December 3, 2008
Wednesday
     

New Project Explores Community College/Non-Profit Partnerships Geared To Low-Income Adults

Date: 02-19-2008
Type: press release
Category: Community Development
 Source: The Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute
Organization:
The Aspen Institute

WASHINGTON, DC - February 19, 2008 – Six projects working to help low-income adults achieve greater success in higher education and, ultimately, the workforce have been selected to participate in a three-year demonstration designed to support, strengthen and evaluate their efforts.

Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and managed by the Aspen Institute's Workforce Strategies Initiative (WSI), the demonstration will track six partnerships involving community colleges with a track record of working with nonprofits in their community on ways to better serve low-income working adult students. The demonstration is based on the idea that effective workforce training programs reflect employers' needs and job opportunities in the community, and that a range of academic and nonacademic supports are needed to help disadvantaged adults achieve greater success.

The partnerships were selected for the demonstration from approximately 100 national applicants. Each partnership will receive $100,000 each year of the demonstration to finance program operations and some evaluation activities. The Aspen Institute's research team will conduct an evaluation that looks at models of collaboration, program features, costs and outcomes for the students.

The six projects are:

Location: Seattle, Wash.

  • Training: Automobile Career Pathways Project, an automobile technician training program
  • Partners: Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County and Shoreline Community College

    Location: Austin and Round Rock, Texas, serving central Texas

  • Training: Preparation for associate degrees and/or certification in high-demand health fields
  • Partners: Capital IDEA (a joint venture of Austin Interfaith and the business community) and Austin Community College

    Location: Chicago, Ill.

  • Training: Under-employed Latino health care workers receive training to advance from certified nursing assistants to licensed practical nurses
  • Partners: Instituto del Progreso Latino, Association House of Chicago, Wright College Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center, and National Council of La Raza

    Location: Flint, Mich.

  • Training: Flint Healthcare Employment Opportunities Project, which helps low-income county residents advance from entry-level and certified nursing assistant jobs into high-demand nursing and allied health positions
  • Partners: Greater Flint Health Coalition and Mott Community College

    Location: Los Angeles, Calif.

  • Training: Logistics/Transportation Academy, which prepares low-income adults for occupations in the growing "goods-movement sector"
  • Partners: Community Career Development, Inc., Los Angeles Valley College, East Los Angeles College and Los Angeles City College

    Location: Fairfax County, Va.

  • Training: NOVA-NVFS Training Futures "Steps to Success" Model, which trains low-wage workers for business and medical positions
  • Partners: Northern Virginia Family Service and Northern Virginia Community College

    Additional information about the demonstration and the participating projects is available at: http://www.aspenwsi.org/WSIwork-HigherEd.asp.

    WSI (www.aspenwsi.org), a program of the Aspen Institute in Washington, D.C., identifies and advances strategies that help low-income Americans gain ground in today’s labor market. It engages in applied research, facilitates dialogue, shares new ideas and disseminates research findings.

    The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, D.C., and has campuses in Aspen, Colorado, and on the Wye River on Maryland's Eastern Shore. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Bucharest, and leadership programs in Africa, Central America and India.

    The Mott Foundation, established in Flint, Mich. in 1926, is a private philanthropy committed to supporting projects that promote a just, equitable and sustainable society. It supports nonprofit programs throughout the U.S. and, on a limited geographic basis, internationally. Grantmaking is focused on four programs: Civil Society, Environment, Flint Area and Pathways out of Poverty (www.mott.org).

    For more information please contact:

    Maureen Conway, Director, Workforce Strategies Initiative
    tel: 202-736-2502

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