Promising Futures Grants: Jobs and Workforce Development

The Promising Futures Grants focus on enhancing job training and placement for young people in New York City. By building partnerships among nonprofits, businesses, and educational institutions, the program aims to create a robust workforce development system. It encourages innovative training solutions for those facing employment barriers, while also advocating for better jobs and fair wages. This initiative ultimately seeks to empower job seekers and improve overall economic opportunities in the community.

Our grants build promising futures by helping young people prosper; providing job training and placement; making our educational and justice systems work for everyone; alleviating hunger and homelessness; improving family and child welfare services; and advancing the practice of social work.
Focus Area: Jobs and Workforce Development
Program goal: to provide more opportunities for New York City job seekers to get trained for work and careers, while helping employers find a ready, willing, and able workforce.
Grants are made to:
Develop employer-driven workforce partnerships that link nonprofits, institutions, and businesses in a particular economic sector (such as health care, technology, hospitality) or for a particular constituency or community that:provides training, placement, and post-placement services; ortests new approaches for helping those with serious barriers to employment (such as very low numeracy and literacy skills, no high school degree, ex-offenders, or mental or physical disabilities).Expand the number of industry alliances or workforce intermediaries that provide education and training and improve industry hiring practices, working conditions, and opportunities for advancement.Promote a stronger, more effective workforce development system of services for job seekers in New York City through partnerships with government and capacity building for workforce providers.Advocate for better jobs in particular sectors or through public policies by:working with employers in specific industries to increase the performance and pay of workers; andadvancing public policy to ensure fair wages, working conditions, and business practices.

Eligibility

Most of our competitive grants go to public charities, or groups sponsored by one.
While our focus is on New York, we support some organizations headquartered outside the City.
Grantees (or fiscal agents) should have a board of directors with at least four members, and no more than one paid board member.
We fund programs that promote change in policy or systems, build capacity of organizations, and expand and/or improve direct service
Our general practice is to make grants for one year.

Ineligibility

We do not make grants to individuals, or for general operating support, capital and building campaigns, endowments, equipment, deficit financing, or religious purposes.