Across New York City, individuals who are out of school and out of work tend to live in communities with the highest poverty rates. Reduced access to work-based learning opportunities and cutbacks in comprehensive support services are occurring alongside increased demand for workers in various sectors, making it critical to develop a collaborative approach that simultaneously prepares jobseekers and meets labor market demand. By enhancing workforce development capacity, increasing employment opportunities, and influencing policy and investment, these sector networks seek to uplift New Yorkers into good careers.
When JobsFirst NYC launched the Sector Networks in 2020:
16%
of young adults were out of school and out of work
10.3%
of youth were unemployed
31%
of young Black workers were unemployed
26%
of young Latinx workers were unemployed
Approach
The Sector Networks organize and expand effective skills training, strengthen collective mechanisms to partner with employers, customize training to meet targeted hiring demands, and increase employment opportunities for young adults and their communities.
Target sectors include: Green Economy,Technology, and Healthcare.
The Green Economy Network establishes effective practices and aligns current systems to create green jobs and career paths in New York City, prioritizing access and sustainability.The Healthcare Sector Network customizes skills training with employer collaboration and promotes fair pay and quality healthcare jobs in New York City.The Tech Sector Network fosters an inclusive tech industry in New York City by facilitating customized training for in-demand roles and connecting employers with skilled tech talent.
Northeastern Pennsylvania has always excelled at collaboration. Yet despite strong partnerships, a 2019 Workforce Strategy Group study revealed a critical missing link: the region lacked permanent workforce intermediary infrastructure.
Without a neutral entity to transform collaborative vision into scalable action, systemic progress remained elusive. The missing piece wasn’t ideas – it was infrastructure.
Collaboration is Strength:
NEPA has a history of collaboration.
The Gap (2019 Study):
Research by the Workforce Strategy Group identified a critical lack of a permanent workforce intermediary infrastructure.
The Consequence:
Without a neutral entity, collaborative ideas fail to translate into scalable, systemic realities.
More Than Members and Money, But a Movement: The NEPA Workforce Funder Collaborative
nfrastructure such as this requires coordinated investment. That is why SACF and JobsFirst NYC spent the past year building something equally critical for this region, through the development of the NEPA Workforce Funder Collaborative.
This coalition of eleven founding funder organizations—formally committing in October 2025 supported with an award by the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation —represents a significant shift in how workforce development will be advanced in the region. As the first collaborative of its kind locally, these funders are coming together to work and learn collectively, building a coordinated, pooled approach that complements their individual portfolios. The Steering Committee is currently composed of co-chairs Danielle Breslin,of the Moses Taylor Foundation, and Laura Ducceschi of the Scranton Area Community Foundation, along with fiscal agent the AllOne Foundation leadership, John Cosgrove, and Jesse Ergott. With JobsFirst NYC serving as the Technical Assistance & Advancement Agent, we help ensure funders have access to high-quality learning and experts, research on how best to leverage collective resources, and strategic advice as they position themselves to be a vehicle for impact and investment in the region.
Their shared vision is “a thriving and equitable Northeast Pennsylvania where collaboration and inclusivity drive innovation, ensuring all individuals have equitable access to family-sustaining jobs and the resources needed for sustainable economic stability.”
The NEPA Workforce Funder Collaborative was officially launched in the first quarter of 2026.
Workforce Connections, the Nevada Community Foundation, and JobsFirst are seeking to welcome a select group of visionary funders to develop and launch the Southern Nevada Workforce Funder Collaborative (SNV WFC). This collaborative will serve as the premier co-investment vehicle to fund important workforce initiatives in the region. Examples being JobsFirst Southern Nevada: a permanent, locally-led, 501(c)(3) workforce intermediary designed to scale local partner solutions based on the proven 2 decade JobsFirst model.
By creating a shared pool for investment, as well as sharing knowledge, the collective will foster impact at a systems level. The aim is that the funder collaborative will address persistent workforce barriers as a collective — particularly for opportunity youth (OY) and underserved communities – through a multi-year membership and investment that will focus on strengthening long-term workforce outcomes in the region. Through the launch of this collaborative, we aim to bring together regional philanthropic leadership to drive systemic solutions, attract additional resources, and create more and better economic mobility across Southern Nevada, together.
The Opportunity: Why This Matters Now
The Scale of the Challenge
42,000 young adults (1-in-7) in Clark County are disconnected from school and work, driving long-term regional poverty.
