This report from America’s Promise Alliance, supported by Citi Foundation, examines the role that relationship building plays in supporting students along their career pathways. The report examines four sites — Cafe Momentum in Dallas, Texas; Per Scholas in the Bronx, New York; Urban Alliance in Washington, D.C.; and Year Up in the Bay Area, California — and answers three specific questions:
- What role do relationships play in these programs?
- How do these programs work to foster relationships?
- What role do relationships play in promoting successful job placement?
The authors note a few common themes across each of the programs studied. In each site, programs place relationship-building at the forefront of their model, fostering supportive relationships with participants, leaders, volunteers and future employers. Each of the programs also provided webs of support to facilitate student learning and workforce readiness throughout the experience. Additionally, researchers found that these relationships sustained beyond the course of the program, although each took a different approach to building relationships depending on who their program served.
The second report in the series, Turning Points is available here.
