Grants

PENCIL

Project Title

For general support

Date

Dec. 14, 2023

Duration

30 months

Description

While the nation has made impressive strides toward greater high school completion, college and career readiness have not kept pace. PENCIL brings together business leaders and educators to provide work-based learning (WBL) experiences that help prepare New York City students to succeed in today’s workforce. Prior Corporation support enabled PENCIL to develop and implement the Career Explorers Program, which provides WBL experiences designed to mirror real-world industry work decoupled from internship placements. The program has yielded strong student outcomes and provided a blueprint for scaling summer youth employment. Corporation support also allowed PENCIL to conduct an evaluation of program strengths, opportunities for improvement, and gaps in the field, which PENCIL shared in a series of research briefs. Continued Corporation support will allow PENCIL to expand its programming in New York City schools, broker industry partnerships for schools, and deepen organizational impact through strategic partnerships with other community organizations and higher education institutions.

Project Title

For general support

Date

Sep. 15, 2022

Duration

12 months

Description

While the nation has made impressive strides toward greater high school completion, college and career readiness have not kept pace. Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing challenges and created new obstacles for studentson the cusp of their transition to postsecondary opportunities. PENCIL partners with business leaders to provide work-based learning (WBL) experiences that help prepare New York City students to succeed in today’s workforce. Corporation support has enabled PENCIL to play an important role in addressing COVID-related disruptions to these experiences through the Career Explorers Program, which provides WBL experiences designed to mirror real-world industry work decoupled from internship placements that are in short supply. The program has yielded strong student outcomes and provided a blueprint for scaling summer youth employment. Corporation support also allowed PENCIL to conduct an evaluation of program strengths, opportunities for improvement, and gaps in the field, which PENCIL shared in a series of research briefs. Continued Corporation support will allow PENCIL to implement its core programs as well as build knowledge for the field to ensure that all young people have access to a fulfilling and economically sustaining career pathway.

Project Title

For general support

Date

Jun. 03, 2021

Duration

15 months

Description

PENCIL, which partners with business leaders to deliver paid work-based learning (WBL) and internship experiences to New York City students, played an important role in addressing the COVID-related disruptions to these experiences last summer. As part of that effort, PENCIL developed the Career Explorers Program, which provided WBL experiences designed to mirror real-world industry work decoupled from internship placements that were in short supply. The program yielded student outcomes comparable to and, in some cases, stronger than those achieved through remote internships, and it offers a unique blueprint for PENCIL and other partners to examine as part of the solution to scaling high-quality summer youth employment in New York City.As part of the Focus NYC initiative, Corporation support will enablePENCILtocontinue to play a thought leadership role and build knowledge related to the implementation of this program in New York City.

Project Title

For support of the Summer Internship and Career Explorers Programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic

Date

Sep. 10, 2020

Duration

4 months

Description

The COVID-related disruption to the 2019-20 school year and the elimination of fundingfor the Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP) have compounded the alreadysignificant learning, enrichment, andfinancialneedsofyoung people in New YorkCity. PENCIL,which partners with business leaders to deliverpaidwork-basedlearning(WBL) andinternship experiences to New York City students,is addressing this challenge through two programs this summer.The PENCIL internship program, which typically trains over 1,000 students and places over 500 studentsin summer internships, will be adapted forthe remote context.The Career Explorers Program, which has been developed indirectresponse to the cancellationofSYEP,willprovide WBL experiences designed to mirror real-world industry work and promote career awareness, exploration, and preparation.Both programs will support participants’ developmental relationships, essential skill attainment, and access to opportunities, and will also provide stipends for participation.