Year Up Chicago’s mission is to close the opportunity gap by providing professional development training and internships for underserved youth. After receiving the Neighborhood Builders award in 2015, Year Up was able to grow its own professional network, expand its knowledge base and sustain critical services in the Chicago community. In this conversation, Bank of America’s Alicia Burke, Year Up Executive Director Jack Crowe and Year Up alumnus Edgar Rosales discuss how mentoring an untapped workforce is giving young adults the power to reach their professional potential.
The Neighborhood Builders podcast — 15 years and counting
Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders® Signature Program is one of the nation’s largest philanthropic investments in nonprofit leadership development, strengthening the network of nonprofit leaders that are critical to helping our communities thrive.
To mark the fifteenth year of the program, we’re profiling Builders and their stories. For this podcast series, Bank of America’s Alicia Burke spoke with nonprofit leaders and the people their organizations serve to learn about the work they do, how they’re positively changing their communities and what Neighborhood Builders means to them.
Since 2004, Bank of America's Neighborhood Builders program has helped advance sustainable communities by investing more than $220 million in 49 communities — partnering with more than 1,000 nonprofits and more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders and counting. The program is an example of how we deploy capital and build cross-sector partnerships to advance economic and social progress as part of our approach to responsible growth.
Listen to the stories of our Neighborhood Builders below:
Year Up in Chicago, Illinois
Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles, California
Juma Ventures in Seattle, Washington
Urban Alliance in Washington, D.C.
Year Up — Chicago, IL
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Onscreen Text: Neighborhood Builders Podcast
Closing the Opportunity Divide with Year Up
Edgar Rosales: I'm the oldest of three siblings. My parents and I immigrated from Mexico when I was six years old. And to me, that creates an identity crisis as to where do I belong, where really is home?
- Going through that, I think I excelled in elementary school. I'm very competitive. I got into high school and it was around sophomore year of high school where it really began to dawn on me that I didn't have the same opportunities as other people.
Alicia Burke: As a high school graduate, Chicago's Edgar Rosales wanted to pursue a career in IT, but didn't have the network or experience to move on from his job in retail.
- It was a goal that felt nearly impossible due to a lack of opportunity.
Jack Crowe: Our mission is to provide opportunity to young people who lack opportunity. Our mission isn't to tinker with the opportunity divide. It's to close the opportunity divide.
Alicia: That's Jack Crowe, Executive Director of Year Up in Chicago. Year Up trains young people to learn basic workforce skills, providing a network of support as well as internship opportunities. I'm Alicia Burke. On this episode of the Neighborhood Builders podcast, Jack, Edgar, and I will talk about providing opportunity to a huge overlooked workforce and having the power to put Chicago youth on the path to life-long careers.
- Well, Jack and Edgar, thank you so much for participating in this this morning.
Edgar: It's our pleasure.
Jack: Yeah, it's exciting to be in a sound studio.
Alicia: We're thrilled to have you. To start, can you describe Year Up's mission in the community, particularly as it relates to young people?
Jack: Really what we're doing in Chicago is connecting talent to a market demand that companies have for what we call middle-skill workers. And we reverse engineer our program to train young adults to meet the specific market demand, whether it's financial operations, IT, cybersecurity, project management.
- About 50,000 young people in Chicago and about 150,000 young people across the greater metro area who are disconnected from opportunity, could be mental health, could be related to housing, transportation, daycare, wide variety of forces that can get in the way of them succeeding. They have grit, they have determination, but they don't have a broad network of supporters who can sort of connect them to the livable wage jobs that are out there.
Alicia: What does it mean to see a young person get a job from your perspective? What does it mean to you?
Jack: The marker of getting a job is just saying, "This is my city. I'm a part of it. I'm a valuable member of my society. I'm talented. I have something to add. I have my own voice to contribute to the body politic."
Edgar: I think every time a Year Up alum gets hired, it's validation that you can do this. It's back to embracing this generation as they are. Every time someone says yes, every time someone opens their door, that is confirmation that what Year Up is doing is important.
Alicia: So, Jack, can you talk about how Year Up has positively impacted the people that you serve, the high school grads that you see?
Jack: We do six months of professional skill and technical skill training, followed by a six-month internship at a Fortune 500 company. Our most recent class of graduates in Chicago are averaging about $43,000 a year in their first job, and these are young people who entered the program, probably averaging $5,000 or $6,000 working retail part-time and not being able to pay the rent.
- We have 1,300 young people we've served in Chicago in the last 8 years. So collectively, they're earning somewhere around $50 million. And so if you think about the financial impact, that's money being returned into some of the most challenged neighborhoods in Chicago.
Alicia: And from what you're saying, Jack, it's what you see is the good feeding on good. It's all connected. So they're getting these jobs, they're putting money into the community, they're feeling good. It's all connected. And you've witnessed this, you're watching it happen.
