Last Tuesday, young adults from across New York City gathered in Manhattan for JobsFirst NYC’s second annual Youth Day in NYC convening, a day designed to put young people at the center of civic engagement, empowering the next generation of leaders to turn their lived experiences into actionable strategiesThe goal was simple: help young New Yorkers understand how decisions get made and where they can step in to make their voices heard.The day began on the steps of City Hall before moving inside to the chambers where policies are debated and the city budget is approved. There, participants met with New York City Council Members Virginia Maloney and Selvena Brooks-Powers.
We Have a Few Questions…
[vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″]The conversations were direct and unfiltered. Young people asked what many communities are thinking but don’t always get answers to:
How do we get elected officials to really listen to our neighborhoods?
When communities raise concerns about housing, schools, and resources, what happens next?
How do you actually navigate city government to secure funding for programs that support young people?
How do you find and secure careers in local government?
The exchange was honest and grounded. It reflected something that came up throughout the day — young people are paying attention, and they are ready to be part of the process.
Attendees also stepped into powerhouse conversations with city leaders working at the intersection of civic engagement, policy, and career development. Key insights came straight from the frontlines:
Democracy & Funding: Dr. Sarah Sayeed (Civic Engagement Commission) highlighted the direct link between youth participation and how city dollars are spent in local neighborhoods.
Advocacy in Action: Garrett DeGraffenreid (STRIVE) shared actionable blueprints for turning big ideas into lasting policy changes and real-world opportunities.
Career Pathways: Doug Lipari (NYC Talent and Workforce Development) opened the playbook on accessing New York City’s public workforce system and landing meaningful careers.
The Afternoon Shift: From Spoken Word to Civic Action
Marjorie Parker, President and CEO of JobsFirst and JobsFirst NYCAs the day progressed, the focus shifted from policy and systems to storytelling and lived experience. Marjorie Parker, President and CEO of JobsFirst and JobsFirst NYC set the tone for the afternoon, reminding the room of the stakes at hand:“Policy shapes everything from your schools and public transit to jobs, housing, and mental health support. It is where the rules are written. Understanding how policy is created means recognizing that you, your experiences and your ideas, have the power to shape better outcomes for your communities.”[vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”34513″ img_size=”medium” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]Kai Diata Giovanni, 2025 New York City Youth Poet Laureate, delivered a stirring spoken word performance that captured the hope, determination and resilience of young New Yorkers, serving as a powerful reminder that art itself is a form of civic power. [/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”34514″ img_size=”medium” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]Building on that energy, climate justice activist Daphne Frias took to the stage to discuss organizing and coalition-building. She emphasized how movements grow stronger when issues like disability justice, environmental justice, and economic mobility are connected rather than separated.[/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner]The Civic Engagement Commission’s Hillary Carelli-Donnell and Akwasi Agyeman also led a workshop on The People’s Money, New York City’s participatory budgeting initiative. Participants learned how residents can directly influence how public dollars are spent and where investments are made in their neighborhoods. Young people and chaperones were encouraged to explore the process and vote on community projects through participate.nyc.gov.
The Momentum Continues
Looking back, the steps of City Hall were just the beginning. The fierce questions asked, the frameworks shared by our speakers, and the community built between these partner organizations are all building toward something much larger.As one participant, Keshawn Lamazon, put it, “It was a great experience engaging in real discussions about leadership, civic engagement, and building real civil service career pathways for the next generation of leaders shaping NYC’s infrastructure.”On July 30, some of these same young leaders and hundreds of their peers will take the main stage at the NYU Kimmel Center for JobsFirstNYC’s annual Adapting to the Future of Work: Movement by Design convening. During this dedicated Young Adult Day, the conversations ignited at City Hall will translate into full-scale action, featuring an AI futurist plenary, professional development labs, and our live social impact Pitch Competition. Our youth have looked city leadership in the eye and proved they are ready to lead. This summer, we are handing them the mic, the stage, and the capital to design exactly what comes next.Special thanks to the NYC Talent and Workforce Development Team for co-planning the day’s events, the Department of Youth and Community Development for allowing us to use their space, and a huge shout-out to Mary Beth, our amazing City Hall tour guide![/vc_column][/vc_row]
In 2022, the Green Economy Network (GEN) advanced a set of workforce recommendations to strengthen New York City’s approach to building an inclusive green economy. Several of these proposals directly informed the city’s Green Economy Action Plan, helping shape the framework for aligning climate investment with workforce opportunity.
As New York City and New York State continue to advance climate resilience and sustainability initiatives, the next phase of implementation will require stronger alignment across workforce systems, education pipelines, and major public investments. Building an inclusive green economy depends on understanding the knowledge and skills required to deliver climate and sustainability priorities, while simultaneously developing durable pathways to good jobs.
The new mayoral administration presents an opportunity to further align data, policy, and practice across workforce, education, and economic development systems so that climate investment translates into long-term career opportunities.
What is the Green Economy Network?
GEN is a coordinated, cross-sector partnership bringing together workforce organizations, postsecondary institutions, employers, public agencies, and philanthropy to build a strong green economy—one that creates good jobs, expands economic mobility, and improves quality of life through investments in buildings, transportation, and infrastructure.
The network brings together hundreds of nonprofits, public agencies, and employers to assess the green economy, strengthen understanding of challenges and opportunities in the sector, connect workforce organizations with employers, and support progress toward decarbonization goals. The network is committed to:
Building and strengthening employer partnerships to define hiring needs, inform training, and align partners across the ecosystem.
Establishing clear, scalable pathways for jobseekers to enter and advance in green economy careers.
Advancing public investment strategies that support clean energy workforce development at scale.
THE GREEN ECONOMY NETWORK VISION
A just and sustainable economy in which quality green jobs are accessible to everyone.
Our Recommendations for Mayor Mamdani
Establish a centralized Workforce Authority with enforcement power: Create a Workforce Authority1 within City Hall to set citywide standards and align procurement across 21 relevant agencies to ensure high-quality career outcomes. This Workforce Authority will move beyond parallel programming by integrating local hiring mandates and wage benchmarks directly into climate-related contracts, while requiring mandatory reporting on long-term retention and job quality.
Launch the 500-school retrofit pilot: Scale a major infrastructure initiative to retrofit 500 public schools, generating thousands of jobs and creating structured training pipelines for students and local residents. These schools will function as “living labs” where building systems like heat pumps and solar arrays serve as hands-on learning tools, supported by direct-entry agreements with building trades and tiered training programs for both youth and adult learners.
Implement a sustainable financing framework for the clean energy workforce pipeline: To avoid new tax-levy spending, the city should classify workforce delivery costs—such as recruitment and screening—as project management soft costs within capital budgets, allowing them to be financed through long-term infrastructure bonds. This sustainable model should be further bolstered by capturing Local Law 97 noncompliance penalties and aligning city projects with state and federal incentives, including NYPA clean energy funds and the New York State Sustainable Futures funding, to offset the costs of a robust clean energy talent pipeline.
Establish a Workforce Authority with Enforcement Power
New York City should create a Workforce Authority housed in City Hall to coordinate workforce strategy across relevant agencies and embed workforce standards into major public investments. Reporting to a deputy mayor, the authority would serve as the city’s central owner of workforce outcomes, aligning policy, procurement, and implementation across agencies. The Workforce Authority would function as the operating system through which agencies are managed and made interoperable. Its role would be not to deliver programs but to ensure consistent standards, agency alignment, and the enforcement of workforce outcomes.
Core Functions
Citywide Workforce Standards
The Workforce Authority would establish consistent standards for:
Job quality and wage benchmarks
Local hiring and recruitment expectations
Employer engagement practices
Retention and advancement metrics, including six- and twelve-month retention and wage progression
These standards would apply across workforce initiatives connected to city-funded projects, including clean energy implementation.
