Aspen is a place for leaders to lift their sights above the possessions which possess them. To confront their own nature as human beings, to regain control over their own humanity by becoming more self-aware, more self-correcting, and hence more self-fulfilling.
Walter P. Paepcke, Aspen Institute Co-Founder
Aspen Institute
Blog Posts, and Publications
Promoting Equity and Inclusion and Connection to Good Fit Jobs for Young Adults
June 30, 2021
Economic Opportunities Program, and Workforce Strategies Initiative
Even while general unemployment begins to improve, millions of America’s young people, especially young people of color, are out of school and work. Not connecting to work can have lasting effects, including long-term unemployment or long-term employment in low-quality jobs. Strategies to connect young adults to jobs that will set them up for success both now and moving forward are more important than ever. And employers play a critical role.
As a national partner to the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Generation Work initiative, the Economic Opportunities Program has been conducting research with community-based practitioners working directly with employers to build more equitable and inclusive employment practices. Workforce partners in Generation Work communities have tried and tested a range of strategies, and we highlight these in a new typology of promising practices.
Promoting Equity and Inclusion and Connection to Good Fit Jobs for Young Adults describes three categories of practice for employer engagement:
Leveraging political and financial incentives to influence employer practice change
Cultivating connections between employers and young adults to influence employer practices
Working with employers to change practices from the inside
We hope this new publication will be helpful for workforce practitioners looking to engage with employers around supporting equity and inclusion in the workplace and to expand good-fit jobs in their communities.
