CREATE
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2015 Grants Challenge

Game Changing Marketplace to Source Hourly Jobseekers

Idea by JobCouch

Our mission at JobCouch is not only to help match jobseekers with hourly job listings but also connect them with local job training programs. By partnering with LA non-profits, government (Workforce Investment Board) & community organizations, our goal is to close the talent-divide between employers and jobseekers (young adults (16-24), formerly incarcerated individuals & immigrants). We're not just focused on hourly jobs, but to help LA residents discover a career & opportunities to succeed.

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How do you plan to use these resources to make change?

Conduct research

Engage residents and stakeholders

Implement a pilot or new project

Expand a pilot or a program

Mobilize for systems change

Advocate with policymakers and leaders

Implement and track policy

How will your proposal improve the following CREATE metrics?​

Employment in the creative industries

Concentration of manufacturing activity in LA

Federal research grant funding

Jobs per capita

Minority- and women-owned firms

Number of high growth startups

Venture capital investment

Measures of cultural and global economic influence (“soft power”) (Dream Metric)

Unemployment rates (and opportunities) for the formerly incarcerated (Dream Metric)

Describe in greater detail how you will make LA the best place to CREATE.

LA is a city of opportunity. From minority-owned small businesses, corporate retail & restaurant chains, to warehouses, jobseekers have access to thousands of hourly jobs. Not only are these local businesses a source of income for jobseekers, but a stepping stone to a better future.

With Mayor Garcetti's current agenda to strengthen L.A.'s economy, LA is the best place for JobCouch to collaborate with city leaders to improve the process of discovering hourly jobs & career opportunities. Currently, city council members Mayor Eric Garcetti, Supervisors Don Knabe, Hilda Solis, Sheila Kuehl, Mark Ridley-Thomas, and Councilmember Gil Cedillo, have all been strong advocates of HIRE L.A.'s Youth program which provides career exploration opportunities to low-income youth between the ages of 14 and 24. This is only one of several running programs in LA that is helping bridge the gap of employment for young adults.

In addition to the collaboration with city leaders, potential partnership opportunities with the L.A. Opportunity Youth Collaborative, LAUSD, the Alliance for Children’s Rights, and the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, Youth Workforce Development System in the City and County of Los Angeles, and other organizations will allow JobCouch to narrow the gap of unemployed youth.

Not only are we targeting young adults in discovering opportunities to succeed, we're also targeting immigrants. According to the 2008-2010 American Community Survey, more than one-third of residents in Los Angeles County are immigrants (More than 3.4 million immigrant residents in the County). Immigrants comprise nearly half of the labor force in Los Angeles County (45%). Our goal is to help the immigrant residents (citizens) in Los Angeles County discover hourly jobs and access to job training programs to help advance their careers.

Lastly, in Los Angeles, 1 in 4 has an arrest or conviction record. We will work with Center for Employment Opportunities, LA county Parole Divisions, and other Re-Entry councils to help guide jobseekers with criminal records get back on their feet with a hourly job or connect them with a job training program to help start a career.

Please explain how you will evaluate your work.

JobCouch will evaluate the success of our work by measuring the following factors:

1) Partner with 24 non-profit organizations to narrow the gap of unemployed young adults, immigrants, and jobseekers with criminal records.

2) Sign up 10,000 active jobseekers (young adults, immigrants, & jobseekers with criminal records)

3) Post 36,000 active hourly job listings

4) Average of 10% hire rate with employers

How can the LA2050 community and other stakeholders help your proposal succeed

Money (financial capital)

Volunteers/staff (human capital)

Publicity/awareness (social capital)

Infrastructure (building/space/vehicles, etc.)

Education/training

Technical infrastructure (computers, etc.)

Community outreach

Network/relationship support

Quality improvement research