National Policy Leaders to Make Recommendations on Boosting Academic and Employment Rates for High-Risk Youth

Eric Seleznow, Assistant Secretary of the Department of Labor's Employment & Training Administration to deliver keynote remarks

WASHINGTON, Oct. 7, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --Delaware Governor Jack Markell and Assistant Secretary of Labor's Employment & Training Administration Eric Seleznow will deliver remarks at the 7^th annual National Thought Leaders Event being hosted by Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) tomorrow morning.  The event will be composed of a series of panels and working sessions that will focus on the development of policies and programmatic strategies to combat the nation's vast unemployment problems that exist for at-risk and disadvantaged youths.

Serving as panelists will be Senior Policy Advisor to Speaker John Boehner, Katherine Haley; President of the AT&T Foundation, Beth Shiroishi; and President of United Way Worldwide U.S.A., Stacey Stewart, among others.

Governor Markell, the current Chair of JAG's Board of Directors, will be joined by Chanelle Hardy, Senior Vice President for Policy and Executive Director of the National Urban League Policy Institute; Antonio Tijerino, President & CEO of the Hispanic Heritage Foundation; Neil Horikoshi, President & CEO of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Scholarship Fund, and Robert Carr, Senior Vice President of the Society for Human Resource Management in hosting the event.  The event's discussion is expected to produce a specific set of proven or promising policy recommendations that Governor Markell will take directly to the state, federal and private sector leaders that have the power to implement them.

With well over 20 million Americans competing for the same 3.5 million jobs, it is harder than ever for the countless numbers of young, inexperienced, and first-time job seekers to find gainful employment in the current labor market.  Since 2009, the nation has produced well over 6 million new jobs.  For young people 16-24, there has been a NET LOSS of 12,000 jobs. The August figures once again showed young people 16-24 continuing to drop in their labor participation – now under 24%.  Once again, the lowest participation rate in American history, and the rate continues to decrease.

In order to address this devastating issue, we invite you to join us for these important discussions and to interact with political, business and civic leaders from across the nation.

About JAG

Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG) is a non-profit organization that just celebrated its 30^th anniversary with a proven track record of helping at-risk young people graduate from high school and make successful transitions to postsecondary education or meaningful employment.  JAG has served over 900,000 youth and is currently assisting approximately 50,000 young people in over 1,000 community high schools, middle schools, community colleges, and other learning locations in 32 states to achieve academic, career and life success. Some 90% of the youth in the JAG National Network have successfully graduated and over 80% are working, in college, or both a year after graduation. For more information about JAG go to www.jag.org.

SOURCE Jobs for America's Graduates (JAG)