Jan. 19--JPMorgan Chase plans to spend $75 million to fight youth unemployment in part through grants to states that train young people for high-paying jobs that employers struggle to fill.
The five-year global New Skills for Youth Initiative, announced Tuesday, encourages states to invest in demand-driven career education programs to address alarmingly high unemployment rates among 16- to 24-year-olds, particularly minority youths.
"It is a crisis that only 60 percent of students in high-poverty urban school districts graduate from high school and that more than 5 million young people are out of work and school," Jamie Dimon, chairman and CEO of JPMorgan, said in a statement. "Without the right skills or education, they find themselves stuck in low-skill, low-wage jobs or unemployed."
States seeking to expand or improve their career education systems can compete for funding.
This spring, 20 to 25 states will each get $100,000 grants for planning and early implementation of long-term career readiness programs that align with the needs of area employers. In the fall, 10 to 15 states will each get $1.5 million to $2 million over three years to implement and assess the programs.
The Council of Chief State School Officers will award the grants using funding from JPMorgan. The company is also working with the National Association of State Directors of Career Technical Education Consortium.
"Successful states will bring together education leaders and business and community partners to set ambitious goals for expanding access to and ensuring preparation for careers in high-skill, high-wage jobs," JPMorgan said in a news release.
The company will also invest in city and school programs around the world that are developing models of career-focused education that align with the needs of emerging industries, so that others can replicate the most promising approaches.
The initiative complements JPMorgan's $250 million New Skills at Work initiative, launched in 2014, that invests in programs that train job seekers for so-called middle-skill jobs, which require a high school degree and some postsecondary credentials but not a four-year college degree. Employers struggle to fill middle-skill jobs in computer technology, nursing and advanced manufacturing, the company said.
aelejalderuiz@tribpub.com
