Our mission: empower our nation’s young people
with the skills and support to succeed in education, employment, and life.
Why JAG?
Students facing inequality deserve the chance to flourish.
JAG Specialists provide critical support and mentorship, help youth find their passion, teach essential employability skills, and connect them to jobs and postsecondary pathways. JAG promotes diversity and inclusion while giving students the skills and support they need to succeed.
More than 40+ years of data prove JAG works. Today, we’re achieving the best student outcomes in our 40+ year history!
Why JAG works
Our data-driven model is proven:
JAG learners overcome – and outperform
National and affiliate data measure JAG’s impact to ensure our students’ success. Our 96% graduation rate far exceeds the national average. More than 84% of JAG students secure full-time employment, while others pursue a college education and military service. Our graduates achieve high graduation rates and positive outcomes for employment, postsecondary education enrollment, and overall personal development.
Discover the full scope of JAG’s impact.
JAG? Performance Outcomes
Graduation Rate
Post Graduation
%
Are Fully Employed
%
Full-Time Placement
%
Further Education Rate
How JAG works
Public/private partnerships at the national level lead State Affiliates who deliver JAG programs in middle schools, high schools, out-of-school, and beyond. JAG is continuously evolving to maintain rigorous quality while providing greater accessibility and program flexibility.
Last year, more than 1400 JAG Specialists supported 79,000+ students nationwide as teachers, advocates, and caring adults.
With your support, we can serve tens of thousands more!
The JAG Advantage™
The heart of our model: three critical components work set JAG – and our students – apart.
Trauma-informed care
Helps our learners overcome stress, trauma, and the barriers that prevent racially and economically diverse students from succeeding. Students create healthy emotional skills and build supportive networks, becoming resilient, confident individuals with the soft skills they need to embrace the future.
Project-based Learning
Builds communication, creativity, collaboration, and communication skills through hands-on, long-term projects that solve real-world problems or answer complex questions. By providing authentic challenges and scenarios, JAG students become adept, critical thinkers ready to take on the challenges of the workforce and their lives.
Real-world experience
With more than 19,000 JAG employer partners and industry experts allows our learners to explore career paths, acquire job-ready skills, and complete an Individual Development plan through employment, certification, or their avenue of choice.
The JAG Journey:
From Adversity to Advantage
UPLIFT
JAG Trauma-informed care addresses students’ stress and trauma, helping them leap the barriers of life’s most challenging circumstances.
INSTRUCT
From in-school classes to flex programs, JAG Specialists provide for-credit instruction to help students develop confidence and thrive in school.
EMPOWER
JAG equips students with dozens of competencies that boost employability and ensure success in their careers.
ENGAGE
Students interact with employers, solving real-world challenges with project-based learning in the classroom and on the job.
PROPEL
Specialists help graduates explore career pathways, identify job opportunities, and navigate postsecondary education and financial aid.
PREVAIL!
JAG provides 12 months of post-grad follow-up and support services to ensure success on the job and/or enrollment in a postsecondary institution.
Student Leadership:
growth, advocacy and momentous events
The student-led JAG National Career Association (NCA) provides the space and platforms for amplifying the youth voice and creating a sense of belonging through leadership development and civic engagement. From pinnacle events that attract more than a thousand students each year to competitions and conferences, the NCA helps students develop the confidence and competencies essential for becoming tomorrow’s leaders.
“JAG filled my world with hope. It gave me a chance to reach my potential.”
For young people like Aneissa Olsen, JAG is more than a program. Aneissa is now a CNA with plans to become a nurse and business owner.