To Employment and Beyond: Life Skills Development through a Private-Nonprofit Partnership

The transition to employment is a pivotal step for youth and young adults. A successful shift to the workforce can support financial independence and open pathways toward further learning and personal growth. Employers increasingly prioritize life skills over complex or technical skills in the current labor market. However, opportunities to develop these skills are not equitably distributed. Life skills training programs within a positive youth development framework show promise in affording historically marginalized youth populations opportunities to identify and develop these skills, yet research on youth experiences in such programs remains limited. This qualitative study draws on focus groups and interviews with youth, community-based organization leaders, and employers to examine these experiences. It also speaks to that gap by exploring perceptions of youth participating in a private-nonprofit partnership that seeks to support youth in defining and achieving professional goals as they transition to employment. We find evidence that participating youth bolstered their life skills, particularly in communication. We also find that the program afforded them opportunities to apply leadership skills and envision possible futures they had not previously considered.