On December 14, 2010, President Obama signed an executive order establishing the White House Council for Community Solutions to engage a diverse group of prominent cross-sector leaders to:

• Connect, convene and catalyze the best resources of the public, private, non-profit and philanthropic sectors in communities across the country
• Identify and highlight solutions that work
• Identify key attributes of effective cross-sector solutions from institutions working together on community problems
• Catalyze resources to support effective community-based solutions

All across America, individuals and community groups are finding solutions to local problems. The White House Council will focus on developing ways to enlist more Americans and leaders across sectors to help catalyze change in communities and make progress on our nation's greatest challenges.  With a near-term focus on connecting youth to education, employment, and ongoing civic participation, Council Members will work to fulfill a two-fold vision:

• Every American community will have the knowledge and tools at hand to create successful local "collaboratives" that are designed to catalyze large-scale change and address their most pressing community challenges; and,
• Every American community understands the urgency, has the necessary tools, and is building the process and capacity to move disconnected youth along critical pathways to education, employment, and ongoing civic participation.

Through extensive outreach and research, the Council determined that highlighting proven and promising pathways to employment for disconnected youth was a key strategy to help communities pull together to move these young people onto critical pathways toward education, employment, and ongoing civic participation.

The Council has chosen to focus on three effective Pathways:

1. Direct connection to employment opportunities.

2. Hard and soft skills developed through national service opportunities that translate into job readiness.

3. Education and credentialing opportunities that align with workforce needs.