Jack: Yeah. The easy stuff is, you know, learning to be on time, learning to dress professionally, but...that's Year Up 101. But the really 201, 301, 401 stuff that we do, I call it relaxing into yourself. I think a lot of young people enter our program living in a frenetic world and I think sometimes I observe young people literally relaxing into who they really are and becoming loving, professionals, adding to a team at work, taking care of their family, all the things that we want ideally for everyone in our society.
Edgar: I think that's one of the keys to Year Up's success and one of the reasons why it's so impactful to a lot of people and that's why alums like I continue to be involved and that's why there's a large community of people that are getting behind Year Up, is because they see the impact that it has.
Alicia: I love that term, "relaxing into yourself," and therefore then being able to thrive.
Jack: That's the empowering people part of it. We empower people to reach their own potential. We'll provide you with the tools you need, but you're really going to do all the work yourself.
Edgar: I think this is a...at least my perspective on Year Up is a second chance program. At least for me, it was a second chance. I was working retail when I was looking for, hopefully, an IT internship, and I think, if I remember correctly, I just googled "IT internships in Chicago," and Year Up came up. And I think this is an experience that Jack has had before. At first, it seemed too good to be true.
- So you mean you give me training and then there's an internship that I earn after, you know, successfully completing my training and there's a stipend attached to it? It really provided a solution to my situation at the time.
Alicia: So, Jack, you've told us about the critical impact that Year Up in Chicago is having on the city's youth there.
- And now can we talk a little bit about how Year Up was named a Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award recipient in 2015? I know that with that, the organization received $200,000 in unrestricted funding and leadership training, which I know you took part in. What did the Neighborhood Builders Award mean for both Year Up and then, Jack, for you as a leader?
Jack: Well, it's about so much more than the money. We also got to participate nationally in several conferences, training sessions, where we got to...I got to expand my circle and meet some really wonderful people, some of whom I'm still in contact with. I interacted with some folks from Second Harvest up in the Twin Cities and they explained how by creating a lunchbox for diabetics, homeless people, they were able to reduce the annual emergency room visit cost, which can be literally something like...can be approaching a million dollars for one person with a severe case of diabetes who is living on the street.
Alicia: That's great. So really the money is, you know, a part of it, but really, it's this exchange of ideas. You know, someone else's challenges are very different and yet there's that exchange that happens where it gets you thinking about your own.
Jack: That was kind of like an aha moment for me about what can I do that's really... at Year Up in Chicago that could really be transformative, really move the needle on scale? And so those are the kind of thought leaders I got to hang out with as part of the Neighborhood Builder Program that is frankly the highest value.
Alicia: And can you talk a little bit more, Edgar, about what you felt Year Up gave you, what you got from it, how it positively impacted you, and where you are today?
Edgar: I think one of the biggest things that Year Up provides its students is an opportunity to push their boundaries. One of the quotes they use is "to be comfortable being uncomfortable." People come from these different backgrounds and they have a limited vision of what they can accomplish simply because they might not have ever really looked past their neighborhood.
- They might not have the network, they might not know how to network, and I think that's one of the biggest things. When I used to hear of networking events, I used to think, "Oh, that's not for me. I have no college degree. These people look nothing like me. I wasn't invited, so why would I show up?" And Year Up shows you that, you know, you can just...these events, people want to get to know each other and people are a lot nicer than you expect them to be.
Alicia: So what are you doing today?
Edgar: I'm now a client associate for Merrill Lynch Wealth Management and I directly support a financial advisor. This, again, goes back to the biggest takeaway from Year Up for me was learning how to learn or being willing to learn.
Jack: Wow. What I've learned from Edgar is the power of openness to growth. He is a change engine in his own life and in his work experience. He inspires me to continue to work on the change that I need to do in myself personally and, you know, as the Executive Director of Year Up Chicago.
Alicia: And what you both said so beautifully is it really starts on an individual level. What can I do to keep being uncomfortable, to learn more? How can I push boundaries, whether it's in my team, in my company? How do we, in companies, in communities, redefine what we mean by talent?
Jack: That's the power of proximity. Too often in Chicago and in major cities, people are in separate streams alongside to each other but not really proximate to one another. So I think what I hear Edgar saying is the power of breaking bread together, of working together, of working in a team together and being from different backgrounds, that's what's going to transform our country so we can achieve our ideals.
Edgar: And I think that's one of the biggest things that Year Up can show you, is that, you know, the outside corporate world is not that different from, you know, you and I, and the young people that are entering the program are not that different from corporate America. They might look a little different, they might have a different story to tell, but when it comes down to it, they're still, you know, interesting individuals, intellectually curious.
- Again, Jack showed us that anyone can walk into a room and make friends in an instant.
