Healthcare, Energy, Construction, University services
Type of Organization:
Funder (public-private partnership)
“It is thrilling to see individuals realize their potential and be able to support their families.”
Organizational Mission: JOIN seeks to increase the number of Greater Philadelphia workers earning family-sustaining wages. To realize this vision, JOIN collaborates with businesses to identify fast-growing, mid-skilled positions, and then invests in programs that train low-skilled workers to fill these positions. We have been in operation since 2008.
Interest in Sector Work: The Greater Philadelphia region that we serve is currently experiencing parallel workforce crises: businesses in the region are unable to fill good jobs at the same time that an alarming number of residents are unable to find employment. The root cause of these crises is the mismatch between the skills required for the jobs of the future and the much lower skill level of many Greater Philadelphia residents. We are interested in sector work because it simultaneously addresses both crises by preparing low-skilled workers to fill available mid-level jobs. We have chosen to work primarily in healthcare and university services because those are the growing sectors of our economy. Our target population is individuals who have a high school diploma or less and who have reading and math competencies at or below the eighth grade level. We seek to move these individuals into careers that pay family-sustaining wages.
