This issue brief is part of a study funded by the Chief Evaluation Office within the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) that explores the implementation and impact of the America’s Promise Job Driven Training grants, which were awarded to 23 organizations in 2016. These four-year grants, funded by DOL's Employment and Training Administration (ETA), support creating and expanding regional partnerships that include workforce development agencies, institutions of higher education, economic development agencies, employers, and community-based organizations and are aimed at preparing workers for careers in "middle- to high-skilled" industries and occupations.

This brief examines the outcomes of America's Promise participants by gender before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, with most programs focusing on advanced manufacturing, health care, or information technology. This population is of particular policy relevance given that it represents economically vulnerable people with a demonstrated interest in improving their economic stability through federally funded training programs.

The results of the analysis highlight that:

• Both men and women participating in America’s Promise programs experienced a drop in employment and earnings at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Women participating in America’s Promise programs faced competing employment effects from the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Following the onset of COVID-19 America's Promise participants experienced declining training completion rates.
• The average completion time for training programs increased by almost a month after the onset of COVID-19.