Procurement and Contract Alignment
The authority would ensure that workforce standards are embedded into procurement and capital delivery processes by:
Aligning workforce language across agency RFPs and contracts
Linking contractor performance to workforce outcomes such as retention and advancement
Establishing enforcement mechanisms to prevent low-road contracting practices
Requiring RFPs to include a dedicated capitalizable cost category for workforce delivery
Embedding workforce expectations directly into procurement would ensure that workforce goals are integrated into project delivery rather than treated as parallel programs. By classifying workforce delivery as a capitalizable cost category, the city would accord human infrastructure the same long-term valuation as physical assets, ensuring that the development of a skilled local workforce is recognized as a permanent investment in the city’s economic resilience.
Community Hiring and Environmental Justice Priorities
Major projects should require partnerships with community-based organizations to allow access for communities most impacted by environmental and economic inequities.
Require community-based workforce organizations to serve as funded partners responsible for outreach, screening, training, placement, and retention support.
Set minimum targets for local hires in entry-level and career-track roles.
Require public reporting on hiring geography, wages, and retention outcomes.
Cross-Agency Coordination
Workforce initiatives in New York City currently span multiple systems without a central coordinating entity. At the time of this report, approximately 21 city agencies explicitly managed workforce development funding and programs. The Workforce Authority would align planning and implementation across key agencies, including:
Department of Small Business Services
New York City Public Schools
City University of New York
New York City Economic Development Corporation
Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice
This coordination would ensure that education pipelines, training programs, and hiring opportunities are aligned with major capital and sector investments.
Demonstrate the Model Through the 500-School Retrofit Initiative
Mayor Mamdani’s proposed 500-school retrofit offers a key opportunity to demonstrate how coordinated workforce governance can connect climate investment with career pathways. School retrofits sit at the intersection of climate policy, capital planning, procurement, and education systems, making them an ideal pilot for a coordinated workforce strategy. While the mayor’s platform highlights the role of unions in delivering this work, a coordinated workforce approach would ensure that the learning, training, and career mobility pathways needed to connect New Yorkers into these jobs are intentionally built alongside the projects themselves.
A workforce-aligned retrofit initiative could generate 500 to 2,500 paid jobs and work-based learning placements, while building long-term pipelines into growing climate and infrastructure careers. With clear coordination across agencies, education systems, unions, and training providers, retrofit projects would serve not only as infrastructure upgrades but also as structured entry points into union apprenticeships and related career pathways.
Pilot retrofit schools could also function as “living labs,” where building systems and climate technologies are designed to support hands-on learning for students and workforce trainees. These spaces could provide ongoing opportunities for observation, training, and workforce development tied directly to real infrastructure projects.
Strategic Vision: Infrastructure as a Career and Economic Mobility Engine
Impact: A workforce-aligned retrofit initiative would generate 500 to 2,500 paid jobs and work-based learning placements.
Pipeline goal: Beyond the immediate construction, this initiative would build long-term pipelines into growing infrastructure careers through structured entry points into union apprenticeships.
The “living lab” concept: Pilot schools would function as living labs, with building systems (solar, heat pumps, etc.) designed for hands-on student observation and workforce trainee instruction.
Lead agency: Workforce Authority (in coordination with the New York City School Construction Authority, New York City Public Schools, and GEN)
The Three-Tiered Delivery Model
To maximize the utility of the “living lab” approach while ensuring school security and operational continuity, the initiative would differentiate learning opportunities by age group, timing, and funding source:
Tier 1: Integrated K–12 learning (foundational, delivered during in-school hours)
Focus: General climate literacy and career awareness.
Implementation: Students monitor the school’s heat pump efficiency and energy dashboards during science/STEM periods.
Pathways: Direct credit toward GPRO and OSHA-30 certification, along with clear pathways into union jobs.
Tier 3: Community workforce training (technical, delivered after hours and on weekends)
Focus: Adult residents, career changers, and out-of-school youth.
Implementation: Utilizes school mechanical wings and shared equipment outside school hours, on weekends, or during summer sessions.
Role of GEN: Community-based organizations within GENwouldserve as funded training providers, ensuring that the curriculum is aligned with the technical needs of the retrofit project.
Union Alignment and Direct Entry
To fulfill Mayor Mamdani’s mandate for high-road labor standards, the Workforce Authority could formalize direct-entry agreements with theBuilding and Construction Trades Council. This would ensure that student and community pathways lead directly to union apprenticeships in the specific trades performing the school retrofits:
IBEW Local 3: Training on school solar energy systems, electric vehicle (EV) charging, and load management.
UA Local 1 andLocal 368: Training on school heat pumps and thermal energy networks.
Laborers’ Local 79: Training on general green construction and hazardous material abatement.
Operational Design and Standardized Pathways in Environmental Justice Communities
Every retrofit project in environmental justice communities could follow a mandatory, four-step workforce pipeline:
Outreach: Led by GEN workforce partners within the relevant ZIP codes.
Screening: Pre-employment training and technical vetting.
Placement: Direct placement into paid entry points (internships, pre-apprenticeships, and transitional roles) embedded in the retrofit contract.
Retention: Six to twelve months of career navigation and support services.
Shared Training Infrastructure and High-Need Areas
Because specialized equipment is often too costly for individual programs to maintain, the city could establish centralized training and resilience hubswithin pilot schools. These hubs would focus on high-need sectors identified by theGreen Economy Action Plan:
Building efficiency and advanced HVAC
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure
Building automation and maintenance
Implement a Sustainable Financing Framework for the Green Workforce Pipeline
Given the city’s projected budget shortfall, the retrofit initiative is designed to avoid new tax-levy spending by utilizing capitalized labor principles. By shifting workforce development from a social service expense to a project delivery investment, the city could fund these essential functions through its $6B+ annual capital budget and existing external revenue streams.
Workforce Soft Cost Capitalization
The city should classify community outreach, screening, and retention services as project management soft costs within capital budgets.
Mechanism: Like architectural fees or site inspections, these workforce functions are essential to the successful delivery of the physical asset.
Impact: This would allow workforce coordination to be financed through long-term infrastructure bonds rather than the operating budget, protecting the general fund during deficit cycles.
Procurement Alignment and Contractor Cost-Sharing
To ensure that workforce goals are integrated into project delivery rather than treated as parallel programs, the city should embed workforce expectations directly into the procurement process:
Requirement: RFPs should require contractors to demonstrate funded partnerships with GEN member community-based organizations and workforce training providers for recruitment and retention.
Efficiency: By embedding these costs into climate-related procurements, the city would leverage contractor budgets to deliver community outcomes as a core project requirement.
Inter-Agency Coordination and Administrative Efficiency
The Workforce Authority would serve as the central coordinating entity for aligning planning across21 city agencies involved in workforce development:
Mechanism: This coordination would help ensure that education pipelines and training programs are synced with the city’s $6B+ annual capital spend.
Impact: By reducing redundancy and administrative waste across agencies, the city would optimize its current budget and ensure that existing training dollars are directed toward projects with guaranteed capital funding.
Alternative Revenue and External Alignment
The retrofit initiative could further offset costs by tapping into dedicated green economy funding:
Local Law 97 penalties: A portion of Local Law 97 noncompliance penalties could be directed to support training infrastructure and “living lab” retrofits. Additional Department of Buildings noncompliance penalty funding streams include Local Laws 84, 133, 87, 88, 33, and 95.
State and federal funding alignment: City project requirements could be aligned with New York State climate funding and federal green energy incentives, including:
New York Power Authority’s $12M for EV maintenance and clean energy career training
New York State’s $1B Sustainable Futures funding for renewables, building decarbonization, thermal energy, and clean transportation.
Public-private partnerships: The city could draw on GEN to help manage and support shared training infrastructure, allowing the cost of specialized equipment to be shared with industry partners and workforce providers.
Partner on Systemic Workforce Solutions
Building a coordinated green economy requires active participation from across the workforce, education, and industry sectors. We invite you to collaborate with the Green Economy Network to help implement these governance and financing models.
