Workforce Development > EarnMore Career Advancement Program
The EarnMore Career Advancement Program (EarnMore) was designed by Seedco to help low-wage workers increase their earnings and prepare for and pursue career advancement opportunities in industries and positions that provide higher wages, employer sponsored benefits and opportunities for increased employment stability and mobility.
Seedco’s EarnMore pilot in New York City is funded by the New York City Department of Small Business Services under Mayor Bloomberg’s Center for Economic Opportunity. EarnMore is being implemented in partnership with three community based organizations (CBOs)-Citizens Advice Bureau, GMHC and Henry Street Settlement - and the Upper Manhattan Workforce1 Career Center (UMW1CC) operated by Seedco.
Seedco designed EarnMore based on its experience developing and operating workforce development and asset building programs and leveraging lessons learned from MDRC's Work Advancement and Support Center demonstration and the Employment Retention and Advancement project. Seedco developed the EarnMore program model with foundation support from the Annie E. Casey Foundation, Ford Foundation, MetLife Foundation, Mizuho USA Foundation, and Wachovia foundation.
The EarnMore program model is based on a few key assumptions:
- The quality, flexibility and breadth of career advancement services will be enhanced by delivering services through a network of CBOs and the UMW1CC;
- Integrating career advancement and work support services will lead to better results;
- Providing intensive career advancement coaching will lead to better results;
- Services must be flexible and customized to the diverse needs of low-wage workers;
- To achieve meaningful results in a limited timeframe, the program should focus on target industries that offer realistic, quality career paths in demand in the market place. This year’s pilot focuses on Hospitality, Healthcare and potentially one additional industry based on customer fit and employer demand; and
- Employer engagement is critical to success.
EarnMore targets low-wage workers that have been working continuously for at least six months and are making $14 or less per hour. Outreach efforts include engaging the thousands of low-wage workers that have been placed by Seedco’s workforce development programs in the past and working with employers to design customized advancement programs for their incumbent low-wage workers.
EarnMore provides eligible low-wage workers with a customized suite of career advancement and asset building services coordinated by a dedicated Job, Asset, and Training Coach (JATC) to effectively move them towards career advancement. Core services include individualized career advancement coaching, access to subsidized training and education programs, facilitated access to work supports through Seedco’s EarnBenefits program, and specialized job development services.
Over the next year, EarnMore will help hundreds of low-wage workers prepare for and pursue career advancement opportunities to assist them on their pathway to increased economic self-sufficiency and mobility. The EarnMore pilot is an exciting opportunity to learn more about how to most effectively help low-wage workers achieve career advancement outcomes and set the stage for a broader replication of career advancement services.
For more information on the EarnMore Program, please contact Becky Gray, Program Manager.
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