History

Our Start
Founded in 1981 with 18 members, CJC was originally established to track economic development funds earmarked for low-income Chicago residents. The young coalition monitored the city's public brick-and-mortar funding and developed advocacy efforts to build into skills training to broaden access to jobs.

Twenty-seven years later, CJC has become a respected, collective voice on anti-poverty issues. Eighteen members has grown to 100 community-based organizations, civic groups, businesses and individuals committed to helping disadvantaged Chicagoans move out of poverty and into the workforce.

CJC has become a major player in the passage and implementation of local, state and national legislation. It acts on the principle that effective public policy is the result of broad community participation and ongoing dialogue with a diverse array of organizations.

Our Progress
CJC's input is often sought by local, state and federal policymakers and applied to develop progressive policies for disadvantaged job seekers.

As a result, CJC has made a positive impact on the workforce landscape, including:

• Coordinating an innovative system wide initiative to increase access to training and employment opportunities for 5,000 Chicago Housing Authority residents.
• Receiving an appointment to the Chicago Workforce Board's Youth Council, enabling us to bring the perspectives of disadvantaged youth and our member organizations to this important oversight body.
• Launching Illinois Works for the Future, a state campaign to prioritize and integrate workforce development and economic development policies.
• Building the capacity of nearly 200 workforce development staff each year through our Frontline Focus professional trainings and resources.

For more information about our Policy and Program Accomplishments (PDF, 52 KB) for the most recently completed fiscal year.

Consistent with its history, CJC is an information clearinghouse for those who seek sound analysis of workforce development policies' impact on practice.