The Rework America Alliance Expands to Five New Cities to Help Millions of Workers Move into Good Jobs

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Jun 07, 2022, 09:00 ET

Philanthropic Investment from JPMorgan Chase Enables Expansion to Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Philadelphia

NEW YORK, June 7, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, the Markle Foundation announced it will take its Rework America Alliance to five new locations to expand the Alliance's work helping people from low-wage roles move into good jobs that provide livable wages and career growth. A three-year philanthropic investment from JPMorgan Chase is enabling the Alliance to provide support in five additional cities: Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, New Orleans, and Philadelphia. Alliance partners, Goodwill Industries International, the National Urban League, and UndiosUS – together with their regional affiliates – will lead efforts to support workers in these communities following successful implementations in other regions.

The Rework America Alliance, a collaboration between civil rights organizations, nonprofits, private sector employers, labor unions, educators, and others, is committed to advancing career opportunities for millions of workers who have built capabilities through experience but do not have a bachelor's degree - particularly people of color and women who face systemic barriers to job opportunities. Work is already underway in select regions throughout the U.S. drawing on the expertise of this cross-sector coalition and is being expanded to include:

Detroit, led by Southwest Economic Solutions (UnidosUS)
Houston, led by SER Jobs for Progress of Texas Gulf Coast (UnidosUS)
Los Angeles, led by Goodwill Southern California
New Orleans, led by Urban League of Louisiana
Philadelphia, led by Concilio de Organizaciones Hispana (UnidosUS)

The Alliance will help these organizations to empower their staff of career coaches and workforce counselors by providing data-driven career coaching tools and methodologies that will be tailored to address specific challenges and opportunities affecting Black, Latino, and low-income communities. This will become the basis for developing more robust social capital networks and career coaching peer support resources. This work will enable these coaches to raise their effectiveness in connecting individuals in their community to good in-demand jobs and opportunities for career advancement.

The initiative will also include community outreach to employers and business groups, in collaboration with local partners, to open access to good jobs by driving the adoption of inclusive, sourcing and talent management practices that focus on skills rather than degrees and reduce bias in hiring.

"Partners in the Rework America Alliance are taking their collective experience and capabilities to make it possible for all Americans to access good jobs regardless of formal education," said Zoë Baird, CEO and President, Markle Foundation. "Working with leaders from business, labor, and education, we're empowering community-based organizations, particularly in communities of color, to help more people to move into better jobs. We are very thankful to JPMorgan Chase for joining us in this important work."

"We are delighted to support the work of the Rework America Alliance in creating a more equitable labor market that connects more people to the good jobs of today and tomorrow," said Monique Baptiste, Head of Jobs & Skills Global Philanthropy at JPMorgan Chase. "We believe our collective efforts have the ability to make a positive impact on that system by disseminating effective strategies and learnings to more communities and by supporting these exceptional organizations – in particular, the individual career coaches that play a crucial role in helping people to successfully navigate job transitions and career decisions."

The work of the Alliance draws on the knowledge and resources of 40 organizations, including Markle Foundation, Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, National Urban League, and McKinsey & Company, with AFL-CIO, CVS Health, Goodwill Industries International, Google, IBM, Microsoft, North America's Building Trades Unions, Rural LISC, UnidosUS, Workday, Zurich North America, and other leading businesses.

For media inquiries, please contact:
Carrie Gonzalez at [email protected] or 917-705-6531

For more information about the regional organizations named in today's announcement, please visit https://markle.org/helping-people-move-good-jobs-through-network-partners/ https://markle.org/helping-people-move-good-jobs-through-network-partners/

About the Markle Foundation
The Markle Foundation challenges itself and diverse partners to deploy their varied expertise to identify solutions to critical public problems and achieve systemic change. As advanced technology and automation change the very nature of work, Markle's priority is advancing solutions toward a labor market that will enable workers in America to move into good jobs in the digital economy. Markle's Rework America Alliance follows Markle's success in creating the policy and technology architecture that has enabled improvements in healthcare, national security, and access to the Internet.

For more information, visit markle.org, follow @MarkleFdn and @ReworkAmerica on Twitter, and read our book, America's Moment.

About JPMorgan Chase & Co.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. is a leading financial services firm based in the United States of America ("U.S."), with operations worldwide. JPMorgan Chase had $4.0 trillion in assets and $285.9 billion in stockholders' equity as of March 31, 2022. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management. Under the J.P. Morgan and Chase brands, the Firm serves millions of customers in the U.S., and many of the world's most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients globally. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.

SOURCE Markle Foundation