FREEPORT — Freedom Potter sees the Jobs for Maine’s Graduates program as part of the support system that helped her get where she is today.

The JMG program at Central Maine Community College helped her secure an internship last summer at L.L.Bean, where she worked in accounts payable and delivered a successful presentation to company executives.

“After that moment, I felt like I was underestimating myself before and I felt a better sense of belonging in the corporate environment,” Potter said. “That was when the program and career I chose really clicked for me.”

Potter graduated in December with an associate’s degree in accounting and she’s back for a second internship at L.L.Bean this summer, hoping to get a permanent position with the iconic Maine retailer.

Potter, 22, is one of thousands of Maine public school students who have participated in JMG since the program started in 1993.

Now, JMG is going national with Generation US, a new nonprofit created to introduce the career exploration and credentialing program across the country, where other states are facing similar workforce and demographic pressures of an aging population.

“Many states are facing the same demographic cliff: fewer young people, fewer workers and a talent pipeline that a four-year degree alone was never built to fill,” said Craig Larrabee, CEO of GenUS and former head of JMG.

OTHER STATES SIGNING ON

GenUS established a pilot program this year in Kansas that’s going statewide next year, Larrabee said, and Kentucky, Wisconsin and West Virginia have signed on to develop the program in their states.

JMG and GenUS are geared toward students who are facing multiple barriers to high school completion, focusing on those who are falling behind grade level or show other signs of disengagement in school. They offer a competency-based curriculum and support to help students transition through high school to postsecondary education, a degree or career pathways.

JMG now serves about 13,000 students annually in middle school through college. It operates nearly 150 programs in public schools, technology centers and postsecondary campuses statewide, including every community college and University of Maine campus. It’s also a key partner in Maine’s Economic Development Strategy, which calls for expanding the Maine Career Exploration Program to help grow the state’s workforce.

“Credentials should be built on durable, real-life skills that can be demonstrated — enabling learners to easily indicate what they’re capable of and lead to real opportunity,” said Kimberley Acker Lipp, president and CEO of JMG.

The results of Maine’s approach are measurable, according to a report by American Institutes for Research. Participating in JMG at any point during high school increased the likelihood of high school graduation as much as 24 percentage points for students with disabilities. And by age 19, 53% were employed, compared to 43% of non-JMG students.

Potter, the L.L.Bean intern, spoke at the launch of GenUS on Friday at the company’s headquarters.

Despite the challenges she faced in high school and later on, Potter said she’s grateful for the support system she developed over time, including her foster mother and JMG.

“My hope is that every young person in Maine, regardless of background, has the opportunity and the support system to grow and flourish and be themselves, while also working on building a foundation for their future,” she said.