The Aspen Forum for Community Solutions is pleased to announce a flagship corporate partnership with JP Morgan Chase. JP Morgan Chase has committed $5 million over five years to the Aspen Forum’s Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund as a part of JP Morgan Chase’s New Skills at Work Initiative. Through this partnership the Aspen Forum and JP Morgan Chase will invest directly in multiple communities to provide anchor support to the local cross- sector and cross-system collaboratives that are working to deepen and scale education and employment pathways in markets across the country.
The Opportunity Youth Incentive Fund is a systems change effort that seeks to bolster long-term and sustainable connections to the workforce for Opportunity Youth – defined as young people between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither enrolled in school nor participating in the labor market – who represent enormous potential for our nation’s economy, as well as a powerful case and need for the advancement of future generations of low income children and families. This is accomplished by bringing system leaders to the local, regional and national table to implement solutions that are multi-generational, spur the economy, and will bring about lasting economic development.
New Skills at Work is the largest-ever private sector effort to close the “skills gap” and create greater economic opportunities in communities around the world. Created and funded by JPMorgan Chase & Co., the $250 million, five-year effort will help communities build locally-tailored, demand-driven approaches to workforce training to fit their specific needs. By developing local talent with the actual skills employers need, New Skills at Work can serve as a model for driving broad-based and sustainable economic growth. In partnership with other leading organizations that share JPMorgan Chase’s commitment to bridging the skills gap, New Skills at Work will conduct new research into the skills demand and supply gaps in local markets; make targeted investments based on that research to strengthen and scale the most pertinent and effective workforce training programs; and bring together employers, training partners and others to share best practices and build partnerships.
“The Aspen Forum could not be more excited about our flagship partnership with JP Morgan Chase. Together, we will be able to support multiple markets in the development and scaling of effective onramps to employment. JP Morgan Chase and the New Skills at Work Initiative will be a game changer for the youth employment sector. The significant resources that the JP Morgan Chase Foundation is committing to this field comes at a time of great momentum for improving employer engagement with the next generation. This grant-making commitment from Chase, combined with their leverage of expertise, leadership and employee and client engagement, in a wide-range of local markets around the country, will lead to a serious boost in capacity for the field and ultimately, help change the life trajectory for low income young people in our country.” –Stephen Patrick, Executive Director, The Aspen Institute Forum for Community Solutions
The initiative was launched at an Aspen Institute hosted lunch discussion, Closing the Workforce Skills, featuring Melody Barnes, Chair of the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions, Former Assistant to the President & Director of the White House Domestic Policy Council; Jamie Dimon, Chairman & CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co.; and Mayor Rahm Emanuel of Chicago. Moderated by Walter Isaacson, President & CEO The Aspen Institute.