Principles of Practice

At New Ways to Work, we believe that all schools and youth programs, educational opportunities, training programs and support services need to be connected and coordinated to best serve young people.

We help local programs build the four elements of our All Youth-One SystemTM framework. These elements apply to all youth and should be addressed by any efforts seeking to prepare youth and young adults for the future. Addressing these elements in isolation simply doesn’t get the job done. The elements include academic achievement, career development, community connections and support, and youth leadership. They are delivered through a comprehensive and connected youth development approach.

We engage local partners to support these elements and work closely with schools, community organizations, workforce boards, colleges, social service agencies, government, philanthropy and the private sector. We provide strategic planning support as well as direct technical assistance and training to agencies, youth programs and program staff, schools and others at both the leadership and line staff level.

What Nearly 40 Years And Over 100 Partners Has Taught Us

Our experience over the past three and half decades has allowed us to test new ideas, refine approaches and demonstrate what we now know to be true about what young people (and the institutions that serve them) need to be successful:

  • All young people need access to comprehensive and connected services across a set of institutions and organizations over time.
  • Programs, schools and public service agencies can’t do it alone. They need partners to provide the range of opportunities, services and support young people need to succeed – in the classroom, the workplace and in life.
  • We need to better utilize all public and private resources through intentionally connected and comprehensive, locally-driven systems.
  • Early and sequenced exposure to the workplace provides a solid foundation for today’s youth and young adults, and is critical to meeting the demands of our nation’s shifting economy.
  • Local intermediaries and functional collaboratives are the key to sustaining the connections among schools, workplaces, community and government partners that result in improved outcomes for young people.
  • Effective training and facilitated strategic processes that engage and support leadership, practitioners and policy-makers in designing and operating effective local youth-serving systems are key to ongoing success.