Youth Employment Leaders from Boston, Philadelphia Speak with Detroiters About Teen Jobs

Leaders from youth employment systems in Boston and Philadelphia recently traveled to Detroit to speak with local leaders about strategies for expanding the availability of jobs for young people in the city.

The contingent of nationally-recognized speakers made two presentations at The Skillman Foundation’s Detroit headquarters on February 8^th, 2012. Members of the speaking panel included Neil Sullivan, Executive Director of the Boston Private Industry Council, and Stephanie Gambone and Darren Spielman, PhD, Vice Presidents at the Philadelphia Youth Network. The event was organized by City Connect Detroit.

For the morning presentation, members of the audience included representatives from local philanthropic organizations, select Skillman Foundation partners, and Detroit City Council Member James Tate. In the afternoon, the audience was comprised of representatives from the Detroit Youth Employment Consortium, a cross-sector community collaborative working to expand work exposure for Detroit youth.

Mr. Sullivan, a Detroit-native, described how he and his team in Boston had successfully coordinated funding from city, state, foundation, and corporate partners – 14 partners in total – to make available more than 8,700 jobs for teens in 2011. He cited thirty years of community building, strong mayoral involvement in the campaign for youth employment, and well organized advocacy, including a march on the state capital, as critical to the success of these efforts.

Ms. Gambone and Dr. Spielman said that they had modeled much of their work in Philadelphia after Boston’s and had been active in building support for youth employment for thirteen years. In 2012, they expected to make available some 5,000 jobs for young people, with support from state, local, corporate, and foundation donors, including significant support from the William Penn Foundation.

Dr. Spielman cited three key factors in Philadelphia’s ability to expand its youth employment opportunities in recent years. He said that key focusing events, like the loss of School to Work federal funds and the election of a new mayor, helped attract attention to the cause. He also noted that the involvement of key civic and corporate leaders, especially the mayor, improved the overall success of youth employment efforts.

Additionally, Dr. Spielman articulated the importance of a third party intermediary, the Phildelphia Youth Network, in keeping efforts focused and well managed, despite changes in the social and economic landscape. Ed Egnatios, Program Officer with The Skillman Foundation, echoed the importance of an intermediary and highlighted the work that City Connect Detroit has done in this role in Detroit, where it serves as the intermediary sponsor of the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent youth employment campaign.

City Connect Detroit organized the visit to Detroit by Mr. Sullivan, Ms. Gambone, and Dr. Spielman. While in the city, Ms. Gambone and Dr. Spielman received a special welcome from City Connect Detroit Board Chair and Partner in the Law Firm of Plunkett and Cooney Mr. Kenneth Lewis and personalized tour from Mr. Dierk Hall, President and CEO of City Connect Detroit.

For more information about this presentation, please contact City Connect Detroit Program Officer David Cherry at 313-879-1468 or by email at david@cityconnectdetroit.org.

*Photo courtesy of The Skillman Foundation – Pictured, from left to right: Dierk Hall, President and CEO of City Connect Detroit; Neil Sullivan, Executive Director of the Boston Private Industry Council; Ed Egnatios, Program Officer for The Skillman Foundation; Stephanie Gambone, Vice President of the Philadelphia Youth Network; and Darren Spielman, Vice President for the Philadelphia Youth Network.