Dear Friends and Colleagues,

It seems surreal that we are still trying to emerge from the devastation three years after the pandemic first started to wreak its havoc on the world. According to the Office of the New York State Comptroller’s December 2022 report titled, New York City’s Uneven Recovery: Youth Labor Force Struggling, “Unemployment among 16- to 24-year-olds stands at nearly 18% in the city, as compared to about 9% in the rest of New York state and 8% nationally. In comparison, overall unemployment is currently 5.6% in New York City, and 3.4% in the nation. This is a grim assessment of the state of young people in our Empire state, but we also know the resolve to emerge triumphantly is stronger than ever. 

At JobsFirstNYC, we have rolled up our sleeves– along with our partners across the city–to act on the challenge to chart a new course to reimagine economic solutions for young people and the communities where they live. During FY ‘22, in keeping with our purpose to create economic opportunity and mobility for all young adults, we focused on strengthening and expanding our strategic solutions to reduce the number of out of school, out of work young adults. Our strategy focuses on reducing barriers and creating transformational solutions in Work, Education, Community, and Policy. We made significant strides this year to include over 1,944 young adults  served by our partners, amongst the highlights.  

WORK – Identify, design, and advance practices and policies that achieve better outcomes for employers and workers. 

Sector Networks: Building on our successful Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project (YASEP) – a practical approach to connecting young adults to in-demand occupational skills training and higher wage jobs – we began the development of the Tech Sector Network and Healthcare Sector Network. These two networks expanded our citywide network approach, joining the Green Economy Network launched in October 2020. The goal of the Networks is to organize and expand high-quality skills training, strengthen collective mechanisms to negotiate with employers, customized training to meet targeted hiring demands, and increase employment opportunities for young adults and all job seekers.

Creating 1 Million Jobs for Black Talent: JobsFirstNYC joined forces with OneTen, a national network for Black talent, Employers, Talent Developers, and Community partners to hire, promote and advance one million Black individuals who do not have a four-year degree into family-sustaining careers over the next ten years. OneTen takes a skills-first approach, focusing on competencies, in an aim to close the opportunity gaps that exist in many communities of color. As the coalition’s Intermediary lead in the New York Metro area, we are assessing and uniting workforce developers and employers to strengthen the workforce development ecosystem in New York.

Building and Strengthening Employer Partnership: Established a new partnership with The New York City Deputy Mayor’s Office of Strategic Initiatives, NYC Department of Education). The goal is to support the expansion of the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) through systemic employer partnerships and capacity building to improve work-based learning (WBL) experiences of young people and employers, via small and mid-sized private sector employer partnerships. The partnership with the Mayor’s Office will also be instrumental in increasing the number and quality of employment opportunities for young people in building, strengthening, and growing employer partnerships. The collaboration between JobsFirstNYC and the Mayor’s Office resulted from Mayor Eric Adams’ 2022 initiative to provide an unprecedented 100,000 quality jobs over the summer for young adults in New York City and was the most significant expansion of SYEP in NYC. 

Education – Build equitable pathways to postsecondary education and career opportunities. We are working to stem the inflow of young adults into the out-of-school, out-of-work population.

• CDOS Institute for Workforce Practitioners –  Improved quality work-based learning and experience in schools through this free capacity-building series that supported workforce organizations, including community-based organizations, non-profits, intermediaries, and higher education institutions, to align their job readiness, sector skills training curriculum, and work-based learning opportunities to high school credited Career Development and Occupational Studies standards
• Advising for Career Pathways Professional Credential – Partnered with the College and Career Planning Team of the Office of Postsecondary Readiness at the NYC Department of Education (DOE) to implement a new professional learning credential, Advising for Career Pathways, for teachers and counselors. This professional learning credential is an important step in bringing about citywide change in order to support students to successfully navigate career pathways during and after high school. 

Community – Create localized solutions that respond to the unique needs of neighborhood communities with high numbers of young adults who are out of school and out of work.

• Engaged Investors to raise awareness about the value of investing in community infrastructure CommunityINC Funder Briefing: We highlighted the work  of our place-based partnerships by engaging Philanthropy, Government  and key stakeholders to raise awareness about the critical need to invest in community infrastructure to strengthen the foundations that are critical to the long term success of young people.

Policy – Using the lessons learned from our on-the-ground practice and robust research, we shape innovative policies that improve access to economic opportunities.

Career Integration  in High Schools Advanced by T2C Adapted across NYC public Schools

• Shift to Career Pathways in the NYC Department of Education(DOE) – The strategic solution advanced through T2C for embedding career pathways into schools is now adopted by the DOE. Chancellor Banks prioritized Career Pathways Initiative for the DOE beyond high school graduation to reimagine each student’s learning journey – or pathway – to be more relevant, contextualized, engaging, and career-connected with long-term economic security as the North Star for New York City Public Schools.

We are grateful to our partners who have remained steadfast in their quest to create an equitable and just New York City.  We have much more work to do to establish a sustainable and vital path for young adults in New York, as we create and advance solutions that break down barriers and transform the systems supporting young adults and their communities in their pursuit of economic opportunities.

With very best regards,

Alan Momeyer, Chairman of the Board, and Marjorie D. Parker, President and CEO