Earn Up, a program of JAXUSA Partnership, recently received two awards: the Gold Award for Excellence in Economic Development from the International Economic Development Council (IEDC) and the Workforce Innovator Award from the Florida College Access Network (FCAN).
The IEDC is the largest nonprofit professional association for professional economic developers in the world. Award recipients are selected from over 500 submissions by a panel of economic and community developers from around the world. Earn Up was presented with the Gold Award for Economic Development at the IEDC Annual Conference in Oklahoma City last month.
The Florida College Access Network (FCAN), a statewide organization hosted by the University of South Florida System (USF), works to ensure all Floridians can achieve an education beyond high school and prosper. FCAN’s Workforce Education Innovator recognized Earn Up for successfully helping residents better understand career pathways and employment opportunities in their region. The award was presented at FCAN’s Talent Strong Florida Summit earlier this year.
Earn Up first launched a microsite called “Career Pathways” in August 2020 on EarnUp.org. From there, the Regional Career Pathway Campaign ran throughout 2021, leading to the JAXUSA’s Talent team facilitating 130 events and opportunities for 2,780 participants to learn about our region’s growing industries and career pathways within those industries.
Earn Up now includes an option for participants to gain work-based learning directly from employers.
“That’s our new initiative for this year, and it’s all about highlighting work-based learning opportunities,” JAXUSA Senior Vice President, Strategy and Talent Development Anna Lebesch said. The section includes internships by industry, apprenticeship resources, and a “Connect Now” page where employers can submit work-based learning opportunities.
Earn Up’s YouTube channel is regularly updated with videos touching on various industries and quarterly workforce briefings, hosted in conjunction with CareerSource Northeast Florida, featuring a panel of experts talking about what they look for in new hires.
“Students learn in a variety of ways,” said Julie Hindall, Director of Talent Development for JAXUSA Partnership. “Sometimes, watching a video will resonate with someone more than our other collateral. We’re always interested in finding ways to attract students and get them interested in our diverse industry base.”
