a prize competition to help states bring together education leaders, business partners and community partners to set ambitious goals for expanding access to and ensuring preparation for careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs.

In the spring of 2016, CCSSO and JPMC will award $100,000 grants to approximately 25 states for planning and early implementation of long-term, career-readiness education programs that align with the needs of area employers. In the fall of 2016, CCSSO and JPMC will award approximately 10 states with $1.5 million to $2 million, per state, over three years to implement and assess their demand-driven career and technical education programs. More information about applying for these grants is available at: http://bit.ly/CCSSOcareerready.

Via their global program, JPMC will promote global innovation in career-focused education by investing in city and school programs around the world that are developing new and effective models of high-quality career-focused education. For both the national and international program, JPMC intends to help employers fill middle-skill jobs in computer technology, nursing, advanced manufacturing and other fields that require technical education and training. They also intend for these programs to help gain access to the right skills or training.

Aspen Institute
Aspen announced the creation of a leadership and capacity-building network focused on workforce development. In the network’s inaugural class, Workforce Strategies Initative at the Aspen Institute (AspenWSI) provided training to 20 professionals from metros and local regions across the country, plus Canada.  The AspenWSI Sector Skills Academy approach is intended to help these professionals to design and implement regionally focused, sector-specific workforce development strategies.

 In December of 2015, these workforce development professionals gathered for an AspenWSI workshop focused on sectoral workforce initiatives, which build more effective regional workforce systems that address businesses’ employment-related challenges, while at the same time improving employment and career advancement opportunities for low- and moderate-income workers. Participants will have ongoing access to AspenWSI’s national Sector Skills Academy curriculum, program management materials, and network of alumni. They will also continue to receive support from AspenWSI’s Sector Skills Academy staff and core faculty, and from members of this newly formed professional peer network.

Casey Foundation
The Annie E. Casey Foundation will commit $6 million over the next four years to increase job opportunities for America’s young adults in five cities by helping them develop skills regional employers need. Through its new Generation Work initiative, the Casey Foundation will help metros identify effective ways to help young people from low-income families get and keep well-paying jobs. In the initial round of funding, they will award planning grants of $100,000 each to partnerships in Cleveland, Hartford, Indianapolis, Philadelphia and Seattle to pursue strategies to improve employment opportunities for young adults ages 18 to 29. Efforts supported under the Generation Work initiative will focus on two sets of strategies:

• Demand-driven strategies, which involve building relationships with businesses and factoring in the needs of the local economy; and,
• Youth-development strategies such as mentoring and on-the-job learning.

STEP-UP Chattanooga
In collaboration with partners and funders, Public Education Foundation launched the STEP-UP Chattanooga – an internship program for high school juniors and seniors designed to address the challenges faced by both businesses and students in a complex, changing global economy. STEP-UP Chattanooga will recruit local high school students and provide work readiness training designed to help them be successful in interviews and professional settings. Throughout the experience, students will receive support and feedback from STEP-UP staff and supervisors at their place of employment. The program is modeled on the STEP-UP Minneapolis program, which has served over 20,000 students since 2004.