How the Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning Can Help You
How the Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning Can Help You
April 29, 2020
At A Glance
JFF’s Center for Apprenticeship & Work-Based Learning has the expertise and the networks needed to advance apprenticeship and work-based learning opportunities in your region. We can help you in the following ways.
Business
Finding the talent to keep your business running is hard. We’ll show you how job-based training and education can deliver the return on investment you need. If you set up an apprenticeship program, you could lead the way for your company and industry to create access to professional development opportunities that make you and your workers more productive.
We can help you define your workforce needs, identify the positions that require hard-to-find skills, and set training goals. We can also help you develop training standards and register them with your state or the federal government, identify local sources of talent, and establish the local partnerships you’ll need in order to build sustainable programs.
Intermediaries
Labor-management organizations have long set the standard for apprenticeship and acted as intermediaries that connect the dots among stakeholders. Now, community-based organizations and others are also stepping in to play that role. JFF can build your capacity to serve as a work-based learning intermediary and prepare you to build bridges among employers to grow apprenticeship, serve as a convener, develop occupational standards for new programs, and provide technical assistance to partners and ease the administrative burdens they encounter when delivering training.
Workforce
Apprenticeship and work-based learning models can be valuable business services tools while also leading to strong short- and long-term outcomes for jobseekers. Yet, many workforce agencies don’t know how to incorporate apprenticeship into their toolboxes. JFF can guide you through the process to determine how to best add apprenticeship to the services you provide. We can advise you on integration with state funding and credits, activities and performance measures that are allowed under the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act, and other best practices.
Postsecondary
Join the growing number of community and technical colleges that are partnering with employers, labor unions, and other organizations to deliver apprenticeship and work-based learning programs. JFF is ready to help you: We currently advise more than 50 community colleges and two state systems on integrating work-based learning into their courses, partnering with employers to jointly create new programs, and implementing credit-bearing apprenticeships.
When JFF came to us with the idea of partnering with SAP to begin C-Town Tech, we thought 'This is it. This is the opportunity to pilot a program.' C-Town Tech is really a leveler. It believes in students' ability to learn, regardless of background.
Dr. Pam Eddinger, President, Bunker Hill Community College
K-12
Education officials are increasingly recognizing that apprenticeships, pre-apprenticeships, and other forms of work-based learning are effective ways to prepare students for college and careers. JFF can help you find program models that meet your needs and then assist you with efforts to integrate work-based learning into programs of study, build education-industry partnerships, and navigate relevant administrative processes.
State/Local Government
State and local officials engage with work-based learning as both policymakers and employers. JFF can help you maximize your impact in both areas. As policy advisers, we can help you replicate and scale models that work, based on your local goals and needs. Or, JFF can position you as a leading employer that uses work-based learning programs to attract and advance workers.
JFF is really at the forefront of [the apprenticeship] movement in nontraditional occupations and companies. They’re studying what’s going on nationally and are able to educate us about it. It’s been really significant that we have JFF behind us.
Krysti Specht, Senior Community Development Specialist, San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development
Philanthropy
Create opportunities to connect people of all backgrounds with living-wage careers. We can help you drive awareness and adoption of apprenticeship and work-based learning to new and growing industries as well as increase awareness of critical considerations that support a variety of workers, including diversity and equity strategies and wraparound supports.
One of my favorite things about JFF is that they are constantly seeking out and supporting innovations in the workforce development space, and leveraging their networks to bring nonprofit organizations, employers, funders, and education institutions together to explore new ideas.
Ebony Beckwith, Salesforce Chief Philanthropy Officer & CEO of Salesforce Foundation