Becoming Career Ready

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has developed a list of 8 key career readiness competencies that individuals can use as guidelines to prepare for success in the world of work. A competency is the ability to do something successfully or efficiently. Being career ready means that you have these skills or core competencies and can apply them in real world work scenarios as you manage your career over time. Read Becoming Career Ready for a snapshot of each of these competencies and ways in which you can enhance and advance your development of each.

Workforce Development Inside the Walls: A Rapid Employment Model

FHI 360 has launched the Post-Release Employment Program (PREP) to fast-track participants from behind bars to employment within six weeks. Participants complete two-thirds or more of the employment training pre-release with expedited connection to employers upon graduation. PREP is designed to respond to the critical needs and challenges of individuals returning from jails or prison into their communities.

NIWL Annual Review 2021: Navigating Through Turbulence

This annual review summarizes the work and accomplishments of the National Institute for Work and Learning across the areas of college and career readiness, workforce development, and research and evaluation. It references major projects, publications and events, and uses data to demonstrate outputs and, where possible, outcomes. The review also mentions new work won and our agenda for 2022.

NIWL 2020 Year In Review

This highlights the work and success of NIWL programming in 2020.

A New Justice Paradigm: Collaborative Approaches for An Equitable System

A New Justice Paradigm: Collaborative Approaches for an Equitable System, explores the justice system from the perspective of criminal justice practitioners and young adults aged 18 to 24 who have been impacted by the justice system. We take this approach both to understand better— at the ground level—the system that exists and to help imagine a more supportive, more efficacious, and more equitable alternative. Some of the striking elements of the current justice system include the overwhelmingly disproportionate representation of young Black males in the system and the tragedy of how trauma has affected their young lives. Institutional inflexibility, from first contact with law enforcement through incarceration, limits young people’s chances to break the cycle of poverty and to pursue work and learning opportunities that could enrich their lives and their communities.

Workforce Development Overview (Coming Soon!)

This fact sheet profiles FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL) workforce development efforts.

College & Career Readiness Capabilities Overview

This fact sheet profiles the College & Career Readiness work of FHI 360’s National Institute for Work and Learning (NIWL).

Compass Rose Collaborative Fact Sheet

The Compass Rose Collaborative (CRC) brings together FHI 360 and a cohort of partners that will serve justice-impacted youth in a holistic way. Through NIWL-designed training materials, a learn-and-earn working environment, and valuable mentorship activities, the CRC ensures that participants are equipped to thrive in their careers while minimizing further justice system involvement. Read this fact sheet to learn more.

Youth Development Practitioner Apprenticeship

As part of NIWL’s Apprenticeship Programs, the Youth Development Practitioner Apprenticeship trains apprentices in youth-supporting fields through 2,000 hours of on-the-job learning and 165 hours of coursework where they learn skills such as positive youth development, coaching, career case management and more. Upon completing the program, apprentices receive a nationally recognized credential from the U.S. Department of Labor. To learn more, read this fact sheet.

Reimagining Workforce Policy in the Age of Disruption: A State Guide for Preparing the Future Workforce Now

The Future Workforce Now initiative developed an agenda for U.S. state policy leaders to prepare the workforce, addressing technological disruptions affecting current and future workers and workplaces.