PAYA Reinvests in Grantees and Welcomes 25 New Members to the PAYA Network

The Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) is pleased to announce renewed grant support of communities across the country that are leading the way in creating high-quality youth apprenticeship programs. Four years ago, PAYA announced its first grant awards to nine public-private partnerships to support their efforts to build youth apprenticeships that promote inclusive economic development and create new opportunities for young people. In 2021, PAYA reinvested in these communities and funded six new early-stage grantees. In addition to funding, grantees receive technical assistance to support their work in creating youth apprenticeships aligned to the PAYA National Definition and Principles for High Quality Youth Apprenticeship Programs.

Over the past several years, the PAYA grantees have made significant progress in developing and scaling high-quality, equitable youth apprenticeships for high school age students. By the end of 2022, PAYA grantees had engaged over 270 employers in hiring more than 1,700 youth apprentices. These youth apprentices are employed in over 69 pathways in various sectors, such as advanced manufacturing, health care, IT, and finance. And they’re earning their high school diplomas, transferable college credit, and industry recognized credentials from the nearly 200 K-12 school districts and 94 postsecondary institutions that are working with the PAYA grantees. In addition to the work in their own regions, grantees have been instrumental in sharing their learnings and best practices with other communities across the country through the PAYA Network.

The PAYA Network is a national community of practice that connects and supports local leaders who are working to launch or grow youth apprenticeship programs aligned to the PAYA definition and principles. It provides access to resources, tools, events, and peer learning opportunities that help members advance their work and learn from each other. New America and the PAYA Partners launched the PAYA Network in 2019, and it has since grown to over 65 members from 30 states. We are excited to welcome 25 new members to the PAYA Network in 2023.

PAYA grantees and network members receive technical assistance from the PAYA National Partners, including PAYA National Learning Hubs, CareerWise Colorado and Charleston Regional Youth Apprenticeship. The Hubs serve as peer mentors for the field, providing advice and best practices based on their experience and expertise. The other PAYA National Partners are leading organizations committed to expanding opportunities for young people. They include AdvanceCTE, Education Strategy Group, JFF, the National Alliance for Partnerships in Equity, and the National Governors Association. These organizations collaborate and draw on their specific strengths to offer comprehensive learning opportunities on a range of topics from data and policy to youth voice and systems change.

Youth apprenticeship is a powerful strategy for transforming how the nation’s education system prepares young people to enter careers. It gives young people a reliable pathway to family-sustaining careers and employers a time-tested method of developing a skilled workforce. But right now creating youth apprenticeships is not easy in the U.S. It takes patience, collaboration, and determination to enable current school and workforce systems to support young people starting apprenticeships while in high school. And it takes courage and vision to challenge the status quo and create new pathways from school to career.

But the successes of grantees and network members show that it is possible. Over the past four years, PAYA has seen these communities foster collaboration among multiple partners who may not have worked together before. We’ve seen leaders align policies and systems that have not been designed to support collaboration across high schools, colleges, and employers. And we’ve seen practitioners innovate and adapt to meet the needs and interests of diverse learners and employers.

PAYA is excited to kick off another year of learning and growth with our grantee communities and network members. We look forward to sharing more stories and insights from their work in the coming months. Follow along by signing up for the PAYA Newsletter, which will continue to share information about PAYA activities that are open to the public. If you’d like to be notified when registration for the PAYA Network re-opens in 2024, please fill out this form and we’ll be in touch.

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