Executive Summary

Towards Employment has substantively improved the lives of over 208,000 Clevelanders since 1976, empowering people of meager or modest means to achieve and maintain self-sufficiency through employment--changing lives, advancing business, and strengthening community. We envision an equitable workforce system where racial income gaps have been eliminated and everyone, especially those affected by systemic racism, has access to family-sustaining wages and quality jobs.

Towards Employment uses a proven model, WorkAdvance, that connects people to careers, and businesses to overlooked talent. Towards Employment’s model provides the right service at the right time to aspiring workers--including individuals with criminal justice involvement; young adults disconnected from school/work; and residents of economically distressed neighborhoods--to address barriers, develop hard and soft skills, and gain necessary experience and confidence to advance in a family sustaining career.

As one of four organizations nationally to test the WorkAdvance model via a 5-year national pilot, Towards Employment helped demonstrate that industry-informed, comprehensive career pathway services helped people to advance, with increased earnings of 14-22% over the control group, and a positive ROI for individuals and government.

Working in close partnership with educational providers, employers, industry associations, and other community service providers, Towards Employment provides an on-ramp to good jobs. The impact is dramatic. With greater credentialing, removal of barriers and long-term coaching by Towards Employment staff with lived experience, 1000 people annually advance, with starting wages over $15/hour and advanced wages over $17/hour – benefiting workers, their families, the employer, AND the economic health of the community.

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