Urban Family Institute (UFI)
1400 16th Street, NW, Suite 101
Washington, DC 20036-2266
(202) 234-5437 * fax (202) 232-3299
Purpose
Job Connections 2000 is a collaborative effort by the Urban Family Institute, Wider Opportunities for Women, the Foundation for Educational Innovation and Shiloh Baptist Church Family Life Center to build infrastructure to link employers and unions in the information technology and telecommunications industries with low-income, hard-to-employ women in the Metropolitan Washington area.
Job Connections 2000 will provide technical assistance to build the capacity of area employers, unions and apprenticeship programs to recruit, retain, support and advance women in information technology and telecommunications jobs. To this end, Job Connections 2000 will also work with employment training providers to train women in the basic computer and life/foundation skills which are essential to increasing the placement and retention of low-income and hard-to-employ women in high-wage, entry-level telecommunications and information technology jobs.
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Job Connections 2000 project objectives:
- Identify and provide technical assistance to employers, unions and apprenticeship programs in the telecommunications and information technology industry to recruit, train and retain women in high-wage, entry-level positions;
- Identify 90 women on welfare interested in employment in the telecommunications and information technology industries;
- Engage 60 women in employment training for entry-level telecommunications and information technology jobs;
- Place 30 women in telecommunications and information technology jobs; and
- Implement support systems to connect women working in telecommunications and information technology nontraditional occupations with each other.
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Job Connections 2000 project products:
- Advisory Board, an ongoing task force of employers, unions, apprenticeship programs, women currently working in nontraditional occupations, welfare recipients, support service agencies and DC-area job training coalitions which advise the project partners their technical assistance needs and recommendations on how to connect and retain low-income women in high-wage, entry-level information technology and telecommunications jobs;
- Mentoring Program, an employer- and union-based program that will pair current employees and union members with women entering information technology and telecommunications jobs;
- Workers’ Network, a region-wide initiative to engage entry-level and experienced female information technology and telecommunications workers in an ongoing dialogue about the issues that affect their ability to access and remain in information technology and telecommunications jobs; and
- Multimedia Tools—Web site, http://www.Jobs2000.org, and software—to disseminate lessons learned and suggested strategies to help employment training providers and apprenticeship programs, support service organizations, employers, and unions nationwide replicate the successes of Job Connections 2000.
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Project Partners
Urban Family Institute (UFI) is a community-based organization that promotes the welfare of children and families through several DC-area programs including the mutli-service Family Investment Center and Kids House. Wider Opportunities for Women (WOW) works nationally and in its home community of Washington, DC to achieve economic independence and equality of opportunity for women and girls. WOW has worked with employers, unions and apprenticeship programs nationwide to develop and implement strategies to successfully integrate and retain women in nontraditional occupation and prevent sexual harassment in the workplace. Foundation for Educational Innovation, Inc. (FEI) is a nonprofit organization empowered by the DC Group to give breath to the concept of the Washington Technology Initiative (WTI) and administer the DC Link and Learn training site and several community computer centers including the Shiloh Baptist Church's Family Life Center and UFI's Family Investment Center.
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Project Support
The Job Connections 2000 project is funded by a Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupations (WANTO) grant from the U.S. Department of Labor Women's Bureau and Bureau of Apprenticeship and Training.
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