February 28, 2011: U.S. Secretaries of Education and Labor, Arne Duncan and Hilda Solis, visit
trainees at the JOIN supported District 1199C Training and Upgrading Fund. In the words of Secretary
Solis, “I think this is a great model that we would love to see replicated.”
January 25, 2011: JOIN and its partners are featured in an op-ed in the New York Times for our work to “teach residents the skills they need to re-imagine the urban voids they encounter every day.” Click here to view the article.
by Ronnie L .Bloom & Steve Gunderson
Apr. 10, 2011
THE 11TH-HOUR avoidance of a government shutdown is another glaring reminder that the federal government is both broke and broken. But as the nation’s leading grant makers gather in Philadelphia this week for the Council on Foundations’ annual conference, they will see visible evidence of philanthropy’s ability to produce results, despite budget cuts at the federal, state, and local levels.
Philanthropy represents the independent, innovative investment of resources to build our communities and does much to help create opportunities and a better quality of life, here and around the world. Philadelphia, the birthplace of America’s independence movement, is both a model for philanthropy in action and an ideal setting to showcase the power of innovative partnerships. This region has a rich philanthropic history and a vibrant present that affects all areas of our lives, from culture and the arts to health care, education, the environment and job growth.
by Seth Green, Director, Job Opportunity Investment Network
Guest Blogger for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Business Civic Leadership Center
February 22, 2011
We’re thrilled BCLC is coming to Philadelphia for this year’s annual conference. As you look forward to your visit, I just wanted to share a story about a public-private partnership here in the city of brotherly love that is moving vulnerable adults into career pathways.
The partnership, called the Job Opportunity Investment Network (or JOIN for short), brings together more than 100 businesses, a dozen non-profit organizations, 10 philanthropists, and several government agencies. Over the last year, it has empowered over 400 vulnerable adults to obtain a new job or gain a wage increase in their current job.
by Diana Lind
January 25, 2011
EVEN in Philadelphia, with its 40,000 vacant properties and a quarter of its population living below the poverty line, the Kensington neighborhood still shocks. On a frigid afternoon, a prostitute lingers in the shadow of the elevated train tracks, waiting restlessly for customers. Husks of long-closed factories stand amid thigh-high winter wheat. Streams of garbage flow down the streets, as if both the people and the city government had agreed to forsake the effort of propriety.
In recent months, this neighborhood has also been terrorized by a killer who choked and raped his victims in the area’s ubiquitous abandoned houses and vacant lots. If only these deserted places could be charged as accomplices to the so-called Kensington Strangler’s three murders and two sexual assaults, and for aiding and abetting the drug use and prostitution that have caused so many of the neighborhood’s problems. But the empty lots with their discarded furniture and ghetto kudzu and the weather-beaten houses with boarded-up windows won’t be going anywhere soon.
by Seth Green, the Workforce Specialist
December 17th, 2010
Dear Community-College President,
Your mission is more important today than ever before. Seven in 10 U.S. jobs now require postsecondary education, and your classrooms offer a vital pathway to those careers. That is why you are the fastest-growing segment of higher education, enrolling 43 percent of all college students. But meeting the needs of these students will require a new approach.
Most important, your college needs to forge deeper partnerships with local industries. Close ties with businesses—in which businesses advise the curriculum, teach hands-on lessons, and provide work exposure—will ensure that you are training your students to meet the constantly evolving needs of your local economy.
December 22, 2010: JOIN celebrates its selection for a Social Innovation Fund (SIF) grant with Mayor Michael Nutter. The $2.4 million SIF project will serve more than 2,000 lower-skilled adults.
Click here to see videos from the SIF launch.
December 2, 2010: JOIN receives a Social Innovation Fund grant to implement a 2-year, $2.4 million project that will serve over 2,000 lower-skilled adults and more than 100 area employers.
October 25, 2010: JOIN submits its application for the Social Innovation Fund with commitments from more than ten regional funders to support the effort.
September 14, 2010: JOIN hosts a daylong workshop to help industry partnerships deepen their business ties.
by Eric Mayes, Tribune Staff Writer
October 21st, 2010
Four men left their jail cells behind them this week after graduating from a quiet program that helps ex-offenders get jobs as they transition from prison back to the larger world.
