LeadersUp: The Future at Work

Commitment to Action

LeadersUp: The Future at Work

Commitment by

LeadersUp

In 2014, LeadersUp committed to bridging the divide between businesses in need of skilled talent and the untapped potential of young people to yield long-term economic and social benefits. The objective of this commitment is to mobilize businesses to lead up by example and create a place where the future is at work. LeadersUp will achieve this objective in the following ways: 1) create a LeadersUp platform of engagement; 2) invite businesses to lend their voice; and 3) make the business case through demonstration projects.

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Tabs

Overview

Summary

Commitment

LeadersUp: The Future at Work

Launched

2014

Est. Duration

2 years

Estimated Total Value

$4,500,000

Region

Northern America

Countries

United States

Commitment by

LeadersUp

Partner(s) of the Commitment Maker(s)

Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, Stuart Foundation, Andrus Family Fund, The Employment Pathways Project, Accenture Foundation, The Rockefeller Foundation, The James Irvine Foundation, Misaine, Inc., SK Food Group, The Prudential Foundation Matching Gifts, FedEx Corporation, USA Funds, Starbucks Corporation, Hausenware, Inc., Diversified Chemical Technologies, Inc., Central Ohio Workforce Investment Corporation, EcoDomo, LLC, PMI - Pacific Market International, WW Technologies, East Bay Logistics, Inc.

Details

APPROACH
In 2014, LeadersUp committed to bridging the divide between businesses in need of skilled talent and the untapped potential of young people to yield long-term economic and social benefits. The objective is to mobilize businesses to LEAD UP by example and create a place where THE FUTURE IS AT WORK, LeadersUp will: 1) create a LeadersUp platform of engagement; 2) invite businesses to lend their voice; and 3) make the business case through demonstration projects.
LeadersUp will invite business leaders to join the movement that will include: The Leaders Circle of Fortune 500 Companies with ,000 commitments; the Investor Circle of top tier Starbucks suppliers with ,000 commitments; and the Benefactor Circle of additional Starbucks suppliers with ,000 commitments. Standing with the LeadersUp founding sponsor, Starbucks Corporation, this exclusive roster of businesses will help propel the organization and its mission forward over the next three years.
LeadersUp will work with its key stakeholders to lend the employers' perspective and be a part of the solution. Through convenings, data collection and research, and demonstration projects, LeadersUp aims to build broad based awareness and private sector engagement on this issue.
LeadersUp will make the business case through the launch of demonstration projects. The first will take place in Columbus Ohio with S.K. Food Group, who will hire 15 youth for their new plant opening in July. The role of LeadersUp is to help facilitate the highest ROI for businesses to hire and retain disconnected youth. Starbucks demonstration projects will roll out in Seattle during the latter part of 2014. Demonstration projects are planned in California and Chicago during 2015; and additional projects in 2016. Ultimately, these demonstration projects and other employer led initiatives will result in the placement of 2,000 disconnected youth in 200 companies in 10 metro areas by December 2016.
ACTION PLAN
2014:
Q1: Finalize long-term strategic plan and performance matrix
Q1: Begin the building of operational systems and infrastructure that supports future growth
Q1 & Q2: Develop a robust communications platform to build awareness and engage stakeholders
Q1 & Q2: Develop relationships with prospective partners to optimize impact
Q2 (June): Announce LeadersUp's commitment at the Clinton Global Initiative America and formally launch LeadersUp. Q2: Launch a market pilot in Columbus, OH with SK Food Group and Central Ohio Workforce Investment Center to place 15-20 Opportunity Youth in jobs
Q2 & Q3: Inform the challenge setting and lend the employer's perspective in The Rockefeller Foundation, Starbucks, LeadersUp Innovation Lab: New Solutions for Youth Employment
Q3: Partner with YearUp Seattle to place 15-20 Opportunity Youth in jobs at Starbucks (Pilot #2)
Q3: Recruit and secure annual commitments from four or more Fortune 500 Companies to become members of the Leaders Circle
Q4: Recruit and secure annual commitments from a five to ten Starbucks Key Suppliers to become members of the Investor Circle
Q4: Secure commitments for multi-year grants
Q4: Work with Starbucks to develop a model for corporate supply chain that includes bottom line ROI matrix for replication by companies with their own supply chains
Q4: Scope additional pilot projects with LeadersUp business leaders for launch in Q1 and Q2 2015
Q4: Collect pertinent data from pilots and build evaluation matrix to track outcomes
2015 and 2016:
- Invite Starbucks suppliers and other major corporations to replicate market-based pilots with commitments to hire Opportunity Youth in their businesses
- Launch and execute on four additional pilot projects
- Participate in and lead a national dialogue around reconnecting youth and driving necessary systems and policy change to shift the business culture, including via in-person or virtual convenings; led by LeadersUp or in partnership with other business platforms. Also, social media strategies that will build awareness and fuel the dialogue nationally.
- Amplify examples of business leadership and community impact
- By end of 2016, facilitate the placement of a minimum of 2,000 Opportunity Youth in 200 companies across 10 markets

