Nevada governor joins Jobs for America’s Graduates leadership to address challenges in wake of COVID-19
Submitted by Jeff Munson on Tue, 05/11/2021 - 1:47pm
CARSON CITY — Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak joined the first-ever Jobs for America's Graduates virtual Governor’s press conference Tuesday. JAG is a national nonprofit that over the past four decades has served 1.5 million youth in 1,450 locations across 40 states who face significant challenges. Governor Sisolak serves as a member of the national JAG Board of Directors.
Despite facing significant challenges, students engaged with Jobs for America’s Graduates overcame the numerous challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic to achieve a 96 percent graduation rate, exceeding the national average for all seniors.
The enduring challenges to finding equitable pathways to success in school, at work and in life prompted the creation of JAG and, some 40 years later, are today dramatically compounded by the continued academic dislocations and economic disruptions of the COVID-19 virus.
If left unaddressed, these challenges host the potential of creating a ‘lost generation’ of American youth.
“Across the country, we are all deeply concerned about the loss of learning and the many students who are re-engaging with their schools. We know it will take immediate and sustained efforts to mitigate that amount of learning loss, re-engage students, and help them succeed in the future,” Gov. Sisolak said. “JAG providesa great opportunity for young people to move into the economy and into jobs they might not otherwise have been exposed to.”
JAG Spokespersons, including Governor Kim Reynolds (R-IA), Governor Laura Kelly (D-KS), Governor Pete Ricketts (R-NB), Governor Sisolak (D-NV), and Missouri First Lady Teresa Parson (Co-founder and Co-Chair of Jobs for Missouri Graduates Inc), alongside the nonprofit’s CEO, Founder and President Ken Smith, offered insight into how decision-makers from the public and private sector can help the organization approach the myriad challenges America’s potential younger generation faces and channel the necessary resources they have at their disposal to help these students overcome them.
The Governors were joined by JAG organizational leadership, alumni, JAG Specialists and representatives from the supporter community.
Jobs for America’s Graduates students and specialists have proven that a well-executed model can help those historically held back by barriers such as discrimination and poverty to achieve equal or greater success in graduating from high school, finding employment, and/or obtaining post-secondary education.
The nonprofit’s track record speaks for itself: JAG more than doubles the chances its students will find work and doubles the rate that they are likely to secure full-time jobs. For example, youth of color who participate in JAG programs have nearly three times the chance of securing full-time employment.
Reflecting the value that employers see in JAG, 19,000 employers regularly hire JAG students because they are better trained and have mastered key employability competencies taught on-site or today virtually by JAG Specialists, which prepare these students to work, learn and succeed.
About Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG)
Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG) is a unique, valuable, and necessary program providing youth with the essential skills for success. The JAG National Network has a footprint in 40 states, across 1,450 communities, impacting more than 76,000 youth annually. JAG graduates consistently achieve outstanding results and are 230 percent more likely to be employed full-time compared to their peers, and twice as likely to go to college. For more information, visit https://jag.org.
