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Young Adults Are a Critical Sign of Economic Health

When work, education, and community fall out of alignment, young adults feel it first. Economic opportunity is interrupted by systemic gaps they are expected to navigate. This fragmented infrastructure slows everyone down.

4.3M+

young adults out of school and work in the United States.

1M+

young adults are working, but underemployed.

4 in 5

hiring managers say high school graduates are underprepared for the workforce.

Young Adults Move Ahead When Systems Move Together

By aligning systems around young adults and their communities, JobsFirst helps cities and regions turn focused coordination into economic strength.

Work

Identify, design, and advance practices and policies that achieve better outcomes for employers and workers.

Education

Build equitable pathways to postsecondary education and career opportunities.

Community

Build economic opportunities in neighborhoods.

Our Vision & Mission

Latest

See research and insights from cities and regions designing for young adults.

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  • The Sector Connector: Your June Work Solutions Update

    The Sector Connector: Your June Work Solutions Update

    This is a space dedicated to sharing updates from the Green Economy, Healthcare, and Tech Networks; reporting on goals and insights, relaying program openings and recruitment opportunities, and fostering cross-network collaboration. The JPI Group greeting a…

    Read More: The Sector Connector: Your June Work Solutions Update
  • JobsFirst NEPA Launches: Transforming Systems for Young Adults

    JobsFirst NEPA Launches: Transforming Systems for Young Adults

    What does Northeastern Pennsylvania look like when partners across industry, education, community, policy, and philanthropy align around shared regional workforce priorities? Envision a coordinated cohesive, and integrated ecosystem that supports work, education, and community to advance…

    Read More: JobsFirst NEPA Launches: Transforming Systems for Young Adults
  • Investing in the Green Workforce: What Comes Next for NYC

    Investing in the Green Workforce: What Comes Next for NYC

    [vc_row padding_setting=”1″ desktop_padding=”no-padding” css=”.vc_custom_1773068890344{padding-top: 0px !important;padding-left: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1/1″ css=”.vc_custom_1773068953174{padding-left: 0px !important;}”] JobsFirst NYC, Fordham University, and The Green Economy Network’s Strategic Briefing to Advance A Policy Roadmap That Connects Green Investments to Local Talent Aligning…

    Read More: Investing in the Green Workforce: What Comes Next for NYC

What We Do

We strengthen local coordination across work, education, and community through a repeatable design, common tools, and shared learning.

Local Synergy

We work alongside workforce leaders and funders to deepen partnerships, synchronizing shared priorities to drive coordinated action—not parallel efforts.

Bold Solutions

Cities and regions use our process to pilot and scale solutions that replace barriers to young adults with paths to economic strength–for every citizen, every business, every community.

Community-Led Learning

We learn with and from communities, sharing practitioner-driven insight that shapes how cities and regions invest, operate, and design pathways to opportunity.

Our Approach

A Proven Process for Investment in Local Communities

JobsFirst equips cities and regions to coordinate work, education, and community systems.

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Local Drivers Are Building Stronger Pathways—See Their Progress

JobsFirst Local Drivers use a shared process to incubate and scale solutions. Each site strengthens the system. Coordinated investment produces outcomes that are visible, measurable, and repeatable.

Where We Work

65

All Solutions

Local Drivers incubate and advance models that replace barriers with paths to employment.

750+

Local Partners Aligned

Workforce, education, government, and philanthropy using a shared framework.

50,000

Young Adults Realizing Economic Mobility

Each new Local Driver increases coherence and durability across cities and regions.

Upcoming Events

Convenings, learning sessions, and funder collaboratives where local leaders share what’s working and what’s next.

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Design the Future Together

Invest in the Movement

Invest in the infrastructure that helps cities and regions align their systems, so they can deliver better results for young adults and their communities.

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Bring JobsFirst to Your Community

Start a conversation about what’s possible for your city or region when work, education, and community systems align.

Get Started

Stay Connected

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FAQ

JobsFirst brings a repeatable design for coordinating work, education, and community systems. Rather than adding new programs, we build the infrastructure that lets existing workforce innovation travel: from one city to the next, from one sector to all of them.

When systems align around young adults, workforce innovation produces real outcomes. More than 50,000 young adults are on clearer paths to economic mobility. More than 750 local partners are coordinating through a shared framework built for lasting progress.

JobsFirst partners with Local Drivers, funder collaboratives, employers, schools, workforce organizations, and community-based organizations. Together, they turn workforce innovation from isolated pilots into coordinated, scalable progress across cities and regions.

Every Local Driver generates practitioner-driven insight about what works. JobsFirst captures that learning and shares it across every site. Workforce innovation that takes hold in one city builds the foundation for what gets designed next.

JobsFirst provides funders a clear, proven way to co-invest in local progress. Through local funder collaboratives, philanthropic capital aligns with community-identified priorities. Every dollar strengthens clear paths for young adults across cities and regions.