JFF Expands National Advocacy Efforts

National Center on Education and the Economy’s Workforce Development Strategy Group Joins JFF

BOSTON, MA (July 15, 2009) — Jobs for the Future, a national nonprofit organization, and the Workforce Development Strategy Group of the National Center on Education and the Economy (NCEE) have joined forces to form a new Workforce and Education Policy Group within JFF.

NCEE’s Workforce Development Strategy Group will be integrated into JFF’s existing policy efforts in Washington, DC, which until now has focused primarily on secondary and postsecondary education issues. 


“JFF will benefit greatly from the depth of knowledge and experience of talented individuals at NCEE,” said Marlene Seltzer, JFF’s President and CEO. “This is a great opportunity for us to expand our policy capacity and reach as we work with our partners to double the number of low-income youth and adults who attain postsecondary credentials or training by 2020 that helps them advance into family-sustaining careers.”

NCEE’s Workforce Development Strategy Group was founded in 1997. It has had a strong, respected nonpartisan voice on adult and youth workforce development issues, supporting congressional and executive branch officials, and working closely with other policy organizations in Washington to ensure that state and local leaders in the field are heard.


“The Workforce Development Strategies Group of NCEE has achieved remarkable success in helping to guide the evolution of the nation's employment and training policy,” said Ray Marshall, former Secretary of Labor and chair of the NCEE board. “We will miss them, but recognize the extraordinary value they bring to the workforce development mission of Jobs for the Future.”

JFF’s Workforce and Education Policy Group combines the Capitol Hill and Labor Department experience of former NCEE staff such as Ray Uhalde, Tim Barnicle, Mary Clagett, and John Colbert with the experience and knowledge of JFF’s DC-based education policy leaders, Cassius O. Johnson and Elizabeth Grant.


“The depth and breadth of policy experience now located at Jobs for the Future is impressive,” said Thomas P. Glynn, JFF’s board chair and COO of Partners Health Care, who served as deputy secretary of Labor during the Clinton Administration. “This new group should make important contributions to the ultimate goal of helping more Americans obtain the skills and the credentials they need to succeed in an ever more complex economy and labor market.”


Jobs for the Future

Through research, action, and advocacy, JFF develops promising education and labor-market models that enable American families and companies to compete in a global economy.
www.jff.org
www.twitter.com/JFFtweets

National Center on Education and the Economy

The National Center on Education and the Economy is dedicated to providing the policies, tools and technical assistance the nation needs to lead the world in education and training.
www.ncee.org

###