Governor Laura Kelly today announced that she has accepted an invitation to join the Board of Directors for Jobs for America’s Graduates (JAG). JAG is a national non-profit organization that is dedicated to helping young people facing various barriers to graduation, employment or both.
“I was a strong supporter of JAG-Kansas during my years as a state senator and am now pleased to be asked to serve on the JAG National Board of Directors,” Kelly said. “One of the reasons I ran for Governor is to ensure that every Kansas student has the best chance to succeed. Kansas has underutilized JAG-K as a proven resource over the past six years, and I hope to maximize the potential of this program to help even more Kansas students.”
The evidence-based JAG model has been helping prepare students for successful futures since 1980. Kelly joins a bipartisan group of 14 other current governors – the largest contingent of governors on any nonprofit board – as well as other state and federal leaders and members of the business community on the board.
“We are excited Governor Kelly has accepted a seat on the JAG National Board of Directors and that she continues to see the value of JAG-K in helping students prepare for successful futures,” said Chuck Knapp, JAG-K President and CEO. “With Governor Kelly’s leadership and the bipartisan support of the Kansas Legislature, I know we can achieve amazing results with some of the ideas that have been discussed.”
JAG-K is one of 35 JAG state affiliate organizations. JAG-K partners with public schools as an elective class to help students overcome various barriers, including high absenteeism; low grade-point averages; credit deficiencies; lack of work experience; and socio-economic, academic and familial challenges.
JAG-K has achieved a 98% graduation rate for the class of 2018 after 12 months of follow-up services. Graduates of the JAG-K Class of 2018 are working full time, serving in the U.S. military, participating in post-secondary education and training full time or combining work and school as a full-time endeavor. A Drexel University study indicated that JAG graduates nationally are 230% more likely to be employed than their peers who were not in a JAG program.