Project EM

Project EM is addressing the barriers to employment of unemployed/underemployed job seekers at all career stages, helping them gain meaningful employment regardless of where they live, education, skills, and other challenges. Special focus is on rural workers, low wage workers, older workers, refugees and immigrants, women, survivors of domestic violence, justice involved, people with disabilities, BIPOC, LGBTQA+ and others historically left out of the economy. Although there has been improvement in the economy since the COVID pandemic, unemployment and underemployment still plague marginalized populations, particularly job seekers in later stages of their careers. These populations need not only skills training, but also reduction in barriers to employment such as food insecurity, child or elder care, physical and/or mental health issues, transportation, and shelter, all of which impact a person’s job search.

The US November 2024 unemployment rate was 4.2%. However, unemployment rates among minority groups are higher than the national average. This also does not take into consideration underemployment among low-wage earners. Recent census data reported that 86% of SNAP recipients who are able to work do so. Project EM is addressing this problem, serving 12,000 job seekers a year nationwide with career and ancillary services.

To meet the complex needs of job seekers, the solution is growing Project EM, a partnership of 19 workforce development agencies across the United States providing a continuum of holistic workforce services to unemployed and underemployed job seekers from low income, marginalized and/or underserved populations including justice involved, people with disabilities, refugees, immigrants, BIPOC, LGBTQA+, domestic violence victims, rural workers and others historically denied access to the economy. Agencies bring employment and social services that they provide in their local communities to the partnership. Together they provide a comprehensive continuum of services to support job seekers.

Services meet the needs of job seekers regardless of location, career stage, background, education level or ability and include workshops, training, employer connections and individualized coaching. Services are offered seamlessly online and in-person, addressing not only employment issues but also barriers to employment such as food insecurity, child or elder care, mental health, transportation, and shelter, all of which impact a person’s job search. Job seekers can access services through a centralized intake hub and the Project EM website. Intake is available via telephone, phone application, or on the website. The intake process is short, inclusive of all people, and offered in 13 languages.

The target population is job seekers with a focus on those historically left out of the economy including rural workers, low wage workers, older workers, refugees and immigrants, women, survivors of domestic violence, justice involved, people with disabilities, BIPOC, LGBTQA+ and other marginalized groups. Many job seekers have been caught in a cycle of intergenerational poverty and lack access to employment services. Project EM provides job seekers with holistic, wraparound services tailored to their unique needs and positions them to move into sustainable employment that pays a living wage and offers career pathways.

Clients have access to online courses and workshops for skills development, resume writing, and interview skills; are assigned a career counselor to work with them from intake through job placement; and are connected with potential employers. The career counselor and other agency staff also work to address ancillary barriers to employment. This can include providing devices and Internet access; appropriate clothing for interviews; transportation and food vouchers; referrals for case management and health and mental health care; financial assistance and referrals to address issues such as ongoing food and housing insecurity and lack of child or elder care; and access to education and more.

The Team Lead is The Network’s Senior Vice President of Strategy, who coordinates efforts to build capacity for member agencies and directs the Network’s workforce portfolio. Supporting the Team Lead are the Director of Workforce Programs, who works with Project EM agencies, engages employers and other stakeholders, and designs and scales best-practice program models in workforce development and the Workforce Coordinator, who helps facilitate workforce programs. All 18 Network staff are located throughout the United States and work virtually with each other as a collaborative and cohesive team supporting each other’s work and providing feedback and content. They are active in their communities and have lived experiences reflective of the communities in which they reside, and which Network agencies serve. They are LGBTQA+, immigrants, children of formerly incarcerated parents, children and grandchildren of Holocaust survivors or other adults with a history of trauma, family caregivers and more.

Within Project EM’s 19 partnership agencies throughout the US, staff reflect the communities they serve including refugees, immigrants, BIPOC, older and younger adults, LGBTQA+, persons with disabilities, caregivers, etc. Agencies are nonsectarian, employ diverse staff, and serve a wide range of clientele from all areas of society. Agencies regularly solicit feedback from the clients they serve through surveys and focus groups, incorporating this feedback in program design and services to ensure they best reflect the needs of those served.

Network Project EM staff facilitate a monthly Community of Practice (CoP) of partner agencies for feedback, networking, problem solving, sharing best practices, professional development, and program design. Program metrics are collected from partner agencies semi-annually, analyzed, and reported. Feedback from CoP meetings and analysis of metrics are used for program design and to make improvements in Project EM, as needed, to maximize outcomes for participants and support partner agency staff.