To learn more and to support these recommendations, contact Malia Darby at mdarby@jobsfirstnyc.org.
This post is the final installment in a three-part series on the state of youth employment in New York City.ReadPart 1 andPart 2for additional context. In this installment, we outline five strategies our organization has developed and invested in to help build a more unified system—one that ensures every young adult can achieve economic mobility and every community can fully leverage its talent.
New data show that New York City has made remarkable strides over the past 20 years. Since JobsFirstNYC was founded in 2006, the number of young adults who are out of school and out of work (OSOW) has declined by over 90,000—roughly 30%. Across the City, programs have emerged that provide skills training, career exploration, and pathways into sustainable, thriving careers. Yet even as overall OSOW rates have declined in recent decades and stabilized after a pandemic-driven expansion, some communities continue to face systemic barriers that limit access to opportunity. Our recent data brief showed how employment trends for young people vary across race, socio-economic background, and neighborhood. In a follow-up blog, our partners at the Center for New York City Affairs highlighted a stark reality: New York City’s 16- to 24-year-olds face the highest unemployment rate of any age group. The data is clear, and it points to an opportunity to strengthen systems, expand pathways, and ensure every young adult can thrive.
To continue advancing our mission and deepening our impact, JobsFirstNYC has focused on identifying and scaling approaches that drive lasting change for young adults and their communities. The following five strategies offer a practical roadmap for strengthening coordination across systems to expand economic mobility citywide.
1. Invest in Neighborhoods So Young Adults Can Thrive Where They Live.
Communities with the highest rates of young adults who are out of school and out of work are rich in talent and potential, yet many have historically faced disinvestment. Place-based strategies that strengthen schools, workforce pipelines, housing, and community partnerships can expand opportunities and improve economic outcomes for these neighborhoods. Supporting community-led hubs while integrating employer demand and incorporating youth perspectives ensures that investments build on local assets and create opportunities that reflect the strengths and aspirations of each community. JobsFirstNYC has seen this in action: the Brownsville Hub Cooperative shows how unified strategies around education, training, and employment can expand opportunity by leveraging existing community strengths, while Youth WINS on the North Shore of Staten Island brings together partners to strengthen pathways for young people in their community.
2. Strengthen and Modernize Pathways from School to Work.
In recent years, NYC Public Schools and CUNY have made important progress in reimagining public education to better prepare young New Yorkers for the world of work. Signature initiatives like FutureReadyNYC, Career Readiness and Modern Youth Apprenticeships, and the emerging CUNY Beyond model offer strong foundations and demonstrate what is possible when education and career preparation are aligned. To build on this momentum, the next phase must focus on scale—universalizing access to career exploration and work-based learning so that paid internships, apprenticeships, and structured workplace experiences are available to all students, not just a subset. Clear, coordinated pathways that link high schools, community-based organizations, colleges, and advanced training providers, through tools like dual-enrollment, which build longer on-ramps, can smooth transitions into higher-skill training and career advancement. Through its Transfer 2 Career (T2C) model, JobsFirstNYC has demonstrated how coordinated work-based learning, career exploration, and direct employer connections can reach thousands of young people. Expanding programs that integrate internships, apprenticeships, and career exploration into the school experience ensures that education becomes a springboard for long-term success.
3. Build Next-Generation Work Solutions for a Changing New York City Economy.
General career awareness and exploration are not enough; young adults also need industry-specific preparation that leads to advancement, paired with durable skills that transfer across roles as the economy evolves. That’s why JobsFirstNYC has focused on three high-growth sectors with strong career pathways and family-sustaining wages—healthcare, technology, and the green economy—while emphasizing competencies like problem-solving, adaptability, and digital fluency. Sectoral employment strategies, like JobsFirstNYC’s Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project (YASEP), provide hands-on, employer-informed training, career coaching, and work-based learning that equip young people with the skills employers actually demand. At the same time, enabling young adults to fully participate in these pathways requires treating supports like universal childcare and pre-K as core workforce infrastructure, not add-ons. When training models strengthen both technical and durable skills and systems remove barriers to participation, New York can expand access to careers that offer stability, growth, and long-term opportunity across the city.
4. Prepare Young Adults to Navigate and Shape an AI-driven Economy.
AI and automation are rapidly reshaping early-career roles, raising expectations for digital fluency, problem-solving, and adaptability across sectors. To keep pace, New York City’s education and workforce systems must better understand how entry-level jobs are changing and continuously align training with emerging skill requirements. JobsFirstNYC already supports the workforce ecosystem in preparing for this shift through initiatives like Skills Mapping and fieldwide AI guidelines developed with workforce partners, helping mission-driven organizations integrate technology in ways that strengthen, rather than replace, human-centered practice. Embedding digital and AI skills into education, training, and work-based learning equips youth to succeed in today’s jobs and the emerging roles of tomorrow. By designing programs and systems that integrate technology with real-world experience, we can ensure young adults are prepared for careers that grow with the city’s economy.
5. Use Youth-Centered Data and Accountability to Drive Results.
Improving outcomes for young adults requires more than tracking headline trends; it requires holding systems accountable for how young people enter, move through, and advance in the labor market. Disaggregated, youth-focused data make it possible to see which schools, programs, and neighborhoods are effectively supporting economic mobility—and where gaps remain. Broad improvements often mask persistent challenges, including unemployment, underemployment, and low-wage, unstable work concentrated in specific communities. Annual reporting on youth labor market indicators, longitudinal tracking from education into employment, and embedding youth outcomes into citywide economic and workforce planning ensure that progress is measured by young adults’ success, not just system activity. Centering young people in defining and interpreting these data further strengthens accountability, builds trust, and ensures that strategies reflect their experiences and aspirations, enabling New York City to refine strategies, scale what works, and ensure progress reaches every community.
Looking Ahead
By investing in community-centered strategies, strengthening pathways from school to work, expanding sector-aligned opportunities, preparing young adults for a changing economy, and using youth-centered data to guide action, New York City can ensure economic mobility reaches every neighborhood. The evidence is strong, the strategies are proven, and the talent and ambition of young New Yorkers are undeniable. By building systems that work for young people and the communities they call home, we can turn progress into lasting opportunity, creating a vibrant, inclusive, and thriving city for everyone.
Acknowledgment: We thank our partners at the Center for New York City Affairs at the New School for preparing and analyzing the 2023 American Community Survey data, which made this reporting possible.
Affordability is Workforce Development:Priority Actions to Increase Economic Mobility for New York City’s Young Adults
Introduction
New York City needs a modern, aligned education–training–employment system that works in real time with labor-market and neighborhood conditions to prepare young people for success in a rapidly changing economy. More than 106,000 young adults remain out of school and out of work, and an even greater number are underemployed in unstable, low-wage jobs. These challenges are concentrated in specific neighborhoods that lack coherent, connected systems of education, skills training, and employment.
JobsFirstNYC was created in 2006 to address this challenge. We create and advance solutions that break down barriers and transform the systems supporting young adults and their communities in the pursuit of economic opportunity. Our work involves more than 200 partners across all five boroughs and has connected more than 20,500 people to education, training, and employment. Our place-based solutions—developed in neighborhoods with the highest out-of-school, out-of-work and unemployment rates—have demonstrated that coordinated local systems measurably improve access to education, training, and employment. We have leveraged more than $35 million in public and private investment and supported models that have been adopted and replicated across schools, workforce programs, and city agencies.
Through our Community, Education, Work, and Policy Solutions, JobsFirstNYC has validated a set of practices that improve young people’s transitions into postsecondary education, align training with employer needs, strengthen coordination at the neighborhood level, and support young adults in accessing upwardly mobile work. The recommendations below outline the next steps the City can take to build a more unified and responsive system.
Recommendation 1: Strengthen and modernize pathways from school to work.
