Innovative Competition Unveiled at JFF’s National
Summit, Horizons: A Vision for Economic Advancement
NEW ORLEANS (June 13, 2018) —
JFF, a national nonprofit that accelerates the alignment and transformation of
the American workforce and education systems, announced today that it will
launch the $1 Billion Wage Gain Challenge to
raise the wages of at least 100,000 workers by $10,000 or more by 2021.
Maria Flynn, president and CEO of JFF, made the announcement to 800 attendees
at Horizons, JFF’s national summit on
June 13–14 in New Orleans.
JFFLabs,
the innovation and strategy arm of JFF, will lead this ideation competition to
find the nation’s most effective and promising ways to meaningfully increase
annual incomes and help close the wage gap. According to the Pew Research
Center, the share of national income held by
middle-class households has decreased to 43 percent—its lowest level since the
center began publishing income-share data in 1967—while middle-class wages
have grown just 6 percent and low-wage workers’ wages have decreased by 5
percent since 1979. The competition is supported by Schmidt Futures and
will be complementary and connected to its efforts in the Alliance for the American Dream.
“The $1 Billion Wage Gain
Challenge will spur innovative thought, share best practices, and accelerate
awareness of stagnant wages,” said Flynn. “Perhaps most exciting, it will
materially change people’s economic well-being.”
The $1 Billion
Wage Gain Challenge will launch alongside the Alliance for the American Dream, a
network of four communities (each anchored by a public research university)
that will provide access to capital and market for new ideas to support
distressed communities locally. In its inaugural effort, the Alliance is
challenging citizens to develop policy ideas or startup concepts that increase
net income for 10,000 local, middle-class households by 10 percent by 2020,
either by raising income or decreasing cost of living (e.g., in transportation,
housing, utilities, food).
“In partnership with JFF, we
are excited to introduce the $1 Billion Wage Gain Challenge,” said Thomas
Kalil, chief innovation officer of Schmidt Futures. “We encourage other
investors to join us in this bold challenge to find the most successful
solutions to erasing the wage gap.”
Building on this momentum,
at Horizons, JFFLabs also launched a new program to elevate promising
work-based learning startups. JFFLabs is now accepting applications for a cohort of
tech-enabled startups looking to create and scale career advancement
opportunities for retail and adjacent sector workers through work-based
learning strategies.
HORIZONS: A VISION FOR
ECONOMIC ADVANCEMENT
Horizons brings together 800
leading practitioners, policymakers and technology leaders across the K–12 and
higher education and workforce fields, as well as innovators in technology, investing, and
corporate talent development, to explore the new
imperatives and solutions related to the future of work and learning. “As the future of work rapidly becomes today's
reality,” said Flynn, “it is critically important that we come together to
drive impact and equity.” Notable speakers include Anant Agarwal, CEO
of edX; John Battelle, CEO & founder of NewCo; Nisha Patel, executive
director of US Partnership on Mobility from Poverty; and Alan Krueger,
economist, Princeton University.
ABOUT JFF:
JFF (Jobs for the Future) is
a national nonprofit that accelerates the alignment and transformation of the
American workforce and education systems to ensure access to economic
advancement for all. JFF develops innovative programs and public policies that
increase college readiness and career success and build a more highly skilled,
competitive workforce. With 35 years of experience, JFF is a recognized
national leader in bridging education and work to increase economic mobility
and strengthen our economy. For more information, visit http://www.jff.org/ or follow us on Twitter.
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