Cradle to Career

CRADLE TO CAREER The AAC promotes the institution of education; it is the catalyst of career pathways for black youth and adults, as well as mentors and interns. Over the past fourteen years, New Level Sports Ministries (NLSM) has served a great number of urban youth and their families. In partnership with NLSM, AAC works to ensure that every child and young adult succeeds, cradle to career, through

shared purpose, alignment, and accountability among community partners. We cannot expect children to succeed academically if they are on an unstable foundation. Every child deserves to have access to the resources they need to be successful in school. By working together and engaging the entire community, we are able to inform our networks of the needs of our entire community and invest beyond the existing programs, schools, and childbased initiatives.

Our desired outcomes include:

1)

Increase graduation and retention in the African

American community,

2)

3) Increase kindergarten readiness and 3rd grade proficiency, and Increase postsecondary education, certification, and professional development.

We are committed to ensuring that high school graduates, have multiple education and career pathways, including post-secondary certifications, 4-year college, skill trades and apprenticeship opportunities.

Apprenticeship Opportunities

This program model includes quality paid apprenticeship training and employment, mentorship and career navigation, and support services to address barriers such as reliable transportation and childcare subsidies. The long-term outcomes of the project include the ability to: 1) Increase the diversity of workers in the construction trades, 2) Increase the demand side for workers by linking workforce development with redevelopment activities, and 3) Raise the bar on the construction pre-apprenticeship pathway to allow participants to meet the entry level requirements for registered apprenticeship programs in various trades and other building trades employment options.

Program services are based on:

1)

Proposed Performance Metrics - Number of students in apprenticeship programs, completion rate for education and training programs, placement rate in local jobs, job retention after 6 months, and increased wages over 6 months.

2)

Objective - Our approach to workforce development is to utilize our redevelopment projects and land assets as opportunities to increase the number of jobs

3)

and revitalize the neighborhood. Target Population - This would accelerate the number of disconnected young adults, those not working or attending school, 18-24 years of age, and underemployed adults who are not only on a path to a family supporting wage career but who also possess the skills to work on neighborhood and regional redevelopment projects.