The Opportunity
Reconnecting 22,000 youth by 2030 will unlock nearly $12 billion in local economic growth and save billions in public costs.
Unprecedented Momentum
Initial investments from JobsFirst NYC and the Walter S Johnson Foundation and others have provided the capacity to pilot promising strategies emerging from the Southern Nevada Opportunity Youth Coalition Strategic Action Plan.
Proven Model
In partnership with Workforce Connections, JobsFirst’s national model for creating and advancing solutions that break down barriers and transform the systems supporting young adults and their communities is already being leveraged in Southern Nevada.
Strategic Benefits for Members
As a member of the collaborative, your organization moves from isolated grantmaking to high-leverage, systemic infrastructure building. Specifically, your investment delivers:
Amplified Leverage
Pool funds with regional peers to multiply your local ROI and attract national matching capital.
Mitigated Risk
Distribute financial risk across a trusted co-investment tackling large-scale systems change.
Expert Learning
Gain direct access to specialized regional workforce intelligence and labor market data.
Systemic Legacy
Support the establishment of a permanent regional asset (JobsFirst SNV) for long-term transformation.
Commitment & Governance: What is Required
To achieve a total initial startup target of $1.5 Million over 3 years, we are establishing a tiered membership model that rewards early leadership with strategic influence:
Institutional Support: Funds are managed locally by the Nevada Community Foundation (NCF), ensuring absolute financial stewardship as the fiscal sponsor to support grant administration and compliance. Workforce Connections provides expertise and alignment with public systems, while JobsFirst delivers national technical assistance having co-led the development of the NEPA Workforce Funder Collaborative, launched March 2026.
Financial Contribution: Early funder members commit a minimum investment of $25,000-$100,000+ annually for 3 years. This multi-year horizon provides the stable runway required to stand up the intermediary infrastructure securely.
Strategic Governance: Early funder members have the opportunity to be a founding member of this initiative and shape its development. Founding members will support direct decision-making authority over collaborative development, capital allocation parameters, and regional funding strategies.
Development Roadmap & Next Steps (June 2026 – March 2027)
The updated development roadmap of the Southern Nevada Workforce Funder Collaborative spans from initial collaborative introductions to the formal public launch:
Join us as a founding member to share resources and expertise to build long-term investment in economic mobility solutions for Southern Nevada’s young adults and communities.
Community Inspired Networks for Change (CommunityINC) seeks to expand economic mobility for young adults and their communities. Leveraging the successful JobsFirst model and strategic local partnerships, we incubate and accelerate place-based workforce intermediaries and funder collaboratives. Engaging all stakeholders, we identify and advance solutions that break down barriers and transform systems.
Historically under-resourced communities face multiple socioeconomic barriers due to decades of neglect and disinvestment, limiting economic mobility. Meanwhile, the organizations serving these communities often are not working beyond traditional siloes to support building strong and scalable pathways that lead to economic mobility. What is needed is an intermediary that provides a well-organized infrastructure that: responds to local needs, fosters collaboration where needed, structures effective, adaptable and scalable solutions, raises and optimizes resources, aligns policy and advocacy, and builds cross-sector trust.
The CommunityINC Model
1
Local Organizations
Local organizations serving historically under- resourced communities will collaborate to inform the development of a new workforce intermediary.
2
Local Funder Collaboratives
Coalition of cross-sector investors build localbuild a local funder collaboratives to leverage resources, expertise and impact of a new workforce intermediary.
The CommunityINC Model
The workforce intermediary will collaborate with and support the following stakeholders
Strategic Partners
New Ways to Work – (Primary Technical Assistance Partner) works with local government and educational agencies, workforce boards, community-based organizations, employer associations, and private foundations to prepare youth for the future.
MDRC – (Primary Learning & Evaluation Partner) a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to improving the lives of people with low incomes through high-quality research and evidence.
What Are Funder Collaboratives and Why Are They Important?
The past 20 years have seen significant growth in funder collaboratives—collectives of like-minded donors seeking to invest in charitable causes together and thereby create a greater impact than any single donor could have on their own. Indeed, a 2023 research study by Bridgespan on growth trends with funder collaboratives concluded that such collaboratives may be the most significant trend in how philanthropy is operating today.