Young adults need clear and structured pathways that connect high school, community-based programs, colleges, and skills training. Today, these pathways remain fragmented. JobsFirstNYC’s work shows that when these pathways are aligned and coordinated across institutions, young adults move more successfully into postsecondary opportunities and employment.
By modernizing pathways between school, training, and work—and by integrating workforce development, hands-on learning, and employer connections into the school and skills training experience—New York can ensure that all young adults are equipped with the skills, experience, and networks needed to succeed.
Recommended actions:
Universalize career exploration and work-based learning – Today, far too few students in the City’s public schools and CUNY have access to career-connected learning. While we applaud the emergent work that NYC Public Schools (NYCPS), CUNY, and the Department of Youth and Community Development have done in this space, greater investment is needed to universalize work-based learning and expand paid internships, apprenticeship opportunities, and structured workplace experiences that connect directly to postsecondary education, skills training, and career progression.
Strengthen CBO–college partnerships through structured dual-enrollment pathways – Create consistent, City-supported models where community-based organizations (CBOs) partner with colleges and advanced training providers to offer early exposure to credit-bearing coursework, clearer advancement routes, and smoother transitions into higher-skill training. Dual-enrollment structures can serve as a backbone for longer on-ramps that integrate foundational skills, sector preparation, and college-linked progression.
Scale advanced career development across the education system – Every year, tens of thousands of students in traditional high schools and high school equivalency programs are locked out of opportunities for career development because their school has no such offerings. Career and technical education schools and programs are a strong foundation; FutureReadyNYC is on the right path. CUNY Beyond is promising. But much more is needed.
Move from employer insight to workplace opportunities as a core driver of school-to-career strategy – JobsFirstNYC was honored to partner with NYCPS to engage deeply with their Industry Commissions. This engagement led to a report that identified a variety of ways the Industry Commissions could more effectively leverage employers. The key takeaway: convert employer insights into workplace experiences. Doing so helps schools identify—and students learn—the key skills, knowledge, and competencies required to pursue a career in a rapidly evolving economy.
Recommendation 2: Invest in neighborhoods so young adults can thrive where they live.
All young adults deserve to live in communities with strong education and training options, accessible work opportunities, and a vibrant civic life—yet far too many New Yorkers do not. In fact, as JobsFirstNYC has recently shown, more than 106,000 young adults are neither in school nor working; this population is heavily concentrated in neighborhoods that have faced years of disinvestment. Acoordinated, place-based mobility strategy is essential to reversing these inequities.
Leading research from economists such as Raj Chetty and summary research published by the US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty show that neighborhood-level investments improve long-term outcomes when they strengthen schools, workforce pipelines, transportation access, and access to family-sustaining jobs.
Develop a unified place-based strategy for New York City – The City should build on proven neighborhood-based models by adopting a unified place-based economic mobility strategy. JobsFirstNYC’s Brownsville Hub Cooperative helped inform the City’s Blueprint for Community Safety, and our place-based and sector partnerships influenced the New York City Economic Development Corporation’s Economic Mobility Networks. A coordinated citywide framework would create consistent standards and shared strategies while allowing for flexibility and supporting community-driven economic development, education, employment, training, and economic mobility goals.
Prioritize under-resourced neighborhoods – Use data on unemployment and on out-of-school, out-of-work youth to determine where systemic intervention is most needed. For example, recent data from the American Community Survey show that there are six neighborhoods with alarmingly high rates of 16- to 24-year-olds who are neither working nor in school. These neighborhoods deserve the City’s full attention.
Support community-led hubs that organize partners and resources – Strengthen hubs that coordinate education, training, employment, youth development, and economic initiatives by building the capacity of local partners that sustain these efforts.
Integrate employer demand and youth voice into neighborhood strategies – Ground neighborhood strategies in real employer demand and strong employer partnerships. Employers should help shape training, validate skills, and support clear pathways into in-demand roles. Youth voice should guide priorities so that training reflects young people’s interests and strengthens trust in neighborhood systems.
Recommendation 3: Build next-generation work solutions for a changing New York City economy.
Sectoral employment approaches align training with the needs of high-growth industries, creating clear pathways into stable jobs and improving outcomes for young adults. But the next phase requires deeper coordination among CBOs, colleges, employers, and training providers, along with training systems that can keep pace with a fast-changing labor market.
JobsFirstNYC’s Young Adult Sectoral Employment Project—the nation’s first youth-centered sectoral employment initiative—offers a tested blueprint: employer-led, industry-aligned training grounded in positive youth development. When expanded into strong sector networks and paired withstackable, “earn-and-learn” pathways, these approaches boost employment and earnings and help ensure that young adults who are out of school and out of work are first in line for growth in industries like tech, healthcare, and the green economy. Together, these networks do more than connect training to jobs, they create a citywide ecosystem that increases access to economic mobility.
Recommended actions:
Build training models that strengthen durable skills and use modern systems to track shifting labor-market needs – Develop training that builds durable, transferable skills valued across occupations and sectors. In parallel, modernize workforce systems so they can continuously update changing functional and technical skill requirements using real-time labor-market intelligence, predictive analytics on job taxonomy shifts, and employer-informed feedback loops.
Support universal childcare and pre-K as essential workforce infrastructure – Expand access to affordable childcare and pre-K so parents and caregivers can participate fully in education, training, and employment. Treat childcare as core infrastructure for any effective workforce pathway.
Strengthen coordination among CBOs, K–12 schools, colleges, and employers through a dual-track approach – Use a dual-track strategy that supports both immediate employment pathways and longer on-ramps into advanced training and higher education, including earn-and-learn models. As an early priority, the City should establish a standard coordination framework and pilot it in select neighborhoods so programs can connect short-term training to longer-term advancement routes.
Build an employer–workforce strategy that positions talent as core to economic development – The City should replace ad hoc employer partnerships with a coordinated strategy that links talent development to economic development, using tools such as shared employer role standards, local-hire approaches, and targeted incentives that encourage employers to create clear entry-level pathways and advancement opportunities.
Prioritize neighborhoods with the highest unemployment rates – Ensure that training and hiring strategies are industry-driven and reach neighborhoods with the highest barriers. Local impact sourcing is a strong example of this approach, bringing digital skills centers and tech-focused jobs directly to under-resourced neighborhoods while building local recruitment pipelines and supporting long-term community economic resilience. See Appendix 1: Local Impact Sourcing, New York City for a detailed proposed strategy.
Recommendation 4: Prepare young adults to navigate and shape an AI-driven economy.
Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation continue to reshape New York City’s labor market. Traditional entry-level roles are shrinking—postings have fallen by up to 50% in some sectors since 2023—while employers are rapidly increasing expectations for digital fluency, communication, adaptability, and problem-solving. To keep pace with this shift, New York City must ensure that its education, workforce, and community systems are preparing young adults for the roles that are emerging rather than those that are disappearing.
JobsFirstNYC is already supporting the workforce ecosystem in meeting this challenge through AI-centered initiatives and convenings. Building on research with partners, we collaborated with the Workforce Professionals Training Institute and the NYC Employment and Training Coalition to develop fieldwide AI guidelines. And through early explorations of how AI can accelerate impact, such as our Skills Mapping initiative, JobsFirstNYC continues to lead in understanding both the future of work and how New Yorkers can best be served. By integrating these insights into programs, curricula, and training strategies, the incoming administration can equip young New Yorkers for emerging roles, build a more resilient workforce, and ensure that young adults are positioned not merely to react to technological change but to shape and thrive in the City’s evolving economy.
Recommended actions:
Conduct a citywide analysis of how AI is reshaping early-career roles – Commission new research—and leverage existing research—to identify which entry-level jobs are declining, which are being reshaped, and which are emerging across high-growth sectors. Use this analysis to guide City planning, occupational standards, and program investments.
