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About INet

The Intermediary Network (INet) emerged from the federally funded School-to-Work Intermediary Project as a self-sustaining membership organization committed to pursuing concentrated efforts to promote intermediary work. In 2003, INet formed a national association of leading education and workforce development organizations working in local communities to ensure the success of students. Network members connect schools, communities, and workplace partners to improve education and build a future workforce. Members also convene local organizations doing similar work to maximize resources and effort. New Ways to Work serves as the facilitating partner for the network.

For more information, please visit the Intermediary Network webpage at www.intermediarynetwork.org .

The INet Approach

For young people to succeed in life, they need to develop competence, confidence, and connections to real-world experiences at each point of their educational and career development. Our schools cannot do this alone, nor can youth-development or workforce preparation organizations. They need partners. For this reason, new collaborative structures have emerged in many communities, designed to promote young people's self-confidence about their abilities, increase their connections to adults and opportunities, and foster the academic and work-related competencies they need to succeed.

These collaborative structures do not come together automatically, nor can they be sustained without significant commitments of time and resources. Intermediaries, therefore, perform the following four critical strategic intermediary functions:

Convene local, regional and/or state leaders, practitioners, and customers across sectors to ensure youth success.
Connect and broker or provide services to youth, public and private partners (including schools, social service organizations and employers), families, and neighborhoods.
Measure effectiveness and ensure the quality and impact of youth-serving efforts.
Sustain effective practices through advocacy and progressive policies.

INet Impacts

The Intermediary Network provides valuable connections for peers across the country, inspiring ideas, supporting innovation and defining quality practices. Leadership meetings, working committees, and annual Institutes move members toward an increasingly ambitious vision for their work.

Since INet was founded, New Ways has helped INet member organizations explore connections to the afterschool and small schools movements, and worked to support college access and success for underrepresented populations. The two annual meetings of the Network members have been filled to capacity, and the network grew, engaging new local and affiliate members. INet members have leveraged over 18 million dollars in public and private investments and provided services to 89,000 students, 13,473 teachers, 2,000 schools, and 6,422 employers. Members reported positive policy impacts at the state, regional, and local levels.

For more information, please visit the Intermediary Network webpage at www.intermediarynetwork.org.

For more information contact: bgray@newwaystowork.org