Strada awards 7 grants focused on building employer intermediary infrastructure
A new Strada Education Foundation grant aims to test and support the effectiveness of employer intermediaries, which can fill a critical gap between the learners who want more work-based learning opportunities and the employers that face barriers in offering them.
Strada announced today the seven recipients of a grant program that supports organizations as they implement the functions outlined in the Framework for Effective Employer Intermediaries, released earlier this year and crafted by an action group of intermediary organization leaders, researchers, and policy experts who came together to define and guide the practice of employer intermediaries.
Employer intermediaries, which can include chambers of commerce, community colleges, or industry associations, are organizations that bridge the gap between businesses and workforce and education systems.
"Paid internships are essential for career success, yet fewer than half of learners are able to secure one,” said Laura Love, Strada senior vice president, Work-Based Learning. “Meanwhile, employers are eager to engage but face significant barriers in program design and management. Employer intermediaries can serve as a vital bridge, providing the capacity needed to scale impactful learning opportunities."
As part of the grant program, Education Strategy Group will work with Strada to facilitate an Intermediary Learning Collaborative experience among the grantees, capture insights as part of a defined learning agenda, and synthesize insights in culminating case studies.
The organizations selected for participation in the Intermediary Learning Collaborative will receive $100,000 each to test the implementation of the functions outlined in the Framework for Effective Employer Intermediaries: employer engagement, solutions design, solutions brokering, implementation support, and administrative support.
As part of the Intermediary Learning Collaborative, these grantees will implement a variety of projects:
- Apprenticeships for America will develop a report on the state of the apprenticeship intermediary field, drawing on the insights of on-the-ground practitioners and conducting action-focused research on how to grow and strengthen the field.
- Ascend Indiana will leverage the Framework with 23 intermediaries across Indiana to provide consistent coaching and capacity building, and will use learnings to inform potential state policy.
- Association of Community College Trustees will strengthen the effectiveness of community colleges as employer intermediaries through piloting an institutional self-assessment tool based on the Framework, and delivering it to a cohort of 20 community colleges focused on apprenticeship growth.
- Business Higher Education Forum, in partnership with the State Universities of New York, will use the Framework to strengthen intermediary infrastructure across New York in service of SUNY’s goal of every student obtaining a paid internship.
- Kentucky Chamber Foundation will leverage the Framework to build statewide capacity for intermediaries in Kentucky, leveraging Kentucky’s Statewide Workforce and Talent Team to conduct a statewide analysis of core functions, strengths, and gaps.
- National Talent Collaborative will use the Framework to benchmark work-based learning intermediary practice across more than 15 regional CEO groups, using insights to both produce a national report on the findings and inform replicable diagnostic tools for the field.
- Virginia Works will establish an Apprenticeship Intermediary Network from among Virginia’s 30-plus apprenticeship intermediaries and build supportive tools informed by the Framework.
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In partnership with Strada, an action group of intermediary organization leaders, researchers, and policy experts came together in 2025 to define and guide the practice of employer intermediaries in order to grow work-based learning opportunities.
This report provides actionable guidance for talent acquisition, learning and development, human resources, and workforce strategy leaders. It is designed for employers who already see internships as valuable, but who are seeking clearer frameworks, stronger alignment to business priorities, and more consistent ways to articulate and measure program value.
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