Mayor Adams Announces Citywide Action Plan to Build Inclusive Career Pathways for Young People
Baruch College among the five new CUNY campuses to share $10 million in CUNY 2x Tech fundingDecember 19, 2023
New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced, “Pathways to an Inclusive Economy: An Action Plan for Young Adult Career Success” – a more than $600 million, forward-thinking roadmap to build inclusive pathways for the city’s young people to discover their passion, receive hands-on career experience, and, ultimately, enter the workforce.
Through comprehensive, collaborative partnerships across the city, state, and federal governments, and multiple other sectors, the action plan will develop the city’s future workforce, serving up to 250,000 young people. The action plan and its investments deliver on key commitments made in Mayor Adams’ “Working People’s Agenda” and Executive Order 22 to provide young New Yorkers with fulfilling careers and financial security, while helping private employers find the best talent.
“Our ‘Working People’s Tour’ is focused on making sure our economy works for all New Yorkers – especially our young people – and helps them find the network, resources, and opportunities needed to thrive in an ever-changing world,” said Mayor Adams. “New York City’s tomorrow depends on what we do for our young people today. That’s why this plan brings together all levels of government, multiple city agencies, employers, and partners across various sectors to tell our young people: we are here to help you succeed. From out-of-school and out-of-work youth to high school students who simply want to follow their dreams and everyone in between, this plan is for them – to let them know that New York City is still the place where anything is possible.”
The core goals in the action plan represent a holistic approach to building sustainable, equitable pathways for New York City’s youth to enter the economy and workforce. These five core goals include improving data collections and analytics, re-engaging with out of school and out of work youth, expanding career-connected learning, strengthening early interventions to engage young people as they start their career pathway, and developing strategies to better partner with employers.
Highlights of the plan include:
- A $10 million city investment to expand CUNY 2x Tech to five new campuses; this marks the first time the program will serve CUNY’s community colleges. Over the next five years, Baruch College, Borough of Manhattan Community College, City Tech, Guttman Community College, and LaGuardia Community College will receive funding to continue to develop a high-quality tech talent pipeline by expanding the capacity of CUNY’s Computer Science Department and other departments.
- $130 million in federal funding from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) Jobs Corps Program, the nation’s largest job training and education program. New York City is the first major city to partner with the USDOL Jobs Corps Program, which offers training in fast-growing industries – all free of charge to participants. The USDOL has selected DB Grant Associates to provide academic and career technical training and Career Systems Development Corporation to provide essential wraparound services at their South Bronx and Brooklyn campuses. Over the next five years, the city will support the Jobs Corps program to train, place, and provide wraparound services to 2,000 young adults into careers.
- $1.7 million from USDOL’s Building Pathways to Infrastructure Jobs Grant for New York City Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) and the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) to pilot a new electrical pre-apprenticeship for 50 out-of-school and out-of-work young adults, partnering with Commonpoint Queens, LaGuardia Community College, Queensborough Community College, and the Consortium for Worker Education.
“Long recognized as one of the most diverse colleges in the nation, Baruch will use the funds from the CUNY 2x Tech grant to enhance the connections between classroom and experiential learning opportunities to prepare students for professional success following graduation,” said Baruch College professor Dr. Nanda Kumar, chairperson of the Paul H. Chook Department of Information Systems and Statistics. “This grant is particularly timely as the department of information systems and statistics is home to some of the fastest growing majors at Baruch – our diverse graduates will use the rich experiences fostered by this award to advance innovation in one of the most emerging and critical sectors in New York City’s economy.”
The original announcement was published by the Office of Mayor Adams.
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