The Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) distributed more than $13 million from July 2018 – June 2019 to 85 local organizations that serve Boston’s workers, according to the newly released Fiscal Year 2019 OWD Annual Report. These organizations provided valuable job training, education, career coaching, English instruction, youth programs, and apprenticeship opportunities.
These programs open paths to economic mobility for Boston residents:
- The Neighborhood Jobs Trust (NJT) impact report showed more than 2,000 residents accessed NJT-funded training and education programs. Among the training programs funded through NJT’s request for proposals (RFP), placed graduates earned an average of $15.37/hour and 76% earned benefits.
- The 3-year pilot of Boston Saves, the City’s children’s savings account program, provided $80,000 in seed funding to 1,600 kindergartners. Their families earned another $14,800 in incentives for their children’s future college or career training.
- The Greater Boston American Apprenticeship Initiative has placed more than 500 trainees into apprenticeships since the program in 2015. These apprenticeships open doors to careers in the building trades, facilities maintenance, hospitality, and emergency medical services.
The past fiscal year was also distinguished by program growth. For example:
- The Tuition-Free Community College Plan expanded to include Benjamin Franklin Institute of Technology, the program’s first private and first four-year college
- The Roxbury Center for Financial Empowerment added homebuyer readiness workshops to its roster of financial empowerment resources for residents
- YOU Boston, a workforce training initiative for at-risk youth, was awarded a $630,000 federal grant to support young people returning from incarceration