In December 2023, Project EM completed a two-year pilot, demonstrating its effectiveness. Its collaborative approach grows non-profit workforce agency capacity by allowing expansion of employment services outside of traditional catchment areas, reaching job seekers in communities across the U.S., many without access to career services. In the pilot, Project EM was funded to serve 3,000 people with individualized services, but actually served 8,677 unemployed and underemployed job seekers across the U.S. Project EM pilot outcomes included:

• Built national capacity for non-profit agencies that have been providing trusted workforce programming locally for generations.
• Supported 8,677 job seekers with individualized career counseling.
• Hosted 1,311 live taught online workshops with 18,905 participants and a 95% attendee satisfaction rate.
• Engaged national employers, helping them to build diverse talent pipelines locally, regionally, and nationally.
• Showcased an 83% placement rate with a median salary of $55,000.
• Provided services to job seekers of diverse backgrounds including rural, low wage workers, older workers, refugees and immigrants, women, survivors of domestic violence, justice involved, people with disabilities, BIPOC, LGBTQA+ and more.

The 6-month 2024 report showed that numbers continue to remain high for individualized career services and workshop attendance. Full year metrics will be available in February 2025.

https://www.networkjhsa.org/our-works/projectem-employing-our-community/

Project EM is an innovative, unique solution to unemployment/ underemployment that leverages the expertise of non-profit workforce development agencies across the United States to provide a continuum of workforce and social services designed to meet the needs of job seekers regardless of where they live, career stage, educational level, abilities, and background. Bringing together geographically diverse workforce entities in a successful collaboration had never been done. Project EM’s two-year pilot demonstrated the model’s success. Project EM is replicable and scalable. It was designed to scale the proven career supports of Network agencies to underserved populations in urban and rural areas. Using an online and in-person approach with available technology such as the Internet and telephone provides access to those without transportation, English language learners, and others who have historically lacked access to available workforce supports. Job seekers are acquiring holistic career supports that recognize that each job seeker is unique and deserves individualized care and services.

Partner agencies are affiliated with their local American Job Center and work closely with WIOA, SNAP, TANF, ORR, and OVR, providing job seekers access to available supports in an efficient and effective manner. Partnering with employers, national workforce associations and public sector agencies, Project EM is not just for addressing the employment challenges of today, but has the potential to create true systems change, altering how people conduct a job search and moving marginalized populations from poverty to sustaining themselves and their families, thus building stronger communities.

Designed to reduce duplication of services and meet the needs of all job seekers, Project EM is a best-practice model in workforce development. Its partnership model can be replicated to address other human service sector issues besides unemployment. It could be adapted to addressing such issues as mental health, retirement planning, and digital and financial literacy.

Project EM’s goal is to change lives, help communities thrive and grow the U.S. economy by providing equitable and holistic career and training supports to job seekers regardless of where they live. Impact goals include:

• Serve additional unemployed/underemployed job seekers with holistic employment services. Activity: Building partner agencies’ capacity to provide workforce services to an increased number of job seekers. Indicators: # of workshops offered and # of clients in individualized career counseling.
• Reduce barriers to employment. Activity: Increasing agencies’ ability to provide more in-depth and wraparound services for workforce clients. Agencies have identified that many clients need ancillary assistance and services to address barriers to employment. The multitude of needs presented by many clients requires staff to spend more time than anticipated with many clients, scrambling to find the funding to address clients’ needs, resulting in delays in obtaining skills and resources needed for successful job placement. Indicators: # of clients needing and receiving barrier reduction services.
• Provide synchronous and asynchronous, flexible online learning opportunities to facilitate access to employment services/education to accommodate various learning abilities. Activity: Creating live taught and evergreen learning content for the Project EM open-source website, including learning opportunities for older workers, people with disabilities, refugees and immigrants, and others who may want to watch videos and read resources at their own pace. Indicators: # of live-taught workshops offered, and evergreen courses created.
• Collect meaningful retention data on clients. Activity: Deepening Project EM’s data collection capabilities to collect more retention data to demonstrate impact and further help direct where resources are needed. While retention data is notoriously sparse and challenging to acquire, Project EM strives to stay connected with clients, ensuring they are on a pathway to career success. Indicators: Retention at 30-days, 90 days, and 1-year.

Three full-time Network staff serve on the solution team. They are responsible for operations, planning, reporting, partner support, and sustainability. The team also includes one full-time team lead from each of the 19 partner workforce agencies. The team leads ensure job seekers are connected to agencies that can best serve their individual needs and work together to continually improve the Project EM model. Four additional Network staff provide ancillary services including accounting, marketing, reporting assistance and administrative tasks. Project EM also engages the expertise of a workforce development consultant for evaluation and website consultant to ensure a robust, engaging website.

Three years - Project EM began in January 2022 as a response to the unemployment crisis during the COVID pandemic when Network agencies recognized the need for an extensive continuum of workforce services to address a wide range of client needs and ensure that those in crisis were connected with immediate support no matter where they lived, including access to entitlements. What started as a COVID response has turned into a model for scalable career services across the United States by providing employment services in communities nationally, many of which have never been able to access established career services. 

