Charity Spotlight: Jobs For Tennessee Graduates

Learn more about the non-profit organization that's changing young lives forever.

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After 29 years as a successful TV broadcaster, John Dwyer was in search of a new challenge.

It was this search that ultimately led him to discover Jobs for Tennessee Graduates and all the good they were already doing in his community. We caught up with Dwyer, who is now the CEO and President of JTG, and learned more about the non-profit, what was the inspiration behind it, and how others can get involved. 

Nashville Lifestyles: Can you tell us a little about Jobs for Tennessee Graduates?

John Dwyer: Jobs for Tennessee Graduates (JTG) is an affiliate of Jobs of America’s Graduates (JAG), a statewide non-profit organization dedicated to guiding high school students with barriers to graduation and then following through toward post-secondary education and/or job opportunities. JTG teaches essential skills for young adults to become employable. Associated with JAG since 1981, JTG consistently obtains a graduation rate above 96%. JTG specialists teach the JAG model to 35-45 12th graders, then add a 12-month follow up to ensure success after high school. In 2018 alone, 464 JTG students graduated at a 97% rate and another 524 students from the 2019 class are currently being mentored for a full year. The class of 2018 earned $5.1 million dollars in post-secondary opportunities and a third of JTG graduates directly enter the workforce with full-time jobs. JTG is the greatest Tennessee educational success story rarely told, but those days are officially over!

NL: What inspired JTG?

JD: In 1981 Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander wanted to curb the high school dropout rate.  He discovered the JAG Model being used in Delaware and from there launched JTG, becoming the third JAG affiliate in the country. JTG is currently in 23 high schools in 16  different counties. It draws its current inspiration from Tennessee Governor Bill Lee who serves on the JAG National Board, just as Governor Alexander did, back in the ’80s.  

NL: How did you specifically get involved?

JD: After 29-years in local TV, the last 19 in Nashville, I was looking for a new challenge. I served on the Make-A-Wish® Middle Tennessee board with HCA executive John Steele, who now serves on the JAG national board. JTG was transitioning to a 501(c)(3) non-profit in 2013 when Steele, half tongue-in-cheek stated to me, “Once you’re done reading out loud for a living and actually want to help people, there’s an upstart organization that needs a strong leader.”  I did my research on several JTG programs to see if they truly were effective and discovered they absolutely were. I called Steele and told him I would head up JTG and the rest is history. We’ve been at it together for more than five years.

NL: What has been the most rewarding part of being involved with JTG?

JD: Knowing students who take JTG will have a plan after high school. Not only does data back that up, but I constantly hear from principals and other school administrators that JTG has turned a student’s life around.  Students tell me all the time that it is what they learned in JTG that allowed them to secure that first job, a promotion, and a college scholarship. JTG’s purpose is to improve young lives forever.  A few years ago, some business owners at a seminar helped craft that statement and for a while I wouldn’t own it because I thought it was too large. However, now I do because it is true. JTG improves young lives forever—how cool is that?

NL: How can others get involved?

JD: If you own a business, there are a magnitude of ways you can get involved. You can volunteer as a guest speaker at one of our JTG programs, offer a tour of your business, or set up a "shadow day" with JTG specialists. Young people with barriers to graduation can’t have enough mentors and business leaders telling them the ways of the world. You may very well connect with a student or two and improve their lives forever!

NL: What does the future look like for JTG?

JD: Ultra-bright. Governor Lee is committed to investing in young adults, no matter if the student graduates and goes right into the workforce or takes a pathway with post-secondary education opportunities. JTG is following his lead by making distressed counties a priority. 

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