September 12, 2019
The Young Adult Talent Development Network is comprised of leaders of more than 50+ national and local organizations that are leaders in young adult talent development and employer engagement.
JFF launched the Young Adult Talent Development Network to address the urgent question of how to grow a cohesive field of young adult talent development at a sufficient scale to meet employers’ needs and satisfy the aspirations of young adults. With this mission, members of the network which includes young adult leaders, come together to share emerging strategies and innovations from their practice and explore critical topics that define the most pressing needs and opportunities of supporting young adults entering and navigating their early careers. We are focused on three strategic goals:
– Develop field standards to guide community-based young adult training providers in understanding how to operationalize a dual customer approach that meets the needs and interests of young adults and employers, influences business practices, and prepares young adults or a changing labor market.
– Build the evidence base of what works, by enhancing and elevating best practices and innovations in field-leading organizations and identifying the most promising tools and resources for young adult talent development.
– Change the narrative to portray and position today’s young adults who are seeking a foothold in the labor market as the productive American workforce of tomorrow.
In the last few years, employers have begun to recognize the need to reach deeper into the talent pool to meet their talent needs. However, the supply falls far short of the demand for high-quality demand-driven programs that provide the core skills employers seek and skills of particular industries in specific sectors.
The urgent question today is how to go from a small number of promising programs to a cohesive field of young adult talent development at sufficient scale to both meet the needs of employers and satisfy the aspirations of young adults.
The leaders in the Young Adult Talent Development Network have enthusiastically endorsed the critical need at this moment to develop the field of young adult talent development so that effective practices become commonplace in communities across the country.
Our Young Adult Talent Development Network has developed field standards that community-based providers of training to young adults can use as guideposts for efforts to implement dual-customer approaches that meet the needs of both young adults and employers and also influence business practices and prepare young adults for a changing labor market.
As organizations realize how much young people can contribute—and want to contribute—some maximize this potential by intentionally hiring former program participants who have expressed a desire to “Pay It Forward” into newly created paid positions…
JFF’s Young Adult Talent team works with young adults, community-based organizations, employers, postsecondary institutions, and other systems partners to support young adults to realize their career goals. For more information about our models and services,…
Five strategies that youth-serving programs can bring to employers
This brief shares learnings from the community of LEAP organizations and partners as they continue to deepen their practices to enhance the positive impact and durability of programming while also scaling to reach greater numbers…
As the economy struggles to recover from the pandemic and the ensuing volatility and labor shortages, leaders in the field of young adult talent development are seeing a need to develop approaches that address the…
Community-based organizations that serve young adults with barriers to education and employment are experiencing myriad new challenges and opportunities as they navigate the triple threat of a global pandemic, economic and employment volatility, and a…
This brief shares lessons about sustaining young adult talent development efforts amidst the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, a collapsing economy, and reexamination of the work in light of the rekindled Black Lives Matter movement.…
A national effort that paved pathways to college and career success for 2,000+ youth who were out of school and work—and proved the impact of JFF’s Back on Track model. A national effort that paved…
Luis, Javan, and Justin turned their lives around with help from Opportunity Works. Learn how the national effort paved pathways to postsecondary and career success for 2,000+ youth who had been out of school and…
This brief provides an overview of the burgeoning short-term credential marketplace for young adult talent developers—the community-based organizations that work with young people ages 16 to 24 who are not in school or working. Many…