Intermediaries are integral to the registered apprenticeship ecosystem, especially youth apprenticeships. They perform many functions, including expanding the apprenticeship system, supporting and managing programs, and sustaining the apprenticeship ecosystem. Intermediaries can take many forms, including industry associations, small businesses, unions, nonprofits, training providers, community colleges and universities, high schools, government agencies, and workforce boards.

This fact sheet reflects key lessons for intermediaries from the Urban Institute’s five years as a youth apprenticeship intermediary for the US Department of Labor.
 

TABLE 1

Core Functions of Intermediaries in the Apprenticeship Ecosystem

Source: Zach Boren, Bhavani Arabandi, Myca San Miguel, and Rayanne Hawkins, Youth Apprenticeship: A Roadmap to Build, Manage, and Sustain a Registered Apprenticeship Program for Young People (Washington, DC: Urban Institute, 2022).
Note: Intermediaries do not need to fill all these roles but are encouraged to work across several of them.
 

Youth Apprenticeship Intermediaries Can Have National or Local Impact

At the national level, intermediary organizations like the Urban Institute and the Institute for Workforce Skills and Innovation provide technical assistance and access to funding to develop or expand youth apprenticeship programs and diversify youth apprenticeship. Urban also supports the apprenticeship ecosystem with research on best practices for building high-quality programs, incorporating diversity and inclusion efforts in apprenticeship, sustaining programs, and other off-the-shelf resources for strengthening apprenticeships and boosting employment opportunities for young people.

At the local level, intermediaries such as District 214, Four Rivers Career Center, and Down Syndrome Innovations sponsor apprenticeship programs, provide related instruction that supplements on-the-job learning, advocate for and champion youth apprenticeship, lead the recruitment of apprentices for a program, or provide supportive services to help apprentices succeed. These local intermediaries work with and support employers to provide young people with meaningful options for accessing career pathways. Often, staff members at these organizations are the young person’s first introduction to apprenticeship, and many act as career coaches.

Intermediaries Have Opportunities to Expand Youth Apprenticeships

Intermediaries can help grow youth apprenticeships across the country in several ways.

Change the narrative. Intermediaries can help get employers on board and comfortable with youth apprenticeships. Many employers have difficulty picturing youth apprentices as productive, capable members of their organization. They may hesitate to implement an apprenticeship program for fear that it would be a waste of time and resources. Addressing employer biases and misconceptions about young people is key to youth apprenticeship expansion.

Facilitate connections. Federal and individual state apprenticeship registration processes can be complex to navigate. In addition, apprenticeship intermediaries do not always coordinate closely with each other or state apprenticeship agencies and other leadership. Intermediaries, with their expertise helping programs navigate the apprenticeship system, can coordinate with other partners to connect the government, industry, and education stakeholders needed to successfully expand apprenticeship programs in the US.

Extend public agency capacity. Intermediaries can increase the reach of federal and state apprenticeship offices and agencies through bridging relationships, providing technical assistance that supports a diverse talent pipeline, distributing incentives, creating and disseminating resources such as mentor training to support programs, and more. Intermediaries can also help “translate” apprenticeship regulations and policies for employers and education partners, making it easier for them to participate productively.

Sponsor youth apprenticeship programs. Employers and education providers can find managing a registered apprenticeship program on top of their day-to-day activities difficult. And many schools and employers acknowledge they lack the capabilities and relationships needed to build and sustain an apprenticeship program. In the building trades, joint labor-management partnerships sponsor apprenticeship programs to centralize administrative responsibilities and lessen the burden on employers. As apprenticeship expands into new industries, different types of intermediaries can help organize, monitor, and grow programs.

Develop sustainability strategies. Intermediaries can help employers build and manage their apprenticeship programs by identifying funding to cover outreach and recruitment, mentor and apprentice wages, related instruction, and supportive services.

Advocate for system support. Intermediaries can work with system stakeholders like funders and local, state, and federal policymakers to influence legislation and resource flows that support or regulate the apprenticeship system.