Philadelphia Youth Network

Investing in tomorrow's workforce today

Description

PYN's vision is that Philadelphia’s young people will take their rightful places as full and contributing members of a world-class workforce for the region. As a catalyst for collective action, the Philadelphia Youth Network makes connections among individuals, organizations and systems. We increase capacity and resources in order to provide world-class preparation so our City’s youth can thrive in a regional and global economy.

Highlights of responsibilities and accomplishments:

• WorkReady Philadelphia – PYN provides design, administration and oversight supports for this system of youth workforce development programming that includes:
  

  Employer-paid internships - Dozens of area employers hire youth for enhanced summer jobs that incorporate work-readiness training and portfolio development.

  YouthWorks - PYN contracts federal funding to 25 youth-organizations serving over 4,000 youth ages 14-21 annually in summer and year-round programs, ensuring that they are aligned with academic standards and local labor market trends.

  Summer Career Exploration Program - With funding from the William Penn Foundation and a collaborative of 20 additional foundations, SCEP provides summer internships to nearly 1,300 youth at local businesses across the City as well as in Camden and Chester.

  Summer Development Institute - PYN has partnered with the School District to create paid afternoon internships for more hundreds of students who attend summer school in the mornings.

• Philadelphia Youth Council – PYN provides all staffing and administrative support for the Youth Council, a sub-group of the Workforce Investment Board established under the federal Workforce Investment Act. The Youth Council, which has been cited as a national model of best practice oversees YouthWorks funding and encourages employer involvement in WorkReady initiatives.

• Customer Satisfaction Survey – Youth design and administer an evaluation instrument that measures their peers’ perceptions of the quality of services they receive through WorkReady’s programs

• E³ Power – Federally-funded through a Youth Opportunity Grant, E3Power targets 1,000 at-risk students and out-of-school youth residing in the city's three Empowerment Zone neighborhoods to connect them to education, training, and employment opportunities. PYN operates three branches serving out-of-school youth and has staff deployed at five high schools to serve in-school youth.

• Youth Transitions Funders Grant – Philadelphia is one of five cities selected by the Bill and Melinda Gates, Carnegie and Mott Foundations to fund a one-year strategic assessment of capacity and potential to improve outcomes for out-of-school and other vulnerable youth. PYN is the convening partner of the collaborative that designed and will carry out this plan.

• Technical Assistance, Training and Curriculum Resources – PYN develops curricula and delivers training directly to youth and to service agency staff aimed at building overall city-wide capacity to prepare youth for the workforce and post-secondary success. Particular focus has been placed on under-served populations such as court-involved youth and youth aging out of foster care and on increasing access to portable skills credentials.

• Through PYN's work, since 1999…

  … 32,000 youth have participated in summer and year-round after-school programs that connect academics, work-readiness and college awareness;
  … 70% earned school credit each year for their field-based learning projects; and
  … $20 million has been leveraged or aligned to augment federal funding