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The Lower East Side Employment Network (LESEN) is a collaborative partnership between eight community-based organizations and Community Board 3 that operates in Manhattan’s Lower East Side neighborhood to improve connections between local job seekers and employers. While the partnership has been in existence since 2007, its efforts were officially ramped up in 2012 when JobsFirstNYC provided the funding to hire a Network Coordinator. The role of the Coordinator is to develop and manage employer accounts, while simultaneously engaging partner organizations and community stakeholders in order to streamline connections between work-ready job seekers and area employers that provide quality jobs. In its first year as a funded Network, the LESEN is on track to create promising efficiencies that help both employers and job seekers.

This brief describes the history, structure and anticipated first-year outcomes of the LESEN initiative.