A workforce funder collaborative is a group of private and corporate foundations that agree to work together and pool funds to build a more effective workforce system in a community or region. It consists of a broad base of funders who combine their resources, skills, and networks to foster high-impact solutions. To date, most workforce funder collaboratives have focused on the needs of urban communities because that is where foundations and corporate funders are typically based. However, as research from the Urban Institute points out, poverty has recently been growing rapidly in non-urban areas, many of which lack the necessary infrastructure and services needed to address the workforce needs of their low-income residents.
JobsFirst NYC was created through investment by the Tiger Foundation, the Clark Foundation, and the New York City Workforce Funders, a collaborative of private philanthropic investors. As it was with JobsFirst NYC, the funder collaborative component is key to building a sustainability strategy for workforce solutions. Through the creation of JobsFirst to build CommunityINC, we are incubating and accelerating workforce intermediaries and funder collaboratives, we aim to apply JobsFirst’s successful 18-year strategy in communities that can benefit from a well-organized infrastructure that addresses local needs.
How Does a Workforce Funder Collaborative Work?
Leverage
Vehicle for investment Provides a point of investment for corporations (e.g. banks, retail companies, etc.) and foundations to make an investment in a community or region that they would not likely make in a single organization or in an issue area.
Collective benefits Members of the collaborative identify key issues and opportunities where other key stakeholders—including employers, the public sector, and community-based organizations—have designed ready-to-implement solutions.
Logistics
Minimum investment Most funder collaboratives establish a minimum member investment level (e.g., $50,000).
Repository Funds are held by a lead organization and distributed with accountability measures.
Leap
Shared cost/minimized risk A workforce funder collaborative minimizes the risk of individual funders when investing in high-impact solutions and provides them with a more logistically flexible tool for diverse funding opportunities.
Learning
Education Participating funders receive education on the specific needs in a community and the most effective workforce strategies for addressing them.
Leadership
Staffing Staffing is coordinated by an experienced consultant/employee knowledgeable of workforce issues and focused on funder member’s interests.
This is a space dedicated to sharing updates from the Green Economy, Healthcare, and Tech Networks; relaying program openings and recruitment opportunities; and fostering cross-network collaboration.
In April, the Green Economy Network kicked off its first-ever Clean Energy Connect Expo, and welcomed over 150 jobseekers, students, training partners, and employers. Our Healthcare and Tech Networks are building on the momentum gained from the Expo, with continued strategic planning for their upcoming expos and employer roundtable.
Council Member Pierina Sanchez kicking off the day.
The Inaugural Green Eocnomy Network Clean Energy Connect Expo
District 14 Council Member Pierina Sanchez energized the crowd by emphasizing the importance of access to clean energy jobs and environmental justice for all. She also affirmed that partnerships like our Sector Networks need the support of local changemakers dedicated to economic development! After a day full of informative workshops, conversations with clean energy employers, and building connections with our GEN partners, it was clear we are stronger together.
Green Economy Network
Hosted the first Green Economy Expo
Shakira Hart, Senior Director of Community Engagement at Solar One, successfully led the Green Economy Network to their first public career expo.
Green Careers Pathways and Credentials Workshop by Angela Son from The Green Launchpad and Antuan Cannon from Willdan
Student Experiences and Employment Perspectives Panel moderated by Malia Darby from JobsFirstNYC, featuring alumni from The Hope Program and CUNY BPL’s E-CMT Program
Interactive STEM learning on the BioBus, which parked on campus for participants to get hands on learning
Big thank yous and kudos to our GEN members and employer partners for making this energy-filled day of learning possible!
Healthcare Sector Network
Recruited participants and employers for Careers in Care
Are you interested in attending our second annual Careers in Care Expo and Career Fair? Register here. The expo will be held today,May 12, from 1-4 pm at Northwell Lenox Hill’s Einhorn Auditorium.
St. Nicks Alliance is recruiting for their May 19 Train & Earn Home Health Aide program. Sign up here to learn more, or join us for a Fridayinfo session at 92 Throop Ave.
Our Referral Task Force is in full swing, already referring 20+ candidates to programs across participating organizations’. Shout out to the task force for making sure every individual who wants training can find a way in!
Tech Sector Network
Planned the May Tech Employer Roundtable
Our Employer Roundtable, led by NPower and Marcy Lab School, will be held at Accenture on May 21, with representatives from Salesforce, Bank of America, Warner Music Group, BitxBit, and Blackstone.