Alicia: Jack and Edgar, it has been delightful talking with you today. Thank you both so much for joining me and for sharing your stories.
Jack: Thank you. Bye, Alicia.
Edgar: Bye.
Alicia: And, of course, thank you to our listeners for tuning in to this episode. Since 2004, Bank of America's Neighborhood Builders Program has invested more than $220 million in 49 local communities, partnered with more than 1,000 nonprofits, and provided leadership training and resources to more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders and counting.
Onscreen Text: Since 2004 Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program has
Onscreen Text: Partnered with 1,000+ nonprofits in 49 communities
Advanced the leadership of 2,000+ nonprofit executives
Invested more than $220 million to build more sustainable communities
….and counting
Alicia: To learn about how the Neighborhood Builders Program gives local communities the power to address the critical issues they face, please visit BankofAmerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders.
Onscreen Text: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE POWER TO DO
(Bank of America logo)
Onscreen Text: Learn more: bankofamerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. © 2018 Bank of America Corporation.
© 2021 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
Downtown Women’s Center – Los Angeles, CA
(Neighborhood Builders Logo)
Onscreen Text: Neighborhood Builders Podcast Series
Episode 2: Ending LA’s Homelessness Problem with Downtown Women’s Center
Vikki Vickers: I know that it's very, very hurtful to look at someone sitting on a curb, very dirty. Sometimes not making sense, sometimes holding a sign that says, "Help, I need money." I know it's hard for people to look at them. And it's easy to turn away and try not to think of them. But if they would just remember that they are a person like you or me and that person needs a hand up.
- They need support.
Alicia Burke: Just like over 16,000 women living in the greater Los Angeles area today, L.A.'s Vikki Vickers once found herself homeless. More than simply a roof over her head, in order to change her situation, Vikki knew she'd need to renew her sense of trust in others.
Lisa Watson: I had realized, I had gone to school for social work and got my MBA in nonprofit management, and I realized that I wanted to dedicate my life to the nonprofit. These were really the most vulnerable women in our society. And if I was going to dedicate my life and time, these were the women that I wanted to work with and be with, and spend my time making sure that they got the services they needed to be the most successful that they could be.
Alicia: That's Lisa Watson, CEO of Downtown Women's Center, an organization located in the heart of Skid Row in Los Angeles. For the past 40 years, Downtown Women's Center has served as the only L.A.-based organization focused exclusively on serving, supporting, and empowering women experiencing homelessness.
- I'm Alicia Burke. On this episode of the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Podcast, Lisa, Vikki, and I will talk about the importance of building trust and having the power to help women in tough situations get a fresh start.
- Hi, Lisa and Vikki. I'm really grateful to be talking to you both today.
Lisa: Thank you. We are happy to be here this morning.
Alicia: So, Lisa, can you tell little us a little more about your organization?
Lisa: The mission really of the Downtown Women's Center is to end homelessness through housing, and education, and wellness, and advocacy. We believe that permanent supportive housing is a solution to ending homelessness and we need a lot more housing, especially here in Los Angeles. We also have a workforce development program where we link women to employment because we know that without employment, it's very hard for people to stay housed and we know it's such a huge need.
Alicia: Right.
Lisa: Our last program is our DWC Advocates program. In Los Angeles County, like 57,000 people are homeless which is large, but 18,000 of them are homeless women. So we've seen a drastic increase and we have an advocacy program that helps our women who go through our programs become advocates so that they can speak out to policymakers, to newspapers, to radios, to tell their stories and talk about what they'd like to advocate for.
Alicia: That's great. That's wonderful.
Lisa: So, Vikki’s an amazing advocate who's been to Sacramento, who speaks with the City's mayor's office, and really has been an advocate for all women with lived experience of homelessness.
Vikki: I learned to speak for them and they learned just by themselves to go to me when they want something said. I learned from them every day. I learned how to be tough. I was a person that was out there on the street for four and a half years, but I was not tough. I've learned from them how to be tough. And I've learned to care for them. And I hope I've taught them that I care about them.
Alicia: You're an advocate for yourself and you're an advocate for them.
Vikki: They believe in me. They gave me a foundation under my feet, an apartment I'm proud of, respect, my dignity back, and a voice. Believe it or not, when I first got here, I would hardly speak. People would ask me a question and I would answer them, but I was afraid to actually talk.
- They gave me a voice and they gave me a pride about myself that I'm never going to lose again. I just refuse to lose it.
Alicia: That's so inspiring.
Lisa: I'm just so proud of Vikki. I'm sitting here looking at her thinking just, what a beautiful person and how blessed we are to have her here at the Downtown Women's Center.
Vikki: See what I mean? They're so great.
♪ [music] ♪
Alicia: This feels very comprehensive. The services that you offer feel very much from the practical in the sense of temporary housing and physical support to really helping support the whole person because in life, everything's connected.