Background

Nearly 6 million Americans between the ages of 16 and 24 are out of school and not working (Opportunity Nation, 2013 Opportunity Index.) Yet, there are more than 3.4 million job vacancies in the U.S. (Manpower Group 2012 Talent Shortage Survey Research.) Having the right people in the right jobs is the most significant building block for business success with 88% of businesses saying their success depends on finding and keeping the right employees (Maddock Douglas. 2012 NOP Segmentation Report Out.) Two-thirds of employers report difficulty in filling job vacancies due to unsuitable work habits and insufficient experience (Employment Pathways Project. 2013. Driving Employer Demand for New Sources of Talent.)
In addition to this burgeoning skills gap, employers are confronted with an increasingly diverse multi-generational workforce that requires companies to shift how they recruit and retain talent. Millennials will make up more than 50% of the U. S. workforce by 2020 (Lynch, A. 2008. ROI on Generation Y employees. Bottom Line Conversations, LLC.) Successful integration of the next generation into the economy is both a social and economic requisite. However, 6 million Americans between the ages of 18 and 24 are not fully connected to the economy and are facing far more than a missing paycheck. The long term consequences of youth unemployment extend to social and professional networks, social inclusion, and lifetime earnings. The consequences to the US economy are equally severe with billions lost in tax revenue, radically declining social mobility, and falling global competitiveness.
The need to reconnect Opportunity Youth to employment pathways is widely recognized and has momentum among political, nonprofit, and business leaders across the country. To date, interventions focused on getting Opportunity Youth ready for work have grown in scale. What is missing is the ability to mobilize businesses to prepare to hire this population by adopting innovative solutions and creating a culture shift that opens up employment pathways to this important segment of the labor pool.

Partnership Opportunities

LeadersUp seeks a diverse mix of resources that will strengthen the organizations capacity to scale the work and create sustained impact:

Financial resource opportunities from foundations, philanthropic organizations and individual donors who want to support the work and long-term objectives.
Corporations and businesses who want to launch pilots with LeadersUp to meet their talent development needs while at the same time strengthen the business case for investing in Opportunity Youth.
Workforce development partners who can provide the labor supply of ready to work Opportunity Youth.
Media support to amplify examples of business leadership and community impact.
Best practice information from businesses, community based organizations, research institutions and thought leaders to assist in the dissemination of critical information and building awareness.
Thought leaders and institutions who want to join the movement and contribute toward a national dialogue around the issue of the burgeoning talent divide.

This commitment includes the delivery of tangible data to inform development of best practices, as well as concrete implementation assistance including identification of local nonprofit partners for pilot projects.

Progress Reports

April 2016

Since the last progress report, LeadersUp has successfully launched the Future at Work Coalition, a strategic advocacy platform comprised of the business, practitioner, and academic communities, with a total roster of ten members who will help to amplify the importance of connecting youth to employment opportunities as a business imperative. Under the banner that an inclusive economy equals a competitive economy, LeadersUp has looked forward to providing the business community with a platform to engage policy directly and provide know-how in creating youth employment programs.

July 2014 marked the launch of the first pilot in Columbus, Ohio with international food manufacturer SK Food Group which ended with 162 youth placed in one year. To date, 90 of those youth have remained employed, resulting in a 55% retention rate. The pilot served as the catalyst for the joint development of a suite of standardized reusable assets with the expert partner Accenture. LeadersUp has since instituted these tools and processes into the work and how LeadersUp operates as an organization to better assess both short- and long-term impact. Since the first pilot, LeadersUp has continued to engage businesses through The Future at Work Initiative. In Los Angeles, LeadersUp launched pilots with Starbucks and FedEx where to help identify talented, ready-to-work young adults and expand their talent pipeline. The Starbucks pilot began in 2015 with early bright spots that include a 3:1 interview-to-hire ratio and an 85.3% retention rate. The FedEx pilot was scheduled to launch in 2016. The Future at Work Initiative in Chicago launched pilots with the commitments business partners C.H. Robinson, LBP Manufacturing, and Cintas where LeadersUp sought to address issues of identifying, equipping, and retaining young adults that can meet the talent demands in each respective market.

Part of the overarching strategy has been to leverage high volume high impact initiatives such as the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative launched in 2015 by Starbucks in an unprecedented call to action from a coalition of 32 employers working to address the youth unemployment crisis across the nation. LeadersUp has been proud to serve as part of the network of organizations supporting the initiative. At the Chicago launch, LeadersUp helped to train more than 1,000 youth through a professional development day. The Chicago launch resulted in employers making more than 800 job offers. In Los Angeles, LeadersUp worked with other community based organizations to train 359 young people. Other providers also trained youth, and to date, LA had the greatest turnout rate at nearly 3,000 young people at the Opportunity Fair & Forum resulting in 1,000 jobs offered that day!

As of December 31, 2015, LeadersUp has connected 300 Opportunity Youth (OY) to employment pathways through the cohort program model. Since then, LeadersUp has also helped to connect an additional 800 OY in Chicago and 1000 OY in Los Angeles through the support of the 100,000 Opportunities Initiative with 30 companies. Through the employer led pilots, LeadersUp has achieved a 3:1 interview-to-hire ratio compared to an 18:1 industry standard and nearly a 60% retention rate across all projects. For the upcoming 2016 program year, LeadersUp currently has pilots underway with five employers and a projected goal of connecting an additional 500 OY by the end of 2016 program year.

Since the initial CGI commitment, LeadersUp has updated the target numbers. LeadersUp has shifted the target numbers to facilitate the placement of the same number of Opportunity Youth at 2000, but with 30 companies in 4 markets instead of 200 companies in 10 markets, by December 31, 2016. LeadersUp has adjusted the company and market numbers because LeadersUp has learned in order to create sustained and lasting impact with the employers that LeadersUp worked with, it was imperative to engage in a customized and focused way which requires much more time and resources at the organization level. LeadersUp has continued to believe that this new approach and more focused strategy around employer engagement and market expansion will bring about the shift in business practice that can be scaled more effectively.