Staying Connected: Partnerships that Keep Youth Workforce Development Programs Market Driven

This paper presents case studies to demonstrate how youth-serving organizations that are not directly connected to the labor market can ensure that their youth programs have adequate information about labor market demands. These youth-serving organizations access labor market information by partnering with other organizations that have a more intimate understanding about market needs and/or partnering with labor market actors themselves. The three practitioner agencies that share their experiences in forming partnerships to improve market focus are:

• Partners of the Americas' A Ganar/Vencer;
• Education Development Center's Haitian Out-of-School Youth Livelihood Initiative;
• International Rescue Committee's LEGACY Initiative.

Youth workforce development programs have the challenging task of ensuring that the complex needs and assets of youth are addressed even as they ensure that program interventions are market-driven. Partnerships are an essential ingredient to achieving these aims. Recommendations include:

• Deepen relationships with partners by asking them to help find mentors and other people as resources;
• Establish regular check-ins for reflection and evaluation;
• Find strong private sector partners;
• Leverage partnerships with the government to engage the private sector in youth workforce advocacy and policy development.