- In order to move forward and be able to progress, you need support in lots of different areas as a person.
Lisa: Yeah. Most definitely. We are really trying to look at the whole person and allow people to enter where they're most comfortable, too. So many women have come across so many different barriers in their lives. We're trying to engage women where they want to become engaged and allow them to pick and choose what services they want to see.
Alicia: And Lisa, you know, there's homelessness everywhere across the country and certainly out of the country. And you mentioned the fact that women are inordinately impacted and it would be really good to know what your perspective is on why that is so.
Lisa: Over 80% of our women have some form of trauma from an early age and usually it continues throughout their lifetime. So whether that be the witnessing of child abuse, being abused themselves, sexual abuse. Now that we have more and more people on the streets, the thing that I've seen most is that that equals more and more trauma that the women have to go through, and to live through and experience.
- You know, we see a growing increase in mental health needs, all the way from our young to our old. We don't have a system in place to really fully support people with mental health. It takes a long time to find the right services for people and they're not easily accessible to everyone.
- So that's also a large struggle.
Vikki: I have schizophrenia. I started having hallucinations and delusions without realizing it because my medication wasn't working.
Alicia: Wow.
Vikki: So, I, being in psychosis and not realizing it, took off and cut off contact with everyone I had ever known. I didn't have a real strong family life, anyways and I wound up behind the old Santa Monica Library in Santa Monica, California for four and a half years.
♪ [music] ♪
Alicia: Vikki, can you talk a little bit about what you want people to know about people who experience homelessness?
Vikki: They need someone to care about them. They don't deserve what is happening to them. I think that people just need to look a little deeper, to go past the pain that they're feeling and look a little deeper and realize there's a person that they as another person truly care about. Their lives can change so rapidly and so drastically into a life where they won't be sitting there dirty and unhappy anymore.
Alicia: That's so well-said. And Vikki, can you just talk a little bit about how the Downtown Women's Center empowered you to do things differently for yourself than you were able to do before?
Vikki: The most important thing to know, after being alone for so long, to know that you actually have someone that truly cares about you and how you are. After that first year, things have just…it's like a giant wheel and it just keeps moving forward and carrying me with it because everything is positive.
- I mean, I've had my ups and downs with my medication and arguments with other women because there's 46 women living in the same building and that just happens. But, you know, that happens in any family. There's disagreements, but everything in my life has moved forward with the Downtown Women's Center. And if I start to become afraid or paranoid or anything like that, I always have someone to go to and lean on.
Alicia: Vikki, can you talk a little bit about your work life today?
Vikki: I am a housekeeper. I work for a wonderful, wonderful 37 year-old girl. I'm 53, so I can call her a girl. [laughs] And one of the reasons that she hired me is because I'm from the Downtown Women's Center. And I thought that was so nice of her.
- You know, she's heard a lot about it. She does some advocacy and donating herself to the homeless. She took a special interest in me and hired me to work for her. So now I work every day. I worked all summer long to buy a truck. She wants me to be a supervisor for her now as she hires other people and oversee their work.
- I love what I do. I go in and I clean vacation rentals, and I go home at the end of the day and I get paid. [laughs] So I'm doing good. [laughs]
Alicia: Lisa, what have you learned about the women and the power of community?
Lisa: I've learned so much from the women of the Downtown Women's Center. I've grown so much. I've aged with them [laughs]. I've, you know, seen so much difficulty and witnessed so much heartbreak. But I've also seen so much hope, and joy, and love, and passion, and compassion.
Alicia: I love that.
Lisa: I think what really drives me is, we live in really difficult times right now, especially for women. Here, we honor the voices of those with lived experiences every day and we have an opportunity to talk and to engage, and really look at not only individualized solutions for themselves, but for solutions overall.
- We never develop anything new without the women's input or with the women at the table. I think making sure that you have the right people along the path and that we're not siloed, and that it's a community and it's a community of support that really can change our social ills in our society.
♪ [music] ♪
Alicia: Clearly, Downtown Women's Center is doing so much to support homeless women in L.A. In fact, the work and the compassion was recognized in 2006 when your organization was named a Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award recipient. And with that, the organization received $200,000 in unrestricted funding, which is a big deal. And training, too. I know that Lisa, you took part in that training. Can you talk a little bit about what the Neighborhood Builders Award meant for the Downtown Women's Center?
Lisa: We really were very excited about receiving the award because of the growth within our agency. We were small at the time, smaller, we had about 47 units of housing. We served about 300 women in our community a year. And more and more women kept coming. And so, literally, we were at a point where our day center where we serve meals, we were breaking our fire codes, we could not fit any more individuals.
- The Neighborhood Builders Award really gave us the funds to help us plan for that five-year growth that allowed us to triple in size, that allowed us to move to a new building. And it also allowed us to hire some of our very first professional