What is Giving Compass?
We connect donors to learning resources and ways to support community-led solutions. Learn more about us.
Giving Compass' Take:
• In this report, four organizations engaged in Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Generation Work initiative describe work-based learning opportunities for young adults of color.
• How can donors strengthen work-based learning models to build equity in the workforce?
• Learn more about the role of work-based learning in addressing the college and career readiness crisis.
America’s youngest workers, particularly young adults of color, are facing the most dire employment prospects since the Great Depression. As our nation looks toward recovery, and policymakers and investors seek strategies to build stronger connections to economic opportunity for young workers of color, we’d like to highlight the promise of work-based learning (WBL) opportunities:
- WBL can help young adults of color get the experience, education, credentials, and relationships necessary to succeed in the workforce, now and in the future.
- WBL can provide young adults of color an entry point into jobs in industries where they have been historically underrepresented. WBL can provide opportunities for young adults to demonstrate their value and abilities to employers and to change biases around hiring and career advancement.
In this research report, we describe how four organizations involved with the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Generation Work initiative engage with young adults and employers to design and manage WBL opportunities.
Read the full report about work-based learning by Ranita Jain and Vivian Vàzquez at The Aspen Institute.
Connecting young adults of color to WBL opportunities can catalyze the expansion of equitable economic opportunity in America. WBL opportunities can help young adults of color break out of the cycle of working in low-wage jobs and ensure that they attain the experience, education, credentials, and relationships necessary for stable and well-paying jobs.