JPMorgan Chase Investing in Texas to Help More People Grow Skills and Gain Access to Opportunity
Firm investing $10 million to prepare Texans for the future of work, bringing total investment in Texas’ workforce to more than $25 million over the last five years
JPMorgan Chase today announced it is investing $10 million in Texas’ workforce to help create and sustain opportunity for underserved communities across the state. The firm’s philanthropic investment in Texas is part of JPMorgan Chase’s new $30 billion commitment to advance racial equity and drive an inclusive economic recovery.
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“Texas is the premier economic destination in America thanks to our exceptional workforce and our strong partnership with companies like JPMorgan Chase”
Texas has experienced strong, consistent job growth in recent years with one of the most robust and diverse economies in the nation. In 2019, the state added nearly 1,000 jobs per day to its labor market. But not all Texans have benefitted from this growth; even before the pandemic, poverty rates for Black and Latino Texans were two times that of White Texans. The COVID crisis has only widened the opportunity gap, especially for Black and Latino communities. New research by PolicyLink reveals some of the challenges that underserved Texans today face: including that Dallas-area White Texans far outpace Dallas-area Black and Latino Texans in hourly wage earnings, with 4 out of 5 White workers earning at least $15 an hour, compared to a third and less than half of Black and Latino workers, respectively.
As one of the largest employers in Texas, JPMorgan Chase is making new business and philanthropic investments that highlight the importance of how business, government and educators can work together to address these challenges. The firm is also supporting policy solutions to drive sustainable change and help Texans build the skills for success in a constantly changing labor market.
“Business has a responsibility to help solve challenges facing its employees and the customers and communities it serves,” said Jamie Dimon, JPMorgan Chase Chairman and CEO. “A skilled workforce and an inclusive recovery are key to Texas’ growth, and partnerships like these with government and educators will help Black and Latino Texans gain access to well-paying jobs and great careers.”
$10 Million to Support an Inclusive Future of Work in Texas
JPMorgan Chase’s $10 million philanthropic investment focuses on underserved communities across the state with an emphasis on building more inclusive career pathways for young people and adults. Through collaborative efforts that bring the public, private and non-profit sectors together, the firm is focused on supporting young people to successfully navigate transitions between high school, post-secondary education and careers, and adults to access timely and relevant skills training and quality jobs.
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“Texas is the premier economic destination in America thanks to our exceptional workforce and our strong partnership with companies like JPMorgan Chase,” said Governor Abbott. “As we prepare the workforce of the future, Texas will continue to work with the business community, non-profits, and academic institutions to expand opportunity and prosperity for all Texans. This investment from JPMorgan Chase is a tremendous step to provide Texas students and workers with the training and skills they need to grow in their careers and contribute to Texas’ economic success.”
Helping young Black and Latino men succeed
- The firm will continue The Fellowship Initiative (TFI) in Dallas and expand TFI to Houston in 2021. A national mentorship program across seven U.S. cities, TFI improves economic and social outcomes for a group of Black and Latino men, as well as other young men of color, from low-income communities. Over the past decade, TFI has matched more than 350 high school Fellows with JPMorgan Chase employees, who serve as mentors for three years, to receive coaching, academic support and leadership development. The program has driven 100 percent admission to college among graduating Fellows.
Developing youth skills for jobs of the future
- JPMorgan Chase is partnering with The Commit Partnership to lead a collaborative effort along with Dallas Independent School District, Dallas College, University of North Texas Dallas, and Texas Education Agency, to strengthen the firm’s initial investment in the Dallas County Promise scholarship program. The program will expand real work experiences for Dallas students and align with in-demand careers such as IT and healthcare. These investments are examples of how business and educators can work together to help students succeed.
Supporting inclusive career pathways for Texas’ adult labor force
- JPMorgan Chase continues its focus on supporting the adult labor force with skills and training for low-income individuals and those impacted by the pandemic. The firm is helping Capital IDEA of Austin increase the number of participants in the Career Expressway Program, with a focus on expanding racial diversity. The Career Expressway Program is a career readiness program that supports nontraditional students and unemployed or low-income adults to receive skills for in-demand industries. In addition, the firm will help expand the region’s nursing programs.
