Scaling What Works

Announced July 22, 2010

Updates

• Read the Corporation for National and Community Service's press release here.

Economic opportunity: Increasing economic opportunities for economically disadvantaged individuals.

• Jobs for the Future, Inc. 
• Project profile
• Jobs for the Future, Inc., through the National Fund for Workforce Solutions (NFWS), is expanding its targeted training and technical assistance to at least 23,000 low-income individuals over three years while also addressing the critical skill needs of more than 1,000 employers.

• Local Initiatives Support Corporation
• Project profile
• White House Blog: San Diego center gives hope, aid to refugees
• The Stanford Social Innovation Review: "Scaling Smarter, Scaling for Keeps" 
  • LISC's white paper featured in the article was sponsored by the Scaling What Works initiative.
    
• Local Initiatives Support Corporation is expanding its integrated workforce development and asset-building Financial Opportunity Centers model through 47 subgrantees. The model focuses on improving the financial bottom line for low-to-moderate income families by helping people boost earnings, reduce expenses, and make appropriate financial decisions.

• Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity
• Project Profile
• National Service Blog: Matching jobseekers to careers
• Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and the NYC Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO) are replicating five promising anti-poverty programs originally piloted by CEO in New York City to advance the education, employment and financial savings of low-income adults and families.

• REDF
• Project Profile
• National Service Blog: Helping people with mental illness thrive
• REDF is creating job opportunities for at least 2,500 Californians with multiple barriers to employment, including disengaged youth, homeless individuals, ex-offenders and those with severe mental illness in sustainable nonprofit social enterprises in low-income communities throughout the state.

Healthy futures: Promoting healthy lifestyles and reducing the risk factors that can lead to illness.

• AIDS United
  
• Project profile and video
• National Service Blog: Fighting HIV/AIDS in Washington, D.C.
• AIDS United supports innovative strategies being pursued by 8 organizations throughout the United States that will increase access to care and improve health outcomes for at least 3,500 low-income individuals living with HIV/AIDS. Their work will also offer lessons that will reduce barriers to care for a broad range of chronic disease sufferers.

• Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky
• Project profile
• Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky is improving access to needed health services, reducing health risks and disparities, and promoting health equality for residents in low-income and underserved communities in Kentucky. Their nine subgrantees employ innovative strategies to increase physical activity, improve nutrition, curb smoking and other unhealthy habits, and increase access to care.

• Missouri Foundation for Health
• Project profile
• Missouri Foundation for Health is investing in seven organizations working in low-income communities across the state to reduce the risk factors and prevalence of two preventable causes of chronic disease and death: tobacco use and obesity. The project draws on an integrated community change model blending two transformative models of prevention on obesity and tobacco control.

Youth development: Preparing America's youth for success in school, active citizenship, productive work, and healthy and safe lives.

• The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
• Project profile
• National Service Blog: The Gateway to College national network, a gateway to sucess
• The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation is combining large grants, strategic business planning, rigorous evaluation and capital aggregation to increase the scale and impact of nine youth development organizations in communities of need across the country. Funded organizations focus on improving the educational skills and workforce readiness of economically disadvantaged young people as well as helping them to avoid high-risk behavior.

• New Profit Inc.
• Project profile and video
• New Profit Inc. is partnering with six innovative youth-focused nonprofit organizations to help young people better navigate the complex pathway from high school to college and productive employment. Programs focus on increasing high school graduation or GED attainment, college enrollment, and college credit accumulation rates, and securing living wage employment for participating youth ages 12 to 24.

• Venture Philanthropy Partners 
• Project profile and video
• National Service Blog: Shifting the odds for at-risk youth 
• youthCONNECT: A (Net)Work in Progress
• Venture Philanthropy Partners is investing in six nonprofit organizations in the Washington D.C. National Capital Region to build a powerful network addressing the education and employment needs of low-income and vulnerable youth ages 14 to 24. At scale these funded organizations will directly serve an estimated 20,000 young people.

Multi-issue

• United Way of Greater Cincinnati and the Strive Partnership
• Project profile and video
• Books in Action - Social Innovation Fund Stories of Impact
• United Way of Greater Cincinnati and the Strive Partnership are leading a collaborative community effort to address the needs of low-income children and youth from "cradle to career" in the Greater Cincinnati area through investments in early education, mentoring and literacy programs, college access, career pathways and other innovations.