VISION 2020

CREATING OPPORTUNITY FOR AMERICA’S NEXT GENERATION

To help the nation compete globally, JFF has committed to a goal for the next decade that many of our partners—and President Obama—now share: to “double the numbers” of low-income youth and adults who earn postsecondary credentials.

I believe that JFF is well positioned to contribute to making this vision a reality. In a new report, Vision 2020: Creating Opportunity for America’s Next Generation, we detail JFF’s strategies for achieving that goal. Vision 2020 shows how JFF is building on our unique and critical niche—where research, policy, and practice intersect—to improve educational and economic opportunity for all.

—Marlene B. Seltzer, President and CEO, Jobs for the Future

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COLLEGE READY

EARLY COLLEGE HIGH SCHOOLS BEAT THE ODDS

When Diego Camposeco, a student at Pender Early College High School in Burgaw, North Carolina, checked his email this spring, a dream came true. He found out he will be the first in his family to attend college. Not only that, he will enter the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill with one of UNC’s prestigious four-year, “full-ride” scholarships.

JFF CEO and President Marlene Seltzer tells Camposeco’s story—and that of the Early College High School Initiative and its remarkable results—in an Education Week commentary.

AN ALTERNATIVE TO STANDARD ADMISSIONS TESTS: ASSESSING THE LIKELIHOOD OF SUCCESS IN COLLEGE

In May, during the second annual Early College High School Week, JFF hosted a webinar to explore the use of assessments of non-cognitive abilities to enhance college persistence for students in danger of dropping out. Non-cognitive abilities are certain behaviors and attitudes—such as educational commitment and resiliency—that are distinct from the traditional verbal and quantitative areas that ability tests or achievement tests are designed to measure.

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CAREER ADVANCEMENT

BRINGING THE FRONT LINES TO THE FOREFRONT

In March 2010, JFF hosted two working meetings that brought attention to an often-overlooked issue central to the quality, access, and affordability of health care: The health sector does not have enough qualified workers to ensure quality care for aging Baby Boomers, the newly insured, and a more diverse U.S. population. David Altstadt reports on the Washington discussions, which drew upon the on-the-ground experiences of three nationwide initiatives that are supporting community efforts to bolster the skills development, job quality, and retention of frontline health care workers: Jobs to Careers, National Fund for Workforce Solutions, and Breaking Through.

RX FOR AN ECONOMY IN RECOVERY

In a guest editorial for Solutions, Marlene Seltzer discusses the role of the health care sector as a source of the good jobs the country desperately needs. At the same time, she notes, “Without strong action, hospitals, health centers, and other care providers are unlikely to find enough qualified workers” to address present and predicted labor shortages.

GETTING AMERICANS BACK TO WORK

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions, involving more than 250 funders, is proving that innovative, local approaches to preparing jobseekers and workers for careers, built on strong partnerships with employers, can deliver results for local economies. That’s the conclusion of the second annual national evaluation of the initiative. JFF is an implementation partner of the National Fund.

Outcomes generated by the 22 National Fund sites in 2009 include:

• 18,036 jobseekers and incumbent workers received training and career support, an increase of 286 percent from the year before.
• 9,735 participants received degrees or credentials, compared to 679 in 2008.
• 4,058 jobseekers secured jobs, up from 893 in 2008. Of those who got jobs, 81 percent are working more than 35 hours per week.

A video interview with one of the initiative’s beneficiaries, Keisha Monique Blake, who works at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, is available on the National Fund Web site.

ADDRESSING BARRIERS TO EMPLOYMENT

The National Fund for Workforce Solutions has prepared information sheets on ways to address four common barriers to labor market success for low-skilled workers: criminal records; driver’s license suspensions; lack of access to affordable and convenient transportation; and the garnishing of wages for child support.

FRONTLINE VOICES

Two stories available on the Jobs to Careers Web site bring home how the initiative makes a difference in the lives of frontline workers.

Timothy Meade, a mental health worker at Temple University Episcopal Hospital in Philadelphia and a participant in the District 1199C Training & Upgrading Fund, offers a unique perspective. Not only did he participate in Jobs to Careers training, but he’s also a union delegate and helped put this project into the union contract.

And a number of frontline workers and supervisors are featured in a report on how the Jobs to Careers project at Central Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson has changed people’s lives.

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POLICY SOLUTIONS

TEXAS: DUAL ENROLLMENT AND PATHWAYS TO AND THROUGH COLLEGE

Joel Vargas, in May testimony given before the Texas State Senate, highlighted how the state’s dual enrollment opportunities have helped high school students prepare for and succeed in college. He also offered advice on the role of policy in sustaining and expanding these opportunities.

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PROFILES

PROFILE: LISA G. CHAPNICK

PROFILE: MEGAN K. FOX

Vision 2020, described at the beginning of Newswire, grew out of an intensive, organization-wide planning process that was led by two individuals who came to JFF in recent years, bringing to our team a depth of experience in strategic planning: Lisa Chapnick and Megan Fox.

Lisa Chapnick, JFF’s chief operating officer, has 25 years of managerial and institutional development experience. The common link across her work in government, nonprofits, and higher education is her desire to use strategic management and growth as levers for improving communities.

Before arriving at JFF, Lisa served as senior vice president for administration and planning at Simmons College. She has also served as executive director of the Mattapan Community Health Center and the City of Boston Public Facilities Department and as undersecretary of Economic Affairs for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Megan Fox, our first director of knowledge management and information technology, helps us figure out systems to capture and share the intellectual content generated by JFF and its partners. With her help, we leverage learning and best practices and ultimately extend our influence. A leader in the application of new and emerging technologies to information management and access, Megan worked closely with Lisa Chapnick at Simmons College, where she was associate director for technology and special projects.

HOW CAN NEWSWIRE SERVE YOU?

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Jobs for the Future develops, implements, and promotes new education and workforce strategies that help communities, states, and the nation compete in a global economy. In 200 communities in 41 states, JFF improves the pathways leading from high school to college to family-sustaining careers.

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