September 16, 2024
You may know Boys & Girls Clubs of America (BGCA) as an organization that provides kids with affordable access to after-school and summer programs, homework support, and recreational activities. But did you know they also prepare young people for meaningful careers?
With more than 5,400 Boys & Girls Club locations across the country and on U.S. military installations worldwide, Clubs reach a lot of young people—more than 3 million youth annually. BGCA’s Life & Work Readiness programming ensures youth ages 6 through 18 experience mentorship, career exploration, skills development, and more, helping them build essential competencies and work toward their goals. Jobs for the Future (JFF) is excited to support BGCA in expanding its advanced Life & Work Readiness programming to ensure all young people can access valuable opportunities for growth and career readiness. After all, it’s never too early to plan for the future.
“At Boys & Girls Clubs, we want to give youth the skills and opportunities to help them achieve great futures,” says Jennifer Bateman, senior vice president of youth development at Boys & Girls Clubs of America. “We’re not just getting them to high school graduation—we want to set them up with the core competencies, life experiences, and resiliency to have a plan for what’s next. That’s why our Life & Workforce Readiness programming is one of our priorities as a national enterprise.”
Adults in the workforce are more than familiar with the concept of networking. For youth, a Boys & Girls Club may be their very first network—the place where they meet mentors, hone their skills, ignite their interests, and connect to opportunities. Many youth get community volunteering and leadership experiences at their Club, leading to internships, college scholarships, and first jobs.
BGCA’s evidence-informed approach to life and workforce readiness puts holistic skill development and career exposure at the forefront of each member’s experience. The goal is to provide all youth with the knowledge, skills, and learning experiences they need to succeed in life and work. Many Clubs also offer advanced workforce-readiness services, including certifications, on-the-job training, and job placement opportunities that jumpstart skills and help youth set career goals.
From that first spark of interest in a dream job to securing internships, first jobs, and college scholarships, Clubs set up today’s youth to build the great futures they envision.
Being future-ready starts young—from kindergarten to career. Clubs teach young people of all ages about judgment, creativity, decision-making, communication, and collaboration—all highly sought-after competencies by today’s employers.
It’s difficult for young adults to dream about a career they don’t know about. That’s why Clubs host talks with speakers from diverse industries and set up job shadowing opportunities at local companies. Boys & Girls Clubs’ CareerLaunch program empowers youth to assess their skills and interests, explore careers, make sound educational decisions, and prepare to join the workforce. Such hands-on activities and job training ensure youth are gaining the in-demand skills they need to succeed in various roles.
Practical life skills are also critical for young people, whether they’re preparing for college or a career. Boys & Girls Clubs’ Money Matters program helps youth develop financial literacy skills, including saving and budgeting as well as practical skills for lifelong financial stability. Through digital safety and computer science programs, youth learn invaluable hard skills that apply to a wide array of careers.
Teens joining a Boys & Girls Club become part of a broad network of empowering mentors and coaches, alumni in desirable careers, and community partners seeking future employees. Clubs offering advanced workforce support help teens secure work-based learning opportunities, Club-based part-time jobs, and industry-recognized certification. Advanced programming ensures participants can successfully navigate their career pathways, adapt to the rapidly changing labor market, and obtain quality jobs.
These advanced Clubs leverage strong relationships with local and national educational and training providers, as well as industry and employer partners, to offer high-quality learning experiences that align with current job market demands.
Over the next few years, BGCA is equipping 100% of Boys & Girls Clubs with the strategy, training, and programs needed to support its evidence-informed life- and workforce-readiness approach. It is also helping more Clubs build out advanced services, creating workforce hubs nationwide to ensure today’s teens and college-age youth are future-ready.
93% of grades 11 and 12 Boys & Girls Club youth say they know what education or training they need for the career they want.
A nationwide JFF survey of 2,046 young people found that 74% would benefit from greater access to information about different career and education options, which would expand the range of career possibilities they see as available to them. This underscores the crucial work BGCA is doing to introduce young adults to a variety of career and training opportunities. With the support and guidance of dedicated mentors, and a community of people who want young adults to succeed, Clubs are the ideal place for career exploration and development.
The Boys & Girls Club of Southeast Michigan’s (BGCSM) mission is to enable youth to become career-, startup-, and homeowner-ready and proficient. As such, it is building an ecosystem that will provide youth with quality programming, a safe environment to experience it in, and vital skills training that results in self-efficacy, helping to create a more upwardly mobile generation. BGCSM’s Industry Club programs provide youth the opportunity to experience work and entrepreneurship development programs by the time they reach the age of 18, which is the most important step in fulfilling the mission of Clubs.
The Industry Club model is a transformative initiative aimed at equipping youth with essential workforce training and entrepreneurial development across a diverse range of industries. Serving as both a social incubator and accelerator, the program empowers participants with industry-specific knowledge while fostering cross-functional skill sets such as communication, organization, technical literacy, and time management.
The emphasis on self-efficacy is a hallmark of the program, as participants gain firsthand experience and insights into successful business practices. This approach ensures that youth not only acquire practical industry skills but also develop a strong sense of confidence and belief in their ability to thrive in the professional world. Youth who have already participated in Industry Clubs know, firsthand, how to be successful in business because they have lived the experience.
BGCSM Industry Clubs pay youth up to $15 per hour over a minimum of 120 hours for workforce training and entrepreneurial development in a variety of industries, including entertainment, fashion, design, urban planning, risk management, and sports. This year, Industry Clubs will employ 500 Detroit youth ages 14 and up. By 2028, BGCSM plans to scale the Industry Club model with the goal of employing 1,500 youth annually.
We need to support and recognize the development of critical skills for the workforce whenever and wherever such learning is kindled. Boys & Girls Clubs have long provided the safe spaces and web of relationships that can inspire and accelerate this development. – Joel Vargas, vice president, JFF
BGCA is an ideal partner for work readiness because Boys & Girls Clubs are a trusted anchor institution in their communities with a 160-plus-year reputation for positive youth development. BGCA’s vast alumni and partner network helps connect Clubs with successful companies and professionals across diverse industries, offering mentorship, internships, and job opportunities for current members. Their involvement helps teens to see a potential future self and encourages them to begin planning their goals for education and employment. BGCA is aware that young people today want life skills so they’re prepared for what’s next, including being ready to succeed in the workforce.
BGCA also prioritizes the input of young people across programming. Clubs integrate youth voice in programmatic design, making young people not just participants but active contributors, shaping programs to reflect their needs and aspirations. This youth-centered approach ensures that the services provided are relevant and impactful.
JFF’s North Star goal is that by 2033, 75 million people facing systemic barriers to advancement will work in quality jobs, with one of the target populations being young adults. As leading out-of-school-time program providers, Boys & Girls Clubs are diverse, each bringing unique assets and challenges as independent organizations operating across hundreds of local communities. JFF has been supporting BGCA in scaling its advanced Life & Work Readiness strategy so that more youth have access to these high-quality programs regardless of where they live.
Partnering with organizations like BGCA is essential to equip young adults with the skills, tools, and resources they need to obtain quality jobs. Clubs help young people meet the workforce challenges of tomorrow by providing opportunities to explore careers, develop employability skills, and connect with real-life work experiences such as internships and apprenticeships. This work ensures that young adults will be prepared for quality jobs in the future.
BGCA and JFF are dedicated to providing young people with the skills, experiences, and support they need to succeed in their careers and beyond. By working together, we can ensure that all young people have the opportunity to build great futures and become future-ready.
Learn More About BGCA’s Life & Work Readiness Program
https://www.bgca.org/empowering-kids/workforce-readiness/
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