Audience: Workforce Boards

Employer Engagement Toolkit

Coming Soon!

Building and maintaining strong employer partnerships is essential for organizations seeking to match talented job seekers with the right opportunities. Employers are not just looking for job candidates; they are seeking long-term, strategic partners who can provide ongoing workforce solutions that align with their business goals. This toolkit is designed to equip workforce development staff with the strategies and insights needed to engage effectively with employers, from the initial prospecting stages to sustaining long-term relationships. Key areas explored:

  • Leveraging LMI for Employer Partnerships
  • Prospecting and Researching Potential Employer Partners
  • Crafting a Communication Strategy
  • Nurturing and Growing Employer Partnerships
  • Employer Incentives and Business Benefits
  • Deepening Employer Relationships and Addressing Challenges
  • Ongoing Partnership and Employer Success

Compass Rose Outcome Indicators Overview

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FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) provides support to education providers, workforce trainers, and their local partners to improve education and employment outcomes for youth aged 18-24 involved with the criminal legal system. Using a statistical lens, this document details the impact of NIWL’s five U.S. Department of Labor-funded Compass Rose Collaborative re-entry programs operating between 2017 and 2024.

FHI 360 Volunteer Training Catalog

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FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) provides a variety of resources and learning opportunities, including facilitated trainings and workshops, self-paced e-Modules, and toolkits, to help first-time volunteers—as well as those who would like a refresher—prepare for, engage with, and inspire youths. Read this catalog to learn more.

2024 NIWL Annual Report

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Our work in 2024 highlights our pivotal role in workforce development across the country. In fulfilling our mission to advance solutions in education and workforce systems, we establish partnerships, expand economic opportunities through work-based learning, foster employee engagement, and provide a comprehensive spectrum of services for learning and workforce development.

Read NIWL’s 2024 Annual Report to learn more about our work to strengthen our partners and forge connections so that we can all reach our fullest potential.

Just looking for the highlights? Check out our 2024 Infographic.

Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Counselor Apprenticeship

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As part of our Apprenticeship Programs, FHI 360 is partnering with New Ways to Work to develop a Substance Use Disorder and Mental Health Counselor Apprenticeship. This apprenticeship equips direct services employers with the resources they need to recruit workers with life experiences relevant to the communities they serve.

Through a combination of paid on-the-job learning (OJL) and coursework, apprentices will gain an alternative, rigorous, and rewarding point of entry into a profession that traditionally requires post-secondary education. Upon completion, program participants receive a national credential from the U.S. Department of Labor. To learn more, read our fact sheet.

Peer Support Specialist Apprenticeship

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As part of our Apprenticeship Programs, FHI 360’s Peer Support Specialist Apprenticeship partners with the Public Works Alliance (PWA) to train apprentices who have experienced recovery from personal and societal challenges. These include substance use disorder, PTSD, the re-entry process, and many other challenges. This shared experience enables apprentices to support others who are going through similar hardships.

By partnering with FHI 360, employers can use this apprenticeship to reinforce a holistic approach in their mental health services. Apprentices who complete their apprenticeship earn a national credential from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL). To learn more, consult our fact sheet.

National Institute for Work and Learning Apprenticeships

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FHI 360’s NIWL Apprenticeships bring together experts in workforce development to expand existing nationally registered apprenticeship programs (RAPs), such as the Youth Development Practitioner Apprenticeship (YDPA) and develop new opportunities within the care economy such as youth services, peer support, substance-use counseling, and mental health counseling.

Upon completion, apprentices receive a nationally recognized credential from the U.S. Department of Labor. Read the fact sheet to learn more.

Breaking the Cycle: How Two YDPA Apprentices Are Healing Their Communities

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“To me, that’s the biggest message with this apprenticeship — this is the perfect way to learn how to change lives.”

As we celebrate National Apprenticeship Week 2024, we highlight two Lake County Youth Development Practitioner Apprentices who use their work to break the cycles of trauma and heal their communities: Luis Garcia Jr. and Jenessa Armstrong. Click here to read about their journeys in becoming the person they wanted to have in their corner growing up.

A Legacy of Partnership

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FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) partners with federal, state, local, and Tribal governments, community-based organizations, education and workforce agencies and community members to design, implement and evaluate social programs. Along the way, we and our partners learn alongside one another to develop our collective capacities to advance well-being through data-driven, locally led solutions — so that humanity thrives.

2023 NIWL Annual Report

Screenshot of the annual report cover Download 2023 NIWL Infographic

Our work in 2023 highlights our pivotal role as an intermediary organization. In fulfilling our mission to advance solutions in education and workforce systems, we focus on bringing people together, listening to our partners and local leadership, fostering networks of support and providing a comprehensive spectrum of services for learning and workforce development.

Read NIWL’s 2023 Annual Report to learn more about our work to strengthen our partners and forge connections so that we can all reach our fullest potential.

Just looking for the highlights? Check out our 2023 Infographic.