Incubator
JFFLabs Seeks Innovators to Bring HBCU Talent to Apprenticeship
Join an Entrepreneurs-in-Residence cohort to design apprenticeship programs that connect HBCU students and alumni to quality jobs.
About the Cohort
The JFFLabs Entrepreneurs in Residence (EIR) program is recruiting a cohort of innovators and startup founders who are designing, running, or hoping to one day develop apprenticeship programs tailored to students and alumni of historically Black colleges and universities (HBCU).
We’re hoping to bring together a group of changemakers who are reimagining work-based learning, expanding apprenticeship into new industries, and designing a new generation of apprenticeship experiences that are inclusive, equitable, and accessible to all.
This opportunity is open to anyone with new ideas about work-based learning, from leaders who are running apprenticeships that are already registered with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship or a state apprenticeship agency to those who are just beginning to design apprenticeships and hope to one day register their programs.
What You’ll Gain
As an incubator of new ideas and business models, the JFFLabs EIR program offers participants strategic support, access to business development resources, and opportunities to pilot new initiatives. Participants will also be able to share insights, ideas, and encouragement with one another. Our goal is to help develop and scale apprenticeship programs that connect HBCU students and alums to quality jobs while helping businesses tap into a diverse and skilled talent pipeline.
Applications for this EIR cohort close November 25. We encourage all entrepreneurs who are interested in exploring, promoting the advancement, or leveraging apprenticeship models to apply.
Why Apprenticeship?
Apprenticeship is a proven workforce training model that has offered people pathways to quality jobs for generations. At Jobs for the Future (JFF), advancing apprenticeship is central to our mission of creating economic advancement opportunities for all workers, regardless of background.
Apprenticeship programs offer strong outcomes for both workers and employers. They provide high-quality job training and related academic instruction that can lead to well-paid careers. For example, workers who complete Registered Apprenticeship programs earn average starting salaries of $77,000 a year and their average lifetime earnings outpace those of their peers by more than $300,000. For their part, employers retain 92% of apprentices who complete their programs.
However, despite the many benefits of apprenticeship, the demographic makeup of these programs often reflects broader workforce disparities. For example, women represent about half of the U.S. workforce but make up less than 13.5% of apprentices, and Black apprentices are 30% less likely to complete their programs than white apprentices. To ensure that apprenticeship truly puts workers of all backgrounds on pathways to economic advancement, JFF is committed to supporting initiatives that promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in the design and implementation of these programs.
One way to diversify apprenticeship is for program providers to make an intentional effort to recruit apprentices through historically Black colleges and universities. Despite representing less than 3% of U.S. postsecondary institutions, HBCUs account for 8% of Black undergraduate enrollments and 13% of all bachelor’s degrees earned by Black students. Recent research indicates that HBCUs help expand access to higher education for members of populations that have long been underrepresented in postsecondary education, including students from low-income backgrounds and first-generation college students.
The JFFLabs incubator provides strategy, piloting, and business support to entrepreneurs, startups, and company leaders as they look to scale innovative programs and solutions and build sustainable operations.
This product was developed as a contribution to JFF’s National Innovation Hub for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility in Registered Apprenticeship. Operated by Jobs for the Future, the Innovation Hub drives change in the Registered Apprenticeship system to increase diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility for populations that do not yet have access to the full promise of apprenticeship.
This workforce product was funded by a grant awarded by the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL)’s Employment and Training Administration (ETA). The product was created by the recipient and does not necessarily reflect the official position of DOL/ETA. DOL/ETA makes no guarantees, warranties, or assurances of any kind, express or implied, with respect to such information, including any information on linked sites and including, but not limited to, accuracy of the information or its completeness, timeliness, usefulness, adequacy, continued availability, or ownership. This product is copyrighted by the institution that created it.