In 2017, the Forum for Community Solutions launched the Pathways to Careers Fund to support and learn from effective partnerships between community-based organizations (CBOs) and employers focused on opportunity youth, and explore the potential for scaling such collaborations. This new report documents lessons from these projects in five cities: Chicago, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Phoenix, and Seattle.

The report, written before the COVID-19 pandemic, is comprised of three complementary briefs:

• Emergent Learnings describes the history of the Fund and focuses on three key themes: moving from quick job attachment to career pathways, the power of small pilots and the contribution of multisector collaboratives.
• A Citywide Approach details how four CBOs supported by the Fund in Chicago, worked together with Thrive Chicago to improve program quality and amplify impact.
• More Than A Job explores what it takes to for young people with complex barriers to thrive in career track employment, including continuous wrap-around support, work-based learning, flexibly timed on-ramps, and CBO relationships with employers that go beyond a transactional approach to true co-investment.

Read the full report.