Maria Flynn, CEO and President of Jobs for the Future (JFF) | Jobs for the Future (JFF)
Jobs for the Future (JFF) has announced a significant gift from media entrepreneur Art Bilger, who has donated all of WorkingNation’s content and digital properties to JFF. This donation enables JFF to launch The Studio at JFF, described as the first impact-oriented brand studio focused on advancing education and workforce development through storytelling.
Brand studios, such as those operated by major outlets like Axios and The New York Times, work with clients to produce original written and video content aimed at specific audiences. The Studio at JFF is intended to serve education and workforce organizations that may lack resources for broad outreach efforts.
“Storytelling is foundational to creating change. WorkingNation and its founder Art Bilger have created an invaluable media platform with a reputation for not only spotlighting workforce challenges, but elevating innovations in the field,” said Maria Flynn, CEO and President of JFF. “We’re honored to take this legacy forward by helping organizations expand their storytelling capacity and reach broader audiences.”
The Studio will combine WorkingNation’s content library with JFF’s national network, research capabilities, and creative resources. Its goal is to help tech startups, nonprofits, and other organizations overcome financial barriers in promoting their initiatives and reaching new audiences. Through these efforts, JFF aims to influence education leaders, business executives, and policymakers in support of expanding quality job opportunities in the United States.
The Studio’s first campaign—developed with Nation of Artists—was titled “Quality Jobs.” It received five Anthem Awards including National Awareness Campaign and Non-Profit Campaign honors. Additionally, it was nominated for a Shorty Impact Award and named a finalist by PR News for Nonprofit Campaign of the Year.
“America’s workforce sector is at a critical inflection point,” said Aaron Pickering, Chief Marketing and Communications Officer at JFF. “This is about enhancing the capacity of our field to shape public discourse, create new opportunities for audience engagement, and drive business and organizational impact.”
Clients working with The Studio will gain access to professional storytelling services ranging from articles to videos or multi-format series with various amplification strategies. Production partners—including CreatorUp—will provide AI-powered video solutions alongside traditional creative work. Michael Tringe, CEO of CreatorUp stated: “The Studio is an unprecedented opportunity to combine the power of human creative work and the best AI technology to help organizations transform their communications capabilities with new media solutions, powered by creative workers trained on new skills using these new tools.”
Art Bilger commented on the changing media landscape: “The media landscape is in constant flux. Adapting through creative and innovative ways to reach the right audiences with content that conveys an urgency for change and what’s at stake, is essential for any non-profit,” he said. “JFF’s commitment to transforming our education and workforce systems to help people, businesses and communities thrive aligns deeply with the vision behind WorkingNation. We’re honored to see this platform continue to serve that mission and help amplify the work of many valuable organizations in this sector.”
For more information about The Studio at JFF or partnership inquiries, contact Kristina Rosario at krosario@jff.org.
Jobs for the Future focuses on transforming U.S. education and workforce systems with an aim toward economic success across communities.
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