Elevating Your Programming With LERs: A Guide for CBOs

This field guide, developed by Jobs for the Future (JFF), is a resource for community-based organizations (CBO) that are interested in integrating learning and employment records (LER) and verifiable credentials (VC) into their programming. Other learn-to-work ecosystem partners, such as workforce development boards and community colleges, can also take these insights into consideration. The guide was created to provide a comprehensive overview of JFF’s 12-month regional LER pilot project with the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The recommendations included are based on the learnings from two IRC field sites that issued verifiable credentials to their participants for the first time. 

The goals of the field guide are to: 

• Share best practices and key takeaways from JFF and IRC’s regional LER pilot  
• Equip CBO program teams with actionable next steps to inform planning and design 
• Inspire CBOs to explore how LERs can be thoughtfully applied to new and existing programs 

The guide includes promising practices, key strategies, and important considerations to inform future CBO pilots and broader ecosystem adoption. While it is meant to prepare CBOs with actionable steps to support planning and delivery, it is not intended to be an exhaustive solution. Content includes a step-by-step approach to assessing organizational readiness and designing and running the pilot, as well as supplemental resources. 

What sets this pilot apart: 

• Human-centric approach. The pilot assessed whether LERs could address human problems by evaluating behavior changes rather than relying on just technological solutions. 
• Community-based involvement. It engaged a CBO, which have been underrepresented in other LER field pilots that often focus on academic or large institutions. 
• Focus on population. It was designed with and centered on the needs of immigrants and refugees, who face significant barriers to accessing quality jobs. 

The pilot models how an organization can successfully design and implement verifiable credentials into its programming and how emerging LER technology can be applied to workforce- and career-readiness programming. To learn more, click below.