Modernize digital and AI skill development across education and workforce systems – Integrate digital literacy, foundational technology skills, and responsible AI use across NYCPS, CUNY, community-based programs, and publicly funded workforce training. Ensure alignment with employer-validated competencies and create clear pathways from learning environments into in-demand roles. Invest in templates, toolkits, and technical assistance that help mission-driven organizations integrate technology in ways that strengthen —not replace—human-centered practice and ensure equitable access.
Establish citywide standards for the responsible use of AI in education, training, and hiring – Develop guidance and implementation standards that ensure transparency, data privacy, equity protections, and safeguards against algorithmic bias. Require all City-funded programs and vendors to adhere to these standards.
Increase access to work-based learning that reflects the future of work – Partner with employers to create internships, apprenticeships, and project-based learning experiences where young adults can apply digital, technical, and problem-solving skills in real-world settings shaped by new technologies.
Engage young adults as co-designers in all AI-related public initiatives – Research consistently shows the value of human-centered design. Young adults’ perspectives must inform AI strategies, as they are the ones who will live and work in this new economy. Compensate young adults for participating in design sessions, testing new tools, and advising the City on responsible AI integration. Adopt a human-centered design approach that reflects the needs and experiences of young New Yorkers, particularly those from communities most affected by technological disruption.
Recommendation 5: Use youth-centered data and accountability to drive results.
New York City cannot improve outcomes for young adults if it does not consistently track how they enter, move through, and advance in the labor market. Although the City collects extensive data, this information is rarely organized around young adults’ experiences, disaggregated to expose inequities, or used to inform planning and investments. A youth-centered data and accountability strategy is necessary to identify persistent barriers and ensure that public dollars lead to better outcomes.
Recent JobsFirstNYC’s analyses show that headline improvements often mask serious challenges for young adults. Unemployment, underemployment, and labor force withdrawal remain concentrated in specific neighborhoods, and many young New Yorkers are clustered in low-wage, unstable work. At the same time, City planning strategies and major economic development efforts rarely treat young adults as a distinct group with specific needs, such as longer on-ramps for career exploration, improved literacy and numeracy, and stronger wraparound supports. If the City expects better results, it must collect the right youth-specific data, share these data transparently, and use them to drive policy, funding, and program decisions.
Recommended actions:
Mandate annual reporting on youth labor-market intelligence – Partner with youth-centered intermediaries and research organizations to develop annual, publicly available reporting on key youth labor-market indicators, including employment, unemployment, underemployment, wages, sector of employment, and participation in education and training. Data should be disaggregated by age, race, gender, borough, and neighborhood so that policymakers, providers, and communities can see where progress is occurring and where gaps persist.
Embed youth employment outcomes in City economic and workforce plans – Make youth outcomes a core component of citywide economic development, workforce, and education planning. Require agencies to set goals and track progress using a shared set of youth indicators, such as sustained employment, wage growth, successful transitions from education and training into work, participation in career exploration, and access to wraparound supports. Use these indicators to guide funding decisions and to assess whether major initiatives are improving conditions for young adults specifically—not just for the City’s population as a whole.
Fund long-term research and tracking on youth economic mobility – Invest in ongoing research that follows young adults over time to understand how public investments in education, training, housing, and workforce programs affect long-term economic mobility. Support partnerships between the City, researchers, and intermediaries to analyze trends, to identify which models produce real gains for young adults, and to make those findings available to agencies and providers. Use this evidence to refine strategies, retire approaches that are not working, and scale the practices that have the strongest impact.
Build a longitudinal data system spanning pre-K through employment – New York City lacks the ability to understand the ways in which high schools and colleges propel young adults into the workforce. By building a longitudinal database that links the outcomes of students to educational institutions, New York City can understand which institutions are particularly strong in promoting young adults’ economic mobility and which require additional support.
Prioritize youth voice in data collection and interpretation – Use existing youth leadership structures to ensure that young adults help identify which outcomes should be measured and how findings are understood. The Mayor’s Youth Leadership Council and the NYC Youth Council can play an important role in shaping priorities, strengthening trust, and ensuring that data reflect young people’s experiences and interests.
Conclusion
New York City has an opportunity to build a unified system that connects education, training, and employment in ways that expand economic mobility for young adults and strengthen the neighborhoods where they live. A system that responds to real labor-market conditions, supports skill development, and removes barriers to work is central to the City’s broader affordability goals. Affordability is workforce development: when young adults can access stable employment and advance in their careers, they are better able to build long-term stability. JobsFirstNYC stands ready to support the transition team with further detail on any of these recommendations.
This post continues our three-part series on the state of youth employment in New York City. In part one, Economic Mobility for New York City’s Young Adults: Where Progress Meets Persistent Barriers, JobsFirstNYC examined new findings showing that the share of young adults who are out of school and out of work (OSOW) has reached an all-time low, even as deep disparities persist across neighborhoods. In this second installment, our partners at the Center for New York City Affairs (CNYCA), part of The New School, take a closer look at the labor market dynamics shaping these trends—exploring how shifts in unemployment, labor force participation, and opportunity intersect to influence young people’s economic mobility.
This guest analysis from CNYCA, provides additional perspective and contextualizes the data to deepen our understanding of how young adults are navigating New York City’s evolving economy.
By Ludovica Tursini, Center for New York City Affairs (CNYCA) at The New School
In 2024, New York City’s youth had the highest unemployment rate of any group in the city. American Community Survey (ACS) data released this year for 2023 provides important insights into how young New Yorkers—particularly 16- to 24-year-olds—are faring in the labor market. While some indicators suggest improvement since the pandemic, others highlight persistent challenges that merit policy attention.
Youth Employment and Labor Market Participation
The rate of young people who are out of school and out of work (OSOW)—defined as 16- to 24-year-olds who are not enrolled in school and are either unemployed or completely out of the labor force—fell back to 12.6% in 2023. This marks a return to pre-pandemic levels and a notable drop of 3 percentage points from the peak of 16% during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021.
This is a reassuring development, yet it also points to continued vulnerabilities. Young adults remain more exposed to labor market fluctuations than older workers. In 2023, the unemployment rate for out-of-school 16- to 24-year-olds was 13.4%—higher than pre-pandemic levels and more than double the unemployment rate for adults aged 18 and older.
Among the roughly 106,000 young people who were not in school and not participating in the labor market, nearly 30% reported actively seeking work, while the remaining 70% (approximately 72,000 individuals) were not engaged in school or the labor market. Related research provides some context. A report by the Future of Families and Child Wellbeing Study found that 22 year olds who had not worked in the prior year were much more likely to report disability or other barriers to employment. Consistent with this, 10% of the OSOW population reported a disability, compared with just 6% of the broader 16- to 24-year-old population.
Education does not fully shield young people from these challenges. While nearly half of young adults who are OSOW hold only a high school diploma or GED, 15% have at least a bachelor’s degree—underscoring the difficulty some young people face in navigating the transition from school to work and from adolescence to adulthood.
Demand for Young Workers
Another factor that impacts youth labor market outcomes is whether or not there are businesses looking to hire young people, who, by nature of their age, have less education and experience than the general workforce and likely have fewer networks. In 2023, the industries with the highest shares of 16- to 24-year-old workers in New York City were:
Retail Trade (18.7%)
Entertainment (18.6%)
Education (11.2%)
Social Assistance (7.9%)
Manufacturing (7.7%)
While these industries have a good track record of hiring young people, each of these industries has been reshaped in post-COVID New York, which may provide further insight into the challenges young New Yorkers face in the labor market today. For example, retail and entertainment, which employ the largest total number of youth in the city, have both experienced job decline since 2020.
Figure 1:
Source: CNYCA Analysis of American Community Survey, 2023 and 2019 1-year micro-data. U.S. Census Bureau
While young people have grown their share of total employment in these sectors since 2019, the total number of youth working in these sectors declined during this time period. Young people continue to find job opportunities in retail and entertainment, but there are simply fewer jobs in these sectors for them to access.
