Publications and Toolkits

Gap Inc.'s This Way Ahead initiative provides low income young people with opportunities for skill deveopment and career exploration. This program enables youth to see brighter futures, while providing Gap Inc. employees with meaningful deveopment opportunities, deeper connections with co-workers, and increased loyalty to Gap Inc.

Bright Horizons provides a blended e-training program to help teachers acquire their Child Development Associate credential, professionalizing the field of early education and achieving greater center accreditation, the industry standard of excellence.

Crest Cadillac has cultivated a partnership with Brookhaven Community College in the Dallas metro area to offer an Automotive Service Education Program (ASEP), which is a nationally recognized, dealership sponsored cooperative associate degree program in automotive technology. Through internships, tuition reimbursement, mentoring, curriculum development with employer input, flexible scheduling and other supports, the program provides the dealership with a highly competitive and loyal workforce.

Applied Scientific Instrumentation has developed a strong cooperative education partnership with Lane Community College (LCC) in Eugene, Oregon, through which it secures a reliable source of skilled talent to meet its workforce needs in the high-tech industry.

For nearly a decade, H-E-B Grocery Company has been instrumental in supporting the development of youth by exposing them to careers in the grocery retail industry and supporting their growth and mobility within the company. Recognizing generational differences in how youth transition into adulthood and how talent is groomed and recruited to work at the company, H-E-B launched an initiative to engage youth in learning and provide essential skills and job training. The company’s commitment to young people extends well beyond a single program.

Pacific Gas & Electric Company (PG&E), one of the largest natural gas and electric utilities in the United States, launched the PowerPathway™ program, in conjunction with education, government, labor and industry partners, to provide workforce readiness training in new energy jobs. The program's customized training cultivates career pathways to strengthen the workforce talent pool in California, and to increase access to jobs in the high-growth energy sector for underserved communities.

In 2000, the Western Association of Food Chains (WAFC) created a Retail Management Certificate Program in partnership with community colleges in California to provide the retail food industry with a more educated and higher performing workforce. The program also fosters emerging leaders in the industry and creates an opportunity for workers in the retail food industry to continue their college education.

In 2010, Walmart began its Lifelong Learning Program in partnership with American Public University (APU) to provide associates the opportunity to earn college credit for prior and on-the-job training, and to continue their college education. The partnership provides Walmart with a skilled talent pool, and provides associates with vaulable, practical support to complete their postsecondary education.

UC Health and Cincinnati Children’s Hospital have partnered with local community colleges to form Health Careers Collaborative (HCC) of Greater Cincinnati, a business-led consortium providing employers with a skilled, credentialed, loyal and diverse workforce. This partnership also provides entry-level workers with educational opportunities leading to greater career mobility.

Southwire is a privately held wire and cable manufacturer headquartered in Georgia whose commitment to improving the communities in which it operates has put it on the leading edge of education initiatives for decades. With high school dropout rates approaching 30 percent around Southwire’s western Georgia facilities, the company partnered with Carroll County Schools to examine how they could help. In 2007, they launched 12 for Life – a program that lets students combine their studies with practical real-world experience at a customized Southwire manufacturing facility.