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion are core values of The Network and its member agencies. The Network has policies in place and a DEI Committee to ensure diversity, equity and inclusion in hiring, HR policies, Board composition and services. Both the professional staff and Board are gender diverse including LGBTQA+ members. Member agencies serve all populations on a non-sectarian basis, taking into account their sensitivities and needs, and providing targeted services for people with disabilities, promoting their self-sufficiency and inclusion. The Network partners with other national organizations in its work for special populations, e.g., Disability Belongs and SourceAmerica for employment and other services for persons with disabilities and HIAS for resettlement services for immigrants and refugees.

DEI is integral to NJHSA’s signature workforce program, Project EM, as the program is designed to promote equity in the economy and help employers recognize the value of a diverse and multi-faceted workforce. In the first six months of 2024, Project EM clients, who self-reported, identified as 33% BIPOC and over 52% indicated a household income at 300% or below the federal poverty guidelines. Project EM serves job seekers holistically, no matter what their background is.

Unemployment/underemployment are devastating to job seekers who want to support themselves and their families. It can lead to mental and physical health issues, substance abuse, and/or domestic violence. Project EM brings value to job seekers impacted by unemployment/underemployment through its unique workforce development business model that provides services and programs to job seekers regardless of where they live, their abilities, and background. Participants have access to online and in-person holistic employment services, resulting in their obtaining sustainable employment, a value proposition that not only benefits the clients and their families but also the communities in which they live and society as a whole. These individuals become wage earners and taxpayers, contributing to the economy while strengthening their own sense of wellbeing and self-worth. 

The model is based on a partnership of 19 non-profit workforce agencies that contribute their trusted local expertise to the partnership in a non-competitive, collaborative manner. Combining partner agencies' employment programs and services into a continuum of services offered nationwide, Project EM supports job seekers regardless of their location, creates a business model that eliminates duplication, utilizes proven best practices, and is cost-effective.

Services include workshops, training, employer connections, individualized coaching, and access to education plus help to address ancillary barriers to employment such as providing devices and Internet access; transportation, shelter, and food vouchers; and referrals for case management, health and mental health care, and child or elder care.

Individuals can access services from Project EM through its centralized intake hub, Wayfynder that assists job seekers in connecting with a Project EM agency anywhere in the country to get individualized career counseling. Job seekers can access Wayfynder through the website, an app on their phone, or a phone number. Intake is available in 13 languages, which makes it accessible to many foreign-born job seekers.

Project EM was initially funded by grants for 2022/2023 from The Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation ($1,650,000) and Crown Family Philanthropies ($800,000) in addition to several smaller family foundations. Renewal funding for two years has been awarded by both Foundations. In addition, in 2024, Project EM was awarded a grant from LinkedIN that provides 2,021 clients with LinkedIN Premium for a year, a value of $1,089,319; a two-year grant from the Truist Foundation for $1,000,000; and a three-year $450,000 grant from AARP specifically targeting older workers. Project EM recently signed an 18-month contract with Cengage Group to serve up to 50 individuals who are participating in their ed2go credential program through local community colleges in San Antonio and other U.S. locations. ed2go is looking to provide its students with Project EM’s robust career services including individualized career counseling and virtual, live-taught workshops and trainings. The goal is to show stronger post-graduation placement and retention rates. Project EM is also working on developing a fee-based outplacement program to assist national employers who are laying off employees to help the latter access employment supports at no cost.

Long-term sustainability plans include seeking grant funding from foundations presently funding Project EM and grants from new sources, including the federal government. Plans also include fee for service offerings such as the one with Cengage and creating a robust outplacement program.

The model relies on Project EM staff convening and supporting partner agencies financially and with opportunities for networking, professional development, problem solving and sharing and seeking funding to support and sustain the program. In addition, it relies on agencies’ commitment to the program and their bringing staff and other resources to the partnership. Despite being located across the country in diverse communities, there is a tremendous pride and cohesiveness among agencies in Project EM. 

The Network is applying for the Inspire Award to advance its signature workforce program, Project EM, an innovative model for addressing unemployment and underemployment among diverse job seekers, particularly those from marginalized populations. It marries the expertise of individual community human service agencies with the strength of partnership to address the many challenges and barriers to employment faced by many U.S. job seekers. They require a holistic approach with wraparound services to overcome barriers and achieve sustainable employment. Project EM offers this opportunity. The Award will bring recognition and affirmation of this unique model to address a major societal issue. It will showcase the model, its replicability, and its ability to bring societal change in how job searches can be conducted to reach those most at risk of long-term unemployment and intergenerational poverty. The hope is to also connect with partners, including funders and potential employers, who can help advance the model.

Award funding would be used towards helping partner agencies build capacity to serve additional job seekers and assist those with many barriers to employment more in depth. Depending on the level of the award, this may translate into direct services, creating additional workshop content, and/or professional development and business model training for partner agency staff. The award also brings with it the expertise of the Truist Foundation’s capacity-building resources, consultants, subject matter experts, resources and workshops that would provide Project EM with invaluable support and resources to help maintain and sustain its successful model.