“The Dallas-Fort Worth region had the fastest rate of job growth of any major metropolitan area from February 2019-February 2020, yet only 25% of Dallas County young adults (age 25-34) were earning a living wage pre-COVID. For Black and Hispanic young adults, that number was just 14%. Today’s data shows us that our young adults have the highest rates of unemployment claims as a result of the pandemic. This data demands we increase our sense of urgency towards efforts that will bring about a more inclusive Dallas. We believe our efforts to create pathways for all of Dallas County students towards living wage careers will be helped tremendously through our partnership with JPMorgan Chase,” says Dottie Smith, President of The Commit Partnership.
Upskilling JPMorgan Chase Employees
With more than 24,500 employees across the state, JPMorgan Chase is testing new strategies to upskill and reskill its own employees in Dallas and San Antonio for changes in technology and business. As part of an effort to leverage local educational institutions and increase access to learning, the firm recently partnered with University of North Texas (UNT) to support employees in gaining new skills, credentials and degrees. JPMorgan Chase also partnered directly with UNT, Dallas College and Alamo College to develop curriculum to match the skills needed for in-demand jobs at the firm. Learning programs focus on project management, financial analysis, data analytics and data structuring, all of which are highly sought at the firm. Still in its early stages, the firm’s own training pilots combined with UNT program participation has already resulted in more than 900 entry level JPMorgan Chase employees enrolling in nearly 3,000 courses to build skills. The firm supports career development and skills training for employees across Texas to help ensure all employees, including Black, Latino, women and veterans, have access to opportunity across the firm for long-term career success.
Supporting Sustainable Policy Solutions
JPMorgan Chase is supporting policy solutions that advance educational pathways for higher education, high-value credentials, and real-world work experiences that connect Texans to high-wage, high-skill, in-demand jobs. Working with state policymakers, the JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter will aim to scale high-quality integrated career pathways, create seamless connections from high school to higher education to career, expand work-based learning experiences, and help ensure access and opportunity to underserved populations. The firm will expand its collaboration with Texas 2036 to increase capacity at the Texas Center for Workforce Innovation, an initiative to transform the workforce landscape through research and analysis to reduce unemployment, improve living wage equity and improve Texas employers’ ability to access a trained labor force. JPMorgan Chase senior leaders will play an active role as advisors to Texas 2036, working alongside other corporate and civic leaders developing Texas’ workforce agenda.
“Before COVID, our data showed that Texas faced a serious challenge of not having enough workers with the skills and training needed to fill the jobs that were open and available. Now COVID has escalated the issue, and we have a higher number of unemployed Texans, many of whom may need to be upskilled and retrained, to be able to find good jobs,” said Tom Luce, Chairman of the Board for Texas 2036. “I applaud JPMorgan Chase for engaging in this critical issue and investing in solutions that will expand opportunity and address economic disparities in our city.”
These partnerships in communities across Texas help support the growing economy, break down barriers to opportunity for underserved communities, and equip workers with the skills needed to succeed in the labor force. With a history of business and community engagement in Texas, JPMorgan Chase is focused on lifting up the community in which it serves for long-term success.
History of Investing in Jobs and Skills Training
JPMorgan Chase has invested $25 million in Texas’ workforce over the last five years to grow the number of career pathways for underserved communities across the state with an emphasis on youth skills. These investments in Texas are part of the firm’s broader commitment to removing barriers to economic opportunity. In 2019, the firm announced New Skills at Work, a $350 million, five-year global initiative to prepare people for the future of work. With a focus on creating economic mobility and building career pathways for underserved communities, New Skills will also help forecast emerging skill sets for JPMorgan Chase employees and proactively develop new training programs to prepare the firm’s workforce for changes in technology and business.
The firm is also using its global business resources and expertise to advance policy changes to lead to inclusive economic growth. Launched in 2019, the JPMorgan Chase PolicyCenter works with policy, business and community leaders to drive effective solutions at all levels of government. This effort includes advancing public policy agendas for issues such as career readiness for youth and giving people with criminal backgrounds a second chance by supporting their reentry into the workforce, community and local economies.
JPMorgan Chase is the largest financial institution in Texas, employing more than 24,500 people across the state. Chase has 8 million consumer customers statewide and serves 742,000 business clients.
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