Our Vision
Who We Are
Jobs for the Future (JFF) is a national nonprofit that drives transformation of the U.S. education and workforce systems to achieve equitable economic advancement for all.
We do this by designing solutions, scaling best practices, influencing policy and action, and investing in innovation.
We forge deep partnerships with employers, investors, entrepreneurs, policymakers, and education and workforce development providers to break down barriers and reimagine what’s possible.
Our North Star
Our goal is to align education, workforce, and employment changemakers toward a shared North Star:
In 10 years, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs.
A quality job provides not just a living wage and benefits but also stability, flexibility, autonomy, and economic advancement.
Our Focus Areas
Creating learner and worker opportunity
Despite our best efforts, economic inequity continues to plague our society, with widening access, outcome, and wealth gaps affecting millions of people.
We will transform education, employment, and talent advancement systems to address systemic and structural barriers to equitable economic opportunity—including an intentional focus on Black learners and workers.
Strengthening education and career navigation
The vast world of education and training options is increasingly difficult for learners to understand and navigate.
We will clarify the chaotic learn and work ecosystem and empower people with data and guidance to find, finance, and flourish in personalized, lifelong career pathways.
Ensuring program quality and efficacy
With myriad new education and training providers emerging, people lack the objective information they need to assess which programs will help them meet their goals.
We will organize and vet the dynamic marketplace, making trusted information about what works widely available to learners, workers, investors, policymakers, and partners and spurring providers to innovate and improve.
Integrating learning and work
Prevailing models are disconnected and ill-equipped to prepare workers for our rapidly changing economy and meet employer needs.
We will meet unprecedented, ever-evolving labor and education market disruptions with new, integrated lifelong learning models that prioritize real-world work experience.
Building strong regional economies
Inadequate education and workforce systems, isolated from regional economic strategies and innovative national approaches, hamper regional growth and development.
We will apply innovative and proven national practices at the local level to grow agile, resilient, inclusive, and globally competitive regional economies—and scale effective local programs at the national level.
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Our Partners
Our valued partners and collaborators include education and training providers, employers, government institutions, community-based organizations, learners and workers, investors and entrepreneurs, national nonprofits and industry associations, and philanthropies.
Leadership
Maria Flynn
President & CEOMaria Flynn is president & CEO of Jobs for the Future. Her commitment to JFF’s vision of equitable economic advancement for all and her leadership in workforce policy have made her a national authority on…
Susan Gouijnstook
Chief Solutions OfficerSusan Gouijnstook is the chief solutions officer at JFF. She is building and scaling JFF’s Solutions Group and overseeing the successful delivery of impact-generating programs and initiatives aligned with JFF’s strategic goals and objectives. Her…
Amy Seusing
Chief Development OfficerAmy Seusing is chief development officer at JFF. She leads the development team and strategy to diversify revenue through government grants, foundation and corporate partners, and individual support, creating high-impact partnerships for the communities JFF…
Kristina Francis
Executive Director, JFFLabsKristina Francis is executive director of JFFLabs. She oversees insights, incubation, and investing initiatives that connect traditional systems with system disruptors to enable equitable economic advancement for all. Her skills and areas of expertise include:…