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As I reflect on 2020, our team, our partners, and our work have kept me hopeful. And impatient. There’s never been a more urgent time to reshape the future we want to see for our country. Together, we must quicken the pace, rebuilding our systems and mobilizing capital so that everyone can have the opportunity to thrive....

On Nov. 18, 2020, JVS hosted an economic forum “Pay for Success: Working Toward Economic Advancement” to celebrate results from the Massachusetts Pathways to Economic Advancement Project, a workforce development partnership launched in 2017 with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and Social Finance. The virtual forum convened more than 200 attendees and featured panelists Jim Peyser, Secretary of Education for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts; Tracy Palandjian, CEO and Co-Founder of Social Finance; Mark Elliott, Founder and President of Economic Mobility Corporation; and Jerry Rubin, President and CEO of JVS....

Boston—Today, a distinguished panel shared results of an innovative Pay for Success program to build skills and wages in the Commonwealth. A new study from evaluator Economic Mobility documented 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, averaging $3,505 over the first two years. Participants who were unemployed at enrollment realized earning gains of more than $7,100 compared to members of the control group during the second year after enrollment. The project is the first Pay for Success project in the nation to focus on workforce development....

This essay by Tracy Palandjian first appeared in the Milken Institute’s Power of Ideas collection focused on navigating the new health, financial, and social uncertainties wrought by the ongoing pandemic and a reckoning of racial injustice. The essay series features insights from thought leaders across industries. Read the full collection here....

Jewish Vocational Services...

Here, we focus on the final stage in the project development process: managing a PFS project.

Here, we focus on the next stage in the project development process: launching a PFS project.

We are excited to announce the launch of a series of 10 issue briefs on Pay for Success (PFS) to provide practical guidance and examples for government officials interested in pursuing PFS within their agency or jurisdiction. Our work is supported by funding from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to promote cross-sector alignment to better serve people and communities....

Photo courtesy of General Assembly....

Could California and other states facing outbreaks in correctional facilities drastically reduce the rate of new incarcerations to help prevent additional hotspots from cropping up?