On the other hand, the city has seen job growth in education and social assistance in recent years, where young people have experienced an increase in total employment. The education sector has also experienced an increase in the share of young workers. While overall growth in education jobs has been minimal (compared to the significant increase in social assistance jobs), this is a sector that young people are well-networked in, by virtue of many of them being students or recent graduates themselves.
In 2023, manufacturing experienced an increase in both the absolute number of young people employed and the share of young workers in the industry. These increases were substantial enough to make this a top industry for the share of young workers, replacing Other Services (which includes jobs in a wide range of services, from auto repair to hair and nail salons).
Population Shifts and Demographic Change
Labor market indicators for young adults are also shaped by broader demographic changes.
From 2019 to 2023, the city’s 16- to 24-year-old population fell by 3.5%, and its racial composition also shifted:
The white youth population declined 2.5%.
The Black youth population declined 12.2%.
The Hispanic youth population declined 5.9%.
The Asian youth population declined 1.2%.
The Brookings Institution has documented a growing outmigration of the Black population, especially young Black individuals, from the Northeast to the rapidly expanding “New South,” driven by both economic opportunities and cultural ties.The New York State Comptroller’s Office has further linked pandemic-era economic hardship—including high inflation and rising rents—to higher rates of outmigration among Black and Hispanic households, and particularly among low-income households. According to a New York State Comptroller’s report, the share of nonwhite households leaving the city rose to 64% in 2022, up from 58% in the previous year.
In a previous post, Center for New York City Affairs reported that the city’s median household income declined by 6.9% between 2019 and 2022—one of the steepest drops among the ten largest U.S. cities. The decline in median household income was particularly sharp among Black and Hispanic households, which may have exacerbated the outmigration of these groups from New York City.
Taken together, the ACS data paints a complex picture. On one hand, rates of young adults who are OSOW among youth have receded from pandemic-era highs. On the other hand, unemployment among out-of-school youth remains elevated, and population shifts suggest widening racial disparities in who can live and thrive in New York City.
For policymakers, the message is clear: Black and Hispanic youth face compounded challenges—economic, demographic, and structural—that risk deepening inequality unless addressed through targeted policies. As the city looks ahead to a mayoral administration focused on affordability, these findings highlight the importance of policies that expand economic mobility for young adults, enabling them to build thriving futures in New York City.
The Center for New York City Affairs at The New School is an applied policy research institute that drives innovation in social policy.
On June 18, students from across New York City gathered at Brooklyn Borough Hall to be honored for reaching a milestone in their journeys toward new careers. Held at Brooklyn Borough Hall’s former Brooklyn Supreme Courtroom, the ceremony recognized students from District 79, the city’s Alternative School District, who had completed a wide variety of work-based learning experiences, including earning certifications that will prepare them for careers in solar energy, construction, and healthcare.
Reflecting on the choice of Brooklyn Borough Hall’s ornate mid-19th-century courtroom as the venue, TaNitra Watson, the District’s Work-Based Learning Coordinator, said, “We wanted students to feel a sense of pride and to know that the bar was high—that what they were doing mattered.” For Mahnur, a trilingual student originally from Bangladesh, the day was an opportunity to reflect on an internship she had just completed in which she leveraged her language skills to engage the Bangla-, Hindi-, and English-speaking members of her Queens community. For Jonathan, the celebration brought him one step closer to achieving his goal of gaining a full-time position as a radiologic technologist. For Nadefa, the afternoon event was her second ceremony of the day; that morning, she had been awarded her high school equivalency diploma.
For the district at large, it was evidence of progress; each of the students in attendance was on track to earn a diploma and transition onward to a college or career pathway. What’s more, it was the first such event in six years. Not since before the pandemic had Superintendent Glenda Esperance, Tanitra Watson, and their team gathered in this way to celebrate their career-bound students. JobsFirstNYC was thrilled to join the celebration and reflect on a collaboration that began one year earlier.
In the summer of 2024, Superintendent Esperance and then NYCPS Chief of Student Pathways Jade Grieve approached JobsFirstNYC. They explained that there was a strong foundation of career connected learning across District 79, and wanted to provide their students with additional opportunities. They wanted to strengthen the capacity of their staff and form additional partnerships with workforce training providers. Was there something JobsFirstNYC could do? Thus began Pathways Beyond Graduation, the next iteration of the organization’s Transfer to Career Collaborative.
After several months of planning, following the JobsFirstNYC’s collaborative 5-step partnership development process, the initiative launched in January with a series of professional learning sessions that reached over 150 educators across the District. Since then, teachers have started to integrate career learning into classes, 30 staff members from across the District have formed three cross-borough working groups, and school-based teams have designed pilots that launch this fall. The work JobsFirstNYC is advancing in District 79 reflects a growing awareness that young adults need more than academic knowledge and skills to succeed in college and the workplace. Students need career preparation and real-world workplace experience infused into their daily curriculum—internships, jobs, and service-learning opportunities—supported by guidance from trusted adults to help them imagine themselves in different futures. As sentiments shift, so too does policy. Reflecting this shift, states are updating policies to expand work-based learning. In Alabama, for example, new diploma options acknowledge and elevate career experiences, while in Kentucky, efforts are underway to provide career and technical education for all students.New York City is following this national trend by taking bold steps to integrate career readiness into its schools. NYC Public Schools is expanding its signature FutureReady initiative and opening new career-preparedness high schools, such as the Northwell School of Health Sciences and the Bronx STEAM Center—both of which just opened their doors in September.
It has been four months since the June celebration in Brooklyn Borough Hall. In that time, Mahnur, Nadefa, and Jonathan earned their high school equivalency diploma and began the next stage of their lives, which for each of them has meant college and a part-time job. And JobsFirstNYC and District 79 have moved onto the next stage of our work together. Having completed the first two phases of our 5-step partnership development process this summer, this fall marks the beginning of our third ‘Incubate’ phase, where we will launch improvement projects in District 79 sites across all five boroughs. Stay tuned
Part One in a Three-Part Series on Youth Employment
New data show that the number of young adults who are out of school and out of work (OSOW) is at an all-time low, but remains disproportionately high in some communities.
Today’s national headlines often highlight low unemployment rates—but for New York City’s young adults, the reality is much more complex. According to the newest available data from the American Community Survey,¹more than 106,000 young adults aged 16–24 are neither in school nor working. While citywide unemployment rates suggest recovery, many young people continue to face structural and neighborhood-level barriers that limit access to education, training, and work.
Across neighborhoods with long histories of underinvestment, many young people still struggle to access opportunities that lead to financial security and economic advancement. Understanding who is affected, where, and why is critical to ensuring that all young adults can build the skills, experience, and confidence to thrive.
Prior to the pandemic, New York City’s OSOW rates were at historic lows. Those gains were all but wiped out when the pandemic disrupted the city’s labor market and educational systems. By 2022, much of the progress had been regained. The most recent data—drawn from 2023—allow us to take stock of what has stabilized, what has shifted, and where challenges remain, particularly in neighborhoods that face persistent barriers to opportunity.
Citywide Trends
The share of young adults in New York City categorized as OSOW has remained steady, shifting only slightly from 12.4% in 2022 to 12.6% in 2023. While this small change might suggest stability, the composition of this group has shifted. The number of OSOW young adults who are unemployed has declined, while those not participating in the labor market have grown by more than 5,000—even as the overall young adult population has decreased. This means that a greater share of young adults are now outside the workforce altogether, reflecting challenges such as caregiving responsibilities or persistent discouragement. Understanding these dynamics is essential: while headline economic indicators such as unemployment paint a positive picture, underlying disengagement from the labor market is rising, signaling that systems and supports are not reaching all young people equally.
Who Is Affected
The data also reveal key changes across race and gender. Young men are slightly more likely than young women to be OSOW. In addition, Black youth now represent a smaller share of young adults neither in school nor working, both in absolute numbers (down from 39,554 in 2021 to 27,496 in 2023) and in proportion of the OSOW population (28.6% to 25.9%). While this may suggest progress, it also reflects the steepest population decline among Black young adults during this period.
