For 18 years, JobsFirstNYC has advanced solutions for economic mobility across New York City. In 2024, after strategic conversations with local and national stakeholders, we launched Community-Inspired Networks for Change—CommunityINC for short—to take our impact to the national level. CommunityINC is an approach that uses JobsFirstNYC’s proven intermediary model to spark economic and workforce innovation in communities across the United States, addressing similar socioeconomic challenges that we’ve tackled in New York City. 

What inspired the creation of CommunityINC?

Nationally, decades of disinvestment have imposed significant socioeconomic barriers on many urban and rural communities, restricting their opportunities for economic advancement. While numerous organizations have been doing admirable work to serve these communities, there remains a pressing need for more cohesion, coordination, and collective resources across their efforts in order to secure lasting change. CommunityINC was launched to address this gap. By building a strong, scalable workforce infrastructure—in other words, workforce intermediaries and funder collaboratives—CommunityINC seeks to drive sustainable outcomes for young adults and their communities.

JobsFirstNYC’s Marjorie Parker speaking about place-based partnerships at Workforce Connections in Southern Nevada, one of the pilot regions where CommunityINC is being rolled out.

How does CommunityINC work?

CommunityINC works by building and strengthening place-based workforce intermediaries and funder collaboratives. This, in turn, sets the stage for creating a workforce development system that effectively draws on a range of public and private resources and supports local partner-led solutions to prepare youth for success as adults. It also helps cultivate the political capital needed to effect policy change at the state and local levels.

What are CommunityINC’s guiding principles?

CommunityINC’s theory of change posits that a robust, local workforce intermediary creates stronger outcomes for young people and their communities. 

To strengthen and launch such intermediaries, CommunityINC embraces JobsFirstNYC’s collaborative five-step process for identifying challenges, proposing solutions, and advancing what works:

And to ensure that it remains locally relevant in each region where it unfolds, CommunityINC will continually evaluate its effectiveness across four impact measures:

1. People: Are more people accessing economic opportunity and economic mobility through education, training, employment, or community-identified solutions?
2. Institutions: How have individual institutions—such as community-based organizations, colleges, and employers—transformed their thinking and practice? 
3. Partnerships: How has CommunityINC’s collective infrastructure increased the number and quality of economic opportunities for young adults and their communities? 
4. Systems: How have systemic conditions—such as public policy and financial investments—changed to support equitable economic opportunity? 

Which regions will be the first to benefit? 

CommunityINC has identified two pilot regions for its rollout: Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southern Nevada.

Over the course of CommunityINC, we will collaborate with local anchor partners to:

• Establish independent workforce intermediaries and funder collaboratives in each region.
• Provide training, coaching, and technical assistance to enhance implementation plans. 
• Identify opportunities for strategic investment aimed at improving young adults’ economic mobility.
• Design and strengthen employment solutions that benefit workers and employers alike. 
• Strengthen schools’ capacity to integrate career exploration into curricula and improve postsecondary opportunities.
• Create localized solutions specific to unique neighborhood needs.
• Promote a culture of data utilization and standardization.
• Spearhead a practitioner-driven policy campaign to secure local systems change.

JobsFirstNYC with local partners from the Scranton Area Community Foundation and the Anchors to Equity initiative in Scranton, Pennsylvania, one of CommunityINC’s pilot regions, in June 2024.

Who are the key partners and collaborators behind CommunityINC?

This initiative is built on effective collaboration among a group of trusted and dedicated changemakers, including:

• JobsFirstNYC 
• New Ways to Work – a national advocacy and technical assistance organization dedicated to improving workforce, educational, and social outcomes for young adults.
• Scranton Area Community Foundation – a community foundation that works to enhance the quality of life for people in Northeastern Pennsylvania through the development of organized philanthropy.
• Workforce Connections – Southern Nevada’s local workforce development board.
• MDRC – a nonprofit, nonpartisan education and social policy research organization dedicated to learning what works to improve programs and policies that affect people with low incomes.

What are partners saying?

“Tackling the issue of disconnected youth in Southern Nevada is crucial for both our region’s economy and the long-term success of our young people. We greatly value our partnership with JobsFirstNYC and the opportunity to collaborate with a workforce development intermediary to enhance our local efforts of connecting young adults to meaningful career pathways and economic prosperity.”

– Jaime Cruz, Executive Director, Workforce Connections, Southern Nevada’s Local Workforce Development Board

JobsFirstNYC executives with members of the Scranton Area Community Foundation team, the anchor partner for CommunityINC’s effort in Northeastern Pennsylvania.

“The Scranton Area Community Foundation is thrilled to partner with JobsFirstNYC, an organization that truly embodies the role of an effective workforce development intermediary.  The foundation is committed to initiatives that enhance the quality of life in the communities we serve. Through CommunityINC, we will collaborate with JobsFirstNYC to create sustainable career pathways and advance economic mobility in Northeastern Pennsylvania.” 

– Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO, Scranton Area Community Foundation

Stay updated on CommunityINC by visiting jobsfirstnyc.org and following us on social media @JobsFirstNYC. Together, we’re shaping a brighter future for communities nationwide!