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....Quest has "the largest, sustained earnings impacts ever found in a rigorous evaluation of a workforce development program," writes Mark Elliott of Economic Mobility Corporation.
How does Quest succeed? It emerged as a project of two community organizations affiliated with Industrial Areas Foundation. With skillful discipline those organizations, starting in the mid-1970s, formed extensive public relationships, including several with area businesses. in the early 1990s the IAF leaders decided to use their social capital on behalf of the underemployed. Job training should match the actual needs of known employers, the IAF leaders thought. Plus the trainees deserved sustained ancillary service, including financial planning. Quest's employer- driven model of training as been exported to other Texas communities, plus to Tucson and Monroe, LA. Recently, another IAF group, DuPage United, launched a Quest-like job training program.
Taking the Initiative In Job Training, Initiatives in Support of Christians in the World