Planning for our Tech Up Opportunity Expo began earlier this April, with Year Up United already recruiting dozens of interested candidates. NPower and Per Scholas will be recruiting partners and offering their training to jobseekers.
This is a space dedicated to sharing updates from the Green Economy, GEN, Healthcare, HSN, and Tech Networks, TSN, relaying program openings and recruitment opportunities, and fostering cross-network collaboration.
In May, the HSN hosted its second annual Careers in Care Expo, and welcomed over 100 jobseekers, students, training partners, and employers. Our Tech Sector Network kicked off their Tech Employer Roundtable, while the GEN explored new AI solutions for green workforce professionals.
Stanley M. Isaacs Center students ready to take on the day.
Getting Exposed to Careers in Care
Fresh off the first few weeks of their CNA Train and Earn program, Stanley M. Isaacs Center students made their elevator pitches and provided newly polished resumes to 11 employer partners at Northwell Lenox Hill. HSN Members Devon Bolden and Marckenson Luctama motivated and prepared their cohort to speak confidently about their skills and experiences in the healthcare field.
Green Economy Network
Reflecting on FY25, looking forward to FY26
After a successful first Expo, GEN used both participant and employer feedback and insights to effectively plan for the upcoming fiscal year.
Unified Ground presented “AI Empower,” a toolkit that provides the fundamentals for community-based organizations’ AI usage, AI’s limitations, best practices for safety and security, and addresses challenges around trust, access, and equity.
The Doe Fund is offering HVAC internships! Free of cost to the employer. If you know an employer interested in hosting skilled HVAC professionals let us know!
Healthcare Sector Network
Hosted the second annual Careers in Care Expo
On May 12, the HSN brought together a group of trainers, educators, and employers to showcase their opportunities to partner organizations’ jobseekers.
A few highlights include:
Northwell’s Brian Aquart started with an inspiring message to young healthcare professionals affirming that “education is health,” emphasizing the power of healthcare careers to uplift individuals, families, and entire communities.
Recruiters and hiring managers connected with young people, who are both graduates and participants in healthcare training programs.
HSN Co-Chairs Daniel Agosto and Ayesha George closed out the expo with gratitude for everyone in the room, all of whom made the entire day a great success.
A big thank you to the team at Northwell Health and all of our HSN Partners!
Tech Sector Network
Hosted the Tech Employer Roundtable
On May 21, TSN brought together leaders from top employers, including Accenture, Bank of America, BitxBit, Blackstone, PeopleShores, Salesforce, and Warner Music Group. The session was centered around the feedback received from young adults from tech training programs, aimed at closing the feedback loop from young people to trainers to employers.
Highlights include:
Rah from Accenture’s incredible energy lit up the room – stating that recruiters should look for hunger for knowledge and grit when evaluating early career talent.
Molly from Blackstone, highlighted the need for legislative pressure on companies to invest in emerging talent and internal upward mobility.
Ivan from BitxBit noted that candidates should seek to develop a deep understanding of AI and its functionality in the workplace in order to stand out in the evolving tech landscape.
Thank you to our partners at Accenture and to TSN Members Ana Reyes-Martinez, Nelson Abbott, and Scott Naab for making this roundtable outstanding!
For more about Sector Networks, contact Malia Darby, Manager of Work Solutions at JobsFirstNYC via email at mdarby@jobsfirstnyc.org.
Young adults in New York City are contending with unprecedented difficulties in the local labor market. The long-term trend of public sector disinvestment in training and employment services, combined with employers increasingly basing their hiring decisions on demonstrable skills and previous work experience, has created an almost impossible situation for young adults without a college education who seek stable, career-track employment at a family-supporting wage. This is particularly the case in New York City, where job growth has concentrated at the extremes of the labor market: high-paying jobs, which require education and skills that young adults often lack; and low-wage, low-skill jobs, for which young adults must compete against older jobseekers who typically have the advantages of relevant work experience and strong references.
118,000
out-of-school and out-of-work young adults were in New York City
61%
of jobs held by young people were part-time
31%
of New York City college students worked while in school, and fewer students were finishing their degrees
70%
of all jobs would require postsecondary education by 2027
Approach
JobsFirst NYC’s Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project supported the development of 11 partnerships between workforce development organizations and employers. Each partnership is focused on a specific sector (such as healthcare, technology, transportation) and carries out employer-driven training for unemployed and underemployed young adults.
