GreenLight Fund Greater Newark Announces $600,000 Investment in Workforce Development for Local Youth

Nonprofit funder GreenLight Fund Greater Newark today announced its first investment selection, bringing the EMS Corps program to Greater Newark. EMS Corps is a proven workforce development initiative that provides participants with a five-month paid stipend, emergency medical technician (EMT) job training, youth development, mentoring and job placement, ultimately improving health outcomes and supporting sustainable career pathways. In Newark, 40 young people will go through the program annually.

GreenLight Greater Newark’s investment in the EMS Corps program was informed by a year-long selection process conducted in partnership with the local Selection Advisory Council (SAC), a diverse group of 36 talented residents, leaders and experts from various fields. Through the process, GreenLight Greater Newark identified workforce development for young people as a critical need in the community and, after searching the country, EMS Corps was selected based on their proven track record addressing this need.

“During our Community Conversations tour last summer, we listened to the concerns of community members, nonprofit leaders, and key stakeholders and learned about the urgent need to create more workforce development opportunities for our young people,” said GreenLight Greater Newark Executive Director Tish Johnson-Jones. “In response to this need, we selected EMS Corps as we believe their evidence-based training, mentoring and job placement program will help open doors for our young people and empower the next generation to make a difference in a career field that has been historically unattainable for them.”