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Courses to Employment Demonstration Project: Sectoral Approaches to Community College-Nonprofit Partnerships
 Community-based organizations that are working to improve opportunities and outcomes for low-income individuals increasingly are partnering with local community colleges in order to open pathways to post-secondary training and education, as well as to quality jobs. WSI’s Courses to Employment project is a three-year demonstration (2008-2010) designed to illuminate the role these partnerships can play in addressing the special supports low-income adults need while they work and learn, and subsequently make employment advances.
Funded by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation and managed by the Aspen Institute’s Workforce Strategies Initiative, the Courses to Employment demonstration involves six partnerships working to help low-income adults achieve greater success in higher education and, ultimately, the workforce. The demonstration is designed to support, strengthen and evaluate their efforts. In particular, the demonstration seeks to learn more about effective models of collaboration, program features, costs and outcomes for the students.
The six projects are:
| Location |
Training |
Partners |
| Seattle, Wash. |
Automobile Career Pathways Project, an automobile technician training program. |
Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County and Shoreline Community College |
| Austin and Round Rock, Texas |
Preparation for associate degrees and/or certification in high-demand health fields. |
Capital IDEA (a joint venture of Austin Interfaith and the business community) and Austin Community College |
| Chicago, Ill. |
Under-employed Latino health care workers receive training to advance from certified nursing assistants to licensed practical nurses. |
Instituto del Progreso Latino, Association House of Chicago, Wright College Humboldt Park Vocational Education Center and National Council of La Raza |
| Flint, Mich. |
Flint Healthcare Employment Opportunities Project, which helps low-income residents of Genesee County advance from entry-level and certified nursing assistant jobs into high-demand nursing and allied health positions. |
Greater Flint Health Coalition and Mott Community College |
| Los Angeles, Calif. |
Logistics/Transportation Academy, which prepares low-income adults for occupations in the growing “goods-movement” sector. |
Community Career Development, Inc., Los Angeles Valley College, East Los Angeles College and Los Angeles City College |
| Fairfax County, Va. |
NOVA-NVFS Training Futures “Steps to Success” Model, which trains low-wage workers for positions in business and medical settings. |
Northern Virginia Family Service and Northern Virginia Community College |
Click here to see a detailed description of each project.
Click here to read media coverage of these projects.
Sector and Higher Education: Publications
Findings from the Courses to Employment research will be shared through a series of publications. Click here to view related publications released by AspenWSI.
Stay Informed
Click here to join a learning community on the topic of sector and higher education, and to receive periodic updates about WSI’s work in this area. |
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