JFF will help drive the program to scale and expand best practices across participating colleges by providing coaching for college staff, conducting an impact evaluation, and managing a robust peer learning network.
“JFF is proud to partner with Verizon and Generation USA in line with our commitment to drive economic advancement for all,” says Maria Flynn, president and CEO of JFF. “We are excited to continue working with bold employers, like Verizon, established workforce systems, and innovative training providers, like Generation USA, to expand access to career opportunities in this growing sector.”
The partnership provides a unique opportunity to connect existing college programs with JFF’s expertise in scaling student success initiatives and Generation USA’s strong training curricula—for roles such as junior web developer, IT support specialist, and cloud support practitioner. These programs have an 80-percent completion rate and 75-percent employment rate for graduates.
“We’re excited to work with JFF and colleges around the country to bring Generation to the greater higher ed community,” says Sean Segal, CEO of Generation USA. “Our unique approach pairs the traditional education-to-employment system with bootcamp-style training and support while meeting students and employers where they are now.”
The Verizon Reskilling Program is a $44 million investment in workforce development designed for workers who are unemployed, underemployed, facing job displacement due to automation, or further challenged by the pandemic. This effort will focus on populations facing systemic challenges, giving priority to Black and Latinx applicants, women of all races, and people who do not have a four-year degree.
Changes in technology and the economic cycle have repeatedly shifted the job market and increased the need for workforce development, training, and reskilling programs.
Higher-ed is increasingly tasked with helping students build disciplinary knowledge and advanced workforce skills through training and reskilling, building critical thinking and analytical reasoning along with social and communications skills and understanding.
Recent research has consistently demonstrated how higher-ed institutions are positioned not only to help new workers enter the workforce as highly-skilled contributors, but to also help returning students and other adults gain new knowledge to make them more valuable in the workforce through reskilling programs.
Material from a press release was used in this report.
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