Northwestern University and the Ryan Family Foundation announced Wednesday, July 8, plans to launch the All Evanston Hiring Hub, a workforce initiative that will link residents finishing job-training programs with employers in the area.

The hub pairs five local training organizations with a shared digital hiring platform. Jon Kimmel, a workforce development specialist at Northwestern, said the goal is closing the gap between completing training and landing a job. The Ryan Family Foundation will fund the effort for three years.

The initiative comes as Evanston's job market has softened. The city's unemployment rate hit 5.0% in July 2025, up from a 3.7% annual average in 2023, according to the Illinois Department of Employment Security. Evanston's labor force totals roughly 40,000 workers.

How it works

Chicago-based workforce technology company STEAMe will build the hub's digital infrastructure, tracking job placement, retention, and wage progression for participants. Training partners include Youth Job Center, National Louis University, Per Scholas, The Trade Collective, and Evanston Own It.

Residents who complete sector-specific training through those organizations will gain access to job portals matched to their skills. Employers, in turn, get a pipeline of candidates whose training aligns with open positions.

"Northwestern's commitment to Evanston extends far beyond our campus," said Dave Davis, assistant vice president of Neighborhood and Community Relations at Northwestern. "As anchor of the All Evanston Hiring Hub, we will apply our research capabilities and community relationships to make sure the talent Evanston develops connects to the jobs Evanston needs."

Kimmel said the foundation's investment will "bring access to economic opportunity for every resident, measured in careers not training completions."

Rachel Kohler, CEO of STEAMe, said in the announcement that communities have long invested in training without a clear system for connecting graduates to jobs. She said Evanston has the employer base and partner organizations to test the model.

What's still unclear

The announcement did not specify a dollar amount for the Ryan Family Foundation grant, a launch date for the hub's hiring portal, or how many residents the program expects to serve during its three-year pilot. Northwestern described the effort as a "demonstration" period meant to test and refine the model before sharing findings nationally.

Northwestern, widely reported as Evanston's largest employer, will serve as the hub's anchor institution, coordinating partners, managing job placement, and measuring outcomes across the program's partner network.