These demographic changes occurred amid an overall drop in the city’s young adult population, as fewer have remained or returned to New York City following the pandemic. ² This local trend sits within broader national demographic changes: across the US, the population of young adults has been shrinking due to a combination of factors, including migration patterns and lower birth rates. ³ For New York City, this means that the young adults who remain face both ongoing barriers and new pressures, shaping who can access education, training, and work.
Underemployment and Economic Vulnerability
Citywide rates of OSOW young adults alone do not capture the full economic picture. Many young adults are working part time without full financial stability. Over half of employed 18- to 24-year-olds work part time, compared with just 23% of the total employed population. In addition, 38% of young adults not currently in school or working live below the federal poverty line, meaning that tens of thousands of young adults are facing financial hardship. Yet because the official poverty measure understates the true cost of living in New York City, ⁴ more youth are experiencing economic insecurity than the numbers suggest. As a result, even with overall unemployment approaching pre-pandemic levels, economic mobility for young adults remains far from guaranteed.
Neighborhood-Level Disparities
City averages mask critical neighborhood variances. Certain community districts have very high OSOW rates—24.5% in the Bronx neighborhoods of Melrose, Mott Haven, Longwood & Hunts Point; 20% in the Brooklyn neighborhoods of Ocean Hill & Brownsville; and 16–16.2% in Central Harlem.⁵ A historical perspective shows that while citywide OSOW rates may appear relatively stable over time, these persistent and emerging local disparities continue to impede economic mobility. Communities like the South Bronx, Central Brooklyn, and Harlem have faced decades of underinvestment in education, housing, health, and workforce infrastructure, leaving young adults there with fewer opportunities to connect to school or work.
Looking Ahead
The newest data underscore that even as citywide rates of young adults not currently in school or working reach historic lows, persistent disparities and financial vulnerability remain. Many employed young adults continue to work only part-time, and tens of thousands live below the federal poverty line in a city where the cost of living is high. Neighborhood-level data make clear that where a young person lives still shapes their access to education, work, and economic opportunity. Together, these findings highlight the urgent need for targeted, community-focused solutions that give all young adults a fair chance to thrive, ensuring that progress at the citywide level translates into real opportunity in every neighborhood.
In neighborhoods with the highest rates of young adults not in school or working, JobsFirstNYC is investing in community-driven solutions that redefine what is possible. Central to this approach is listening to young people and centering their voices in the design of solutions. By understanding their experiences, aspirations, and barriers, partners can meet them where they are and reshape systems to better support success. For example, in Brownsville, the Brownsville Hub Cooperative connects workforce pipelines, small-business growth, and community healing through a resident-led model. In the Bronx, the Bronx Opportunity Network centers student well-being and career opportunities while strengthening cross-sector supports. And in Community District 8, partners are incubating a new collaboration around a shared vision that every young adult should have access to quality services and the support needed to flourish as active, valued members of their communities.
Ultimately data can illuminate need, but change depends on participation and partnership. By combining data-driven insight with place-based action—and listening to young people themselves—we can ensure that every young adult has the resources and opportunities to build a secure and thriving future.
Endnotes
¹ Source: American Community Survey, Public Use Microdata Sample for 2010 to 2023.
⁴ Seehere for more on the True Cost of Living measure in NYC.
⁵ Community-level estimates for 16- to 24-year-olds are based on pooled 2022–2023 American Community Survey data to ensure sufficiently large sample sizes for reliable estimates.
Acknowledgment: We thank our partners at the Center for New York City Affairs for preparing and analyzing the 2023 American Community Survey data, which made this reporting possible.
Unrestricted giving is transforming philanthropy and JobsFirstNYC is highlighted for its impact in the October 2025 issue of GIVING Magazine.
In the feature article, “No Strings Attached: How JobsFirstNYC Proved That Unrestricted Giving Works,” CEO and President, Marjorie Parker, explores how unrestricted giving fuels innovation and impact, empowering organizations like JobsFirstNYC to break down barriers to economic mobility and scale what works.
Anchored by the theme Local Solutions, Lasting Impact, the second day of JobsFirstNYC’s 10th annual Adapting to the Future of Work convening spotlighted the best of what happens when communities harness their strengths, share best practices, and mobilize around a collective vision. Building on an unforgettable first day dedicated exclusively to young adults, the focus shifted to the professionals driving change across New York City and beyond. Workforce practitioners, funders, educators, and policy advocates came together not only to reflect on lessons learned, but to imagine—and act on—new ways of shaping the future of work from the ground up.An executive breakfast brought together Vanessa Gibson, Bronx Borough President; Kim Council, Deputy Brooklyn Borough President; and Ebony Young, Deputy Queens Borough President, for a lively conversation on place-based innovation in New York City. Moderated by Noël S. Anderson, Ph.D., Clinical Professor of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies, NYU Steinhardt School, the discussion explored how local leadership is tackling workforce challenges by supporting young adults, closing talent gaps, and partnering with employers. The session highlighted practical, forward-thinking strategies designed to strengthen local economies and create lasting impact.Noël Anderson, Ph.D, Vanessa Gibson, Kim Council, and Ebony Young
A Standing Ovation for a Voice of the Next Generation
Kicking things off in the main conference hall, the roomignited with an electrifying performance by Kai Diata Giovanni, the New York City Youth Poet Laureate, returning after her Day 1 appearance to centerthe youth voice that inspires and informsthis convening. Through her stirring spoken word, Kai challengedattendeesto live by the principle of “Nothing about us without us”—calling on leaders to truly listen to young people, include them in shaping the future, and create space for them to claim ownership of their own paths.
Building a National Footprint for Workforce Innovation
In her opening remarks, JobsFirstNYC’s CEO & President, Marjorie Parker, announced an exciting milestone: for the first time in its 19-year history, the organization is expanding nationally. Building on the success of JobsFirstNYC, JobsFirstUSA will incubate and accelerate place-based workforce intermediaries and funder collaboratives in key regions across the country.“Through our CommunityINC initiative, we’ve already extended our work into Northeastern Pennsylvania and Southern Nevada, laying the groundwork for this next chapter,” said Marjorie, as she noted, “This expansion isn’t just about growth; it’s about proving that when communities lead, the future of work can be transformed everywhere.”
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This expansion isn’t just about growth; it’s about proving that when communities lead, the future of work can be transformed everywhere.
Marjorie Parker, CEO and President, JobsFirstNYC
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Keynote in Conversation
Building on that energy, Nikole Hannah-Jones, Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist and Graciela Mochkofsky,Dean, The Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNYengaged in a powerful dialogue about the value of truth-telling, courage, and unapologetic community advocacy. In a powerful call to action, Ms. Hannah-Jones said, “We are in a once-in-a-country moment. There was a societal agreement that private companies, supreme courts, and universities were protected. We must now be honest with ourselves. The time for denial is over… We must be vigilant about the way our thoughts are being curtailed.”Graciela Mochkofsky and Nikole Hannah-JonesThe urgency and clarity of this keynote conversation set the stage for a deeper exploration of action at the community level. From confronting national challenges to building local solutions, the convening then turned its focus to leaders who are translating bold visions into tangible partnerships—demonstrating that lasting change requires both honesty and collaboration.
Building Where We Belong: Infrastructure for Local Prosperity
Leaders from Southern Nevada, Northeastern Pennsylvania, and New York City took center stage to dig into what it takes to drive lasting change in local communities and how CommunityINC, a JobsFirstNYC initiative, is scaling a proven local model for national impact. The discussion,moderated by JobsFirstNYC Executive Vice PresidentDavid Charron, highlighted how CommunityINC, is scaling a proven local model for national impact. This group of dynamic leaders shared how they are building coalitions and infrastructure that meet communities where they are by reshaping workforce and education systems.
