The Intermediary Network

What is an Intermediary?

Intermediaries connect employers to schools and local communities. Young people need better opportunities, both in and out of school, to gain the knowledge and skills critical for success in college and careers. Employers need a skilled and motivated workforce.

Our schools can't do it alone. Yet workplace and community partners lack the time and expertise to navigate public school systems. Intermediaries solve the problem. Intermediaries bring the right people together to make a difference. They are driven by quality, consistently measuring and improving local programs and services. They organize public and private support for the policies and funding necessary to connect the classroom with the workplace and the community.

Below are the functions of Intermediaries:

Strategic Intermediary Functions

Four strategic intermediary functions are critical to successful, sustainable community efforts to connect work and learning for young people:

	Convening local leadership;
	Brokering and/or providing services to workplace partners, educational institutions, young people, and the youth-serving system;
	Ensuring the quality and impact of local efforts; and
	Promoting policies to sustain effective practices.

Operational Intermediary Functions

Intermediary organizations perform key, day-to-day, operational functions in their communities.

With employers/workplace partners to create demand for working with youth and provide services to address the needs of the partners;
With schools and youth-serving organizations to build staff awareness and buy-in and provide services to support school involvement;
With youth to connect them to appropriate quality experiences and improve the quality of work-based learning; and
With all partners to provide the communications link among partners and create a system focused on quality and continuous improvement.

Making and Managing Community Connections

The Intermediary Network has developed a five-stage model for describing the process of connecting schools and other youth-serving organizations with workplaces and other community resources. To be adapted based on local needs, resources, and goals, this flexible model is designed to help community partners visualize and identify their progress in making and managing community connections. It is a road map to success, continuous improvement, and system-building.
This model incorporates five stages:

Discovery: Analyzing the existing condition;
Design: Planning for implementation;
Incubation: Piloting strategies, services, and programs;
Growth: Expanding activities; and
Integration: Institutionalizing the activities in a system that makes and manages community connections.

For more information contact:
eglowacki@nww.org