The final New York City Workforce Funders Collaborative’s Quarterly Meeting of 2021 will focus on a critical aspect of the city’s economic recovery: youth employment. Recent data has shown that 1 in 4 young adults in New York City were out of school and out of work in 2020. These young adults continue to face barriers to achieving their educational and career goals. Many who lost their jobs during the pandemic are returning to a restructured labor market and jobs that demand digital fluency and new technical skills. How can the city’s educational and workforce development systems, community-based organizations, and philanthropic leaders best meet the needs of young people in this moment?
Marjorie Parker, President and CEO of JobsFirstNYC, will kick off the session with an overview of the major recommendations from JobsFirstNYC’s new policy paper, Equitable Recovery for Young Adults: An Agenda for Young Adult Workforce Development in New York City. A panel of leaders from across the workforce system will then gather for an in-depth discussion of one of these recommendations: the need for increased investment in bridge programs. Advocates have long called for greater investment in bridge programs (those programs which provide foundational skills as an on-ramp to workforce training pathways) to increase economic mobility for New Yorkers facing barriers to employment. Panelists will share lessons learned from their own bridge models and will address the need for an expansion of bridge programs to ensure out-of-school and out-of-work young people acquire the skills they need to secure good jobs during this economic recovery.
Explore
- Current labor market projections and implications for youth employment
- Youth employment policy and programmatic recommendations
- Examples of best-in-class bridge models for young adults
Speakers
Panelists
- Helen Kogan, Executive Director, NY/NJ Metro Area, NPower
- Abe Mendez, Managing Director, New York, Per Scholas
- Marjorie Parker, President and CEO, JobsFirstNYC
- Elizabeth Payamps, Director, Future Now, Bronx Community College
- Javiel Vega, Program Director, Young Adult Opportunity Initiative, New Settlement Apartments
Moderators
- Laurie Dien, Vice President / Executive Director for Programs, The Pinkerton Foundation
- Roderick Jenkins, Senior Program Officer, The New York Community Trust
Designed for
All interested funders.
Recording