Laura Ducceschi, President and CEO of the Scranton Area Community Foundation, captured the spirit of the moment:“We need to see collaboration as the goal—not just the path to get there. … The silos of brilliance need to come together.”
Dr. Ricardo Villalobos, Chief Programs Officer, Workforce Connections Nevada, shared how collaboration is transforming workforce solutions in his region. La’Shawn Allen-Muhammad, Executive Director, Central Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation and representative of the Brownsville Hub Cooperative, highlighted how the community has become a thriving hub—sparking new businesses, creating economic opportunities, and building deep local trust.
David Garza, President and CEO of Henry Street Settlement, summed it up simply: “All hope is local.” He pointed to the Lower East Side Employment Network (LESEN) as a powerful example of residents driving solutions that last.
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All hope is local.
David Garza, President and CEO, Henry Street Settlement
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David Garza, La’ Shawn Allen-Muhammad, Laura Ducceschi, Ricardo Villalobos, and David Charron
From Dialogue to Design: Insights from the Breakouts
Interactive afternoon breakout sessions exhorted participants to build their workforce development skills across hot topics like career-connected learning, data for community evaluation, belonging and purpose in the workplace, AI for workforce organizations, and youth-centered recruitment.Julian Cohen, Founder, Shared Lane, and Robin Blanc, Career Readiness Strategy Manager, New Visions for Public Schools, led a dynamic session for education and workforce development. The session featured an interactive activity, equipping practitioners with practical strategies that support both families and students in making informed post-secondary choices.In response to the need for accurate and accessible data in workforce development field, Kate Harvey and Tara Shawa, Program Assistants, Measure of Americashowcased their new Data2Go visualization tool, which has revolutionized the way organizations match both employer and funder needs with the needs of communities. The tool combines data on civic engagement, health outcomes, and educational attainment, making it easier for practitioners to access and apply data-driven strategies.Mike Swigert, Associate Director,Aspen Institute, demonstrated the “Belonging, Meaning, Wellbeing, and Purpose” framework for navigating job placement amongst a new generation. This session highlighted the need for constructive conversations with employers about how to best support incoming workers and setting Gen Z up for success in the workplace. With both anticipation and healthy caution about the future of AI in workforce development, Andrea Vaghy,Chief Programs Officer, and Justin Collins, Senior Director of Programs, Workforce Professionals Training Institute, shared potential guidelines, practical use cases, and actionable tips for how organizations can serve as responsible stewards of AI.“Young people are the future, and we must include them in conversations about their future, said Christina Xenos, Senior Director, Per Scholas, and Emmanuel Brito, IT Support,Commonpoint Queens, and Per Scholas Alumnus, during an engaging conversation on how to incorporate young people’s lived experiences, cultural sensitivity, and growing curiosity when filling seats for a program.
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Young people are the future, and we must include them in conversations about their future.
Christina Xenos, Senior Director, Per Scholas
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Talent in Transition: Adapting Workplaces for the New Era
Jerome Joseph, Pooja Nayyar, Melissa Haber, and Randy Peers
Leading employers from tech, healthcare, and energy challenged assumptions about what young people need most to succeed in the future of work. In a panel conversation moderated by Randy Peers, President and CEO of the Brooklyn Chamber of Commerce, Jerome Joseph, Senior Manager, Global Career Pathways, Salesforce,stressed the importance of preparing the future workforce to sharpen people skills, noting that tech and AI skills can often be picked up on the job. Melissa Haber,Director, Community Workforce Programs and Volunteer and Student Services, Montefiore Medical Center, underscored the need for transparency about the careers being trained for – especially in healthcare. While Pooja Nayyar,Senior Director, Talent & Organizational Development, New York Power Authority, commended the new generation’s hunger to learn and their drive to find purpose in their work.
Policy in Practice: Adapting Systems that Serve Communities
In a thought-provoking policy session, Jane Martinez Dowling,Chief, Office of Student Pathways New York City Public Schools, Nathan Berger,Program and Policy Officer, Robin Hood, Carlyn Cowen,Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Chinese Planning Council, and Robert Sainz, Executive Director, New Ways to Work came together to share perspectives on advancing policy that drives impact. The conversation, facilitated by NYCETC President and CEO, Greg Morris, emphasized the importance of aligning on policy priorities, defining organizational niches, and taking a proactive stance. Robert reminded the audience that in times of crisis, collaboration is essential. Carolyn underscored the power of civic engagement, asking, “What can we say to impact our communities? All power is local. That is our guiding force. Staying rooted in our mission. Seize the power to build locally.” Together, their insights highlighted how community voices, educational institutions, philanthropy, think tanks, and intermediaries each play a unique role in shaping policy for the future of work.
Robert Sainz, Nathan Berger, Carlyn Cowen, Jane Martinez Dowling, and Greg Morris
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What can we say to impact our communities? All power is local. That is our guiding force. Staying rooted in our mission. Seize the power to build locally.
Carlyn Cowen, Chief Policy and Public Affairs Officer, Chinese Planning Council
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Moving Forward, Together
As we reflect on ten years of Adapting to the Future of Work, we encourage you to continue these conversations within your networks and organizations. Together, we can reimagine workforce development systems, create the checks and balances needed, and uplift our communities — especially in times of uncertainty.Key Takeaways:
Human skills remain essential.Even as AI and automation transform hiring and training, employers across tech, healthcare, and clean energy stressed that adaptability, empathy, and communication are just as important as technical skills.
Employers must be active partners. True progress requires employers not just at the table, but co-investing in talent pipelines through mentorship, training, and long-term commitments.
Pathways must open wider. Employers are rethinking degree requirements, rewriting job descriptions, and embracing nontraditional learners to ensure more people can access opportunity.
Place matters. Local identity, history, and culture should shape workforce solutions—there’s no one-size-fits-all model. Communities thrive when solutions are built from the ground up.
Trust is infrastructure.Lasting change comes from deep relationships, not quick wins. Coalitions that center trust and flexibility can weather leadership transitions and funding shifts.
Policy only works if it connects to practice.Success depends on translating bold ideas into on-the-ground results through coalitions, school-employer partnerships, and systems that can sustain success.
Collaboration beats silos. Whether it’s cross-sector alignment, regional partnerships, or aligning funders with local priorities, collective action is the only way to tackle systemic workforce challenges.
The next generation gives us hope. From young entrepreneurs to students building new career pathways, panelists underscored that the resilience and creativity of emerging workers is what makes the future promising.
Marjorie Parker, President and CEO of JobsFirst and JobsFirst NYC
As the day progressed, the focus shifted from policy and systems to storytelling and lived experience. Marjorie Parker, President and CEO of JobsFirst and JobsFirst NYC set the tone for the afternoon, reminding the room of the stakes at hand:
“Policy shapes everything from your schools and public transit to jobs, housing, and mental health support. It is where the rules are written. Understanding how policy is created means recognizing that you, your experiences and your ideas, have the power to shape better outcomes for your communities.”[vc_empty_space height=”40px”][vc_row_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”34513″ img_size=”medium” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]Kai Diata Giovanni, 2025 New York City Youth Poet Laureate, delivered a stirring spoken word performance that captured the hope, determination and resilience of young New Yorkers, serving as a powerful reminder that art itself is a form of civic power. [/vc_column_inner][vc_column_inner width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”34514″ img_size=”medium” css=””][vc_empty_space height=”10px”]Building on that energy, climate justice activist Daphne Frias took to the stage to discuss organizing and coalition-building. She emphasized how movements grow stronger when issues like disability justice, environmental justice, and economic mobility are connected rather than separated.[/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner]The Civic Engagement Commission’s Hillary Carelli-Donnell and Akwasi Agyeman also led a workshop on The People’s Money, New York City’s participatory budgeting initiative. Participants learned how residents can directly influence how public dollars are spent and where investments are made in their neighborhoods. Young people and chaperones were encouraged to explore the process and vote on community projects through participate.nyc.gov.