These programs offer young adults enough time and preparation to master the competencies necessary for success in the workplace while also integrating sufficient employer input to ensure that participants who complete training programs are ready to contribute from their first day on the job.
Benchmarking for YASEP – JobsFirst NYC is partnering with the Workforce Field Building Hub at the Workforce Professionals Training Institute and a group of JobsFirst NYC’s YASEP member organizations and CareerLift partner, Seedco to baseline, test and strengthen their capacity to engage employers, using the Success Drivers developed through the Workforce Benchmarking Network.
SectorBOOST for YASEP – Change Machine (formerly The Financial Clinic) partnered with a cohort of JobsFirst NYC’s YASEP member agencies to bring financial coaching services to young adult jobseekers and to build the capacity of participating organizations to deliver similar coaching services in the future. You can learn more here at SectorBOOST.
Eleven partnerships have been established under YASEP’s framework, and ten launched industry-based training programs. Each partnership is focused on a specific sector and carries out employer-driven training for unemployed and underemployed young adults.
Ten new partnerships were developed and sustained their partnership structures throughout the duration of the project. These included:
Comprehensive Youth Development and the Borough of Manhattan Community College, CUNY prepare students for careers in healthcare while earning a Certified Medical Assistant credential.
Cypress Hills Local Development Corporation partners with transportation and logistics employers to offer a career pathway into the transportation sector with a robust career ladder, living wages, and union protections.
Green City Force partners with Con Edison, L+M Development Partners, C+C Management, and NYCHA’s REES offer career pathways for young adults into the sustainability sector.
The Knowledge House, partnering on the Bronx Digital Pipeline with Hostos Community College and Per Scholas, is developing pathways into cutting edge technology jobs.
Paraprofessional Healthcare Institute partners with the Cooperative Home Care Associates to train young adults for jobs in the healthcare sector.
Per Scholas and The Door created TechBridge to offer young adults to expand access into the information technology sector.
Phipps Neighborhoods, in partnership with Hostos Community College and Montefiore Medical Center, prepare young people for careers in allied healthcare.
Queens Community House, Jacob Riis Neighborhood Settlement House, Ocean Bay Community Development Corp, and Sunnyside Community Services — together as Queens Connect — prepare young adults for success in the food industry.
Roundabout Theatre Company in partnership with the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE) and The Door provide training for access to careers in technical theatre.
Stanley Isaacs Neighborhood Center partners with employers to train young adults for careers in hospitality and food service. Isaacs Center also offers training in community health and education and child development.
The traditional way of acquiring tech skills—expensive and time-consuming—is out of reach for many New Yorkers, preventing them from embarking on lucrative tech careers. There is no unified strategy to prepare New York City’s workforce for in-demand tech jobs, despite rapid growth and an overwhelming need for tech workers. It is therefore vital to establish an innovative approach that aligns supply and demand, equipping jobseekers with the necessary skills and resources to thrive in this dynamic environment.
When JobsFirst NYC launched the Tech Sector Network in 2021:
only
1 in 5
tech sector jobs were held by Black and Hispanic workers despite this population making up 43% of NYC’s overall workforce
only
19%
of tech training programs equipped grads for advanced-skill tech jobs, not meeting the market demand
tech industry was the
3rd-largest
employment sector for younger New Yorkers
Approach
The Tech Sector Network promotes skills-based hiring to meet labor demand in partnership with employers, and organizes and expands skilling and upskilling opportunities to increase New Yorkers’ access to high-wage jobs and advance their economic mobility.
By enabling employers to tell trainers what skills workers need today and in the future, collaborating on customized training to meet labor market demands, and providing a steady pipeline of qualified talent, the Network aims to forge an inclusive and thriving tech industry with accessible and market-driven training that leads to economic opportunity. The Tech Sector Network is committed to:
Organizing and expanding customized training and upskilling across tech skills training providers.
Strengthening collective mechanisms to negotiate with employers.
Systematizing a Network referral system to bolster the talent pipeline.
Advancing a skills-based (vs. degree-based) hiring approach as a more efficient, inclusive, and effective recruitment process.
Impact
The Network has completed the investigate, imagine, and incubate phases of JobsFirst NYC’s partnership development process and is currently in the implementation phase, which will impact technical career pathways and job quality, ultimately benefiting jobseekers and employers alike.
