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Brief Introduction

Peter Cove, born September 7, 1940, social activist and businessman, is one of the nation's leading advocates for private solutions to welfare dependency, ex-offender reentry initiatives and for meeting the needs of underserved, marginalized populations. Cove founded America Works in 1984, a private workforce development firm. For over 50 years, he has been at the forefront of innovative projects designed to mitigate poverty by promoting jobs as a solution to welfare dependency.

Early Career

Cove began his career in the mid-1960s, as the nation's conscience turned to poverty issues impacting all populations groups. After holding key posts in New York City municipal government, he worked for The Community Action Agency in Boston, where he developed grass-roots health, housing and education programs. Later he served as a consultant with Manpower Assistance Project, Inc., a private company partially funded by the Ford Foundation to create community employment systems. In the earl 70’s, he was a program officer at the New World Foundation in New York City, funding programs in civil rights and education. With a developing expertise in jobs creation as the solution to social imbalances, Cove became Director of the Manhattan Project for Wildcat Service Corp., a program geared to the hard-core unemployable. From 1976 to 1983, he was President of Transitional Employment Enterprises. Inc. (TEE) a private not for profit corporation specializing in placing into jobs welfare recipients, those with mental illness and the physically and learning disabled. He experimented with alternate approaches to the failing training and education programs for welfare recipients. The success of TEE’s entrepreneurial strategy led him to establish the for profit company, America Works. Its purpose was to spread the programs around the country.

America Works

As the founder of America Works in 1984, Cove has worked to expand efforts to gain access to employment for the disadvantaged. Cove has also devoted his time to prisoner reentry initiatives, advocating to inform policy makers that the work first model of services is the answer for successful reintegration of ex-offenders into communities. His work first, education and training later strategy was ultimately adopted by The Clinton White House and Newt Gingrich to form the basis of the 1996 welfare reform bill. America Works has placed over 500,000 people into jobs in the 31 years since its inception.

Work First Foundation

In 2005, Cove founded the Work First Foundation, devoted to sponsoring projects that offer job opportunities for the underserved, including the upgrading of untrained and employed workers, displaced workers, refugees, ex-offenders, or any other individual with barriers to employment; advancing their knowledge of and access to the world of work; assisting others to promote these ends, including studying issues leading to economic and social disadvantage.

In founding both America Works and the Work First Foundation, Cove fully developed the concept of the privatization of welfare-to-work programs and has become the spokesperson and business developer for this, and other causes devoted to the underserved.

Cove has appeared on national television and has been quoted in major newspapers, business and public affairs publications. He has testified on aspects of unemployment before Congressional committees in the House and Senate. His children think his appearance on The Colbert Report was the highlight of his career.

Education and Honors

Cove holds a BA in sociology from Northeastern University. In 1995 The Entrepreneur of The Year Institute gave Cove its distinguished Socially Responsible Entrepreneur of The Year award for his achievements with America Works. He was awarded Rockefeller Foundation grant to be in residence in their site in Bellagio Italy to write about his history with poverty programs. This led to an article in City Journal and to his forthcoming book, Poor No More.

Personal Life

Cove is a Boston native. He is married to Dr. Lee Bowes and they live in New York City.

Publications

Peter Cove has been published in the New York Post, Real Clear Politics, Huffington Post, The Times Union of Albany, and elsewhere.