Publications and Toolkits

Businesses throughout the United States are facing a crisis. Young people today—the workforce of tomorrow—are not prepared to contribute to or succeed in a knowledge-based economy. This crisis is one that threatens our nation’s ability to compete in a rapidly changing and more competitive global economy.

Corporate Voices’ companies work with a range of after school programs around the country. While there are excellent individual programs in every community, one of the most successful models we have found is in Citizen Schools, which started in Boston and now has expanded throughout Massachusetts, along with North Carolina, California, Texas, New Jersey, New York City, and New Mexico.

Young people ages 14 to 21 have a unique set of needs and represent the promise of the future. Too often in the past they have been looked upon as a potential problem group; however, with the proper range of opportunities and supports, they can be an invaluable asset – to their families, their communities and to the corporate sector.

Assesment of new workforce entrant readiness on "very important" skills (basic knowledge and applied skills rated as "very important" by a majority of employer respondents.

U.S. companies are competing in an ever-increasing global marketplace where workers must transition from an industrial to a knowledge-based economy. But just as employers need decades of institutional knowledge to meet the challenge of the global business environment, the baby boom generation – the most experienced workers with the greatest knowledge and skills – are retiring.

What skills are necessary for success in the workplace of the 21st century? And do new entrants to the workforce, graduates of high school, two-year and four-year colleges have those skills?

Afterschool programs need the support of their whole community to thrive, and businesses are always a big part of the community. These are the companies that employ the working parents whose children need a safe place to learn and grow after school.

This toolkit has been designed by Corporate Voices for Working Families to serve as a resource that will direct and inspire proactive business engagement in afterschool policies and programs at the community level and will lead to policies and community outreach that garner widespread public support.

Afterschool programs keep kids safe, increase academic success and help working families. So what does all that do for the business community? Plenty.

There is and has been a significant interest and investment in after school by corporations for over a decade. The amount spent by companies interviewed totaled $136.6 million invested in after school initiatives for 2005. Over the last five years, the total investment reaches over $1 billion invested in afterschool and related youth development and parent education programs and resources.