![A man helping a student with class work in classroom.](https://socialfinance.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/JVS-076-1-scaled-1-1000x668.jpg")
Public Sector Solutions, Workforce & Economic Mobility
Jewish Vocational Services
On Nov. 18, 2020, JVS is hosting an economic forum, “Pay for Success: Working Toward Economic Advancement,” to celebrate and assess preliminary results from a workforce collaboration with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Social Finance.
In 2017, the three organizations launched the Massachusetts Pathways to Economic Advancement Project, a Pay for Success initiative to help 2,000 limited English speakers in Greater Boston make successful transitions to employment and higher-wage jobs.
A new study from Economic Mobility Corporation documents significant wage gains and job retention from the project’s English for Advancement (EfA) program, which engaged more than 1,000 residents in Boston, Lynn, Lowell, and Lawrence. The evaluation, which includes an ongoing randomized control trial, showed that EfA demonstrates a substantial impact on earnings in the second year after project enrollment.
During the Nov. 18th event, Massachusetts Secretary of Education Jim Peyser, Social Finance CEO Tracy Palandjian, Economic Mobility Corporation President Mark Elliot, and JVS President and CEO Jerry Rubin will review the study results, and discuss how JVS’ approach might be applied in other workforce development efforts.
Related Insight
![Three translucent overlapping circles in red, blue, and green are displayed on a pale background, creating blended color areas where they intersect.](https://socialfinance.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/Untitled-design-19.png")
Demystifying Program-Related Investing: Lessons from Recent Adopters
Demystifying Program-Related Investing: Lessons from Recent Adopters is produced through a partnership between the Social Finance Institute, Wharton Impact at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, and the Center for High Impact Philanthropy…