JFF in the News

Jobs for Future identifies 6 top strategies for dropout reduction

July 13, 2011, Educational Research

Three states, Texas, Mississippi and North Carolina, have done the most comprehensive jobs of addressing the dropout problem, says a new report by Jobs For the Future. (Six Pillars of Effective Dropout Prevention and Recovery, An Assessment of Current State Policy and How to Improve It).

A Change in Plans: Obama's Evolving Agenda

July 12, 2011, The Root

Cassius Johnson, associate vice president for national federal policy with Jobs for the Future, agrees that publishing [college costs] is an important role for the federal government to play. “If you look at whatʼs available to students right know, particularly low-income students, in terms of knowing what their price options are, thereʼs not a lot of transparency in the market. When you go to Wal-Mart youʼre able to see what prices are for a particular item, but thereʼs been nothing like that for colleges,” he told The Root.

Green Job Training Targets Big Cities

July 5, 2011, Earth Techling

Green job training in Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Seattle, and Washington D.C. is about to be significantly expanded with the $8M grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor to Jobs for the Future, a nonprofit education and workforce development organization.

The GreenWays Initiative will focus on developing skills for training green collar workers in 4 specific areas: green building construction, auto technology, manufacturing, and utilities.

Hub group gets job training grant

June 23, 2011, The Boston Globe

Jobs for the Future Inc., a Boston education and workforce development nonprofit, has been awarded an $8 million grant from the Department of Labor to expand green-job training programs for unemployed and low-skilled workers in Boston, Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, Chicago, Detroit, and Seattle. The money will help fund the organization’s JFF GreenWays Initiative...

Should All Kids Go to College?

June 15, 2011, The Nation

Workforce development advocates say it is hard for politicians to champion vocational programs because of the field’s troubled history. “Talking about ‘science’ is much more appealing than saying ‘career education for struggling kids,’” says Nancy Hoffman, vice president of the advocacy group Jobs for the Future. “It would be great if we could get rid of the stigma of CTE.”

More Emphasis on Vocational Training?

June 13, 2011, National Journal

"Evidence is emerging that young people would be well advised to choose a technical education pathway if they wish to head for a job with a decent wage. Indeed, data from Florida and from the National Center of Education and Economy document that entry-level salaries for holders of..." –Marlene B. Seltzer, President & CEO of JFF

Obama pushes job training initiatives to boost U.S. manufacturing

June 8, 2011, Christian Science Monitor

Currently “there is such a splintering of credentials–so many different models and vendors. [So] by moving toward more of a national model, we’ll see a lot of economies of scale,” says Maria Flynn, vice president of Jobs for the Future, a Boston-based national nonprofit that promotes credential attainment and career advancement for low-income Americans.

A renewed focus on regional recovery

May 19, 2011, Community College Times

“Our more than 1,100 community colleges stand at the intersection of workforce demand and supply, making them a valuable resource for future economic development,” said Richard Kazis, senior vice president at Jobs for the Future and the author of the report. “But we risk squandering this resource if we do not re-shape state and regional economic development strategies to get maximum value out of our investment.”

What, Exactly, Does College Do for Us?

May 16, 2011, National Journal

"The more we talk about programs of study, about the pathways that are available to and chosen by participants in different college settings... that conversation also helps move us toward improving the benefits of postsecondary education to individuals and our nation as a whole." –Marlene B. Seltzer, President & CEO of JFF

Scaling up programs for low-skilled adults

May 12, 2011, The Hechinger Report

Five Breaking Through community colleges have redesigned basic skills education to help low-skilled adults earn job credentials, reports Jobs for the Future in Achieving Ambitious Goals. “Low-skilled adults” perform below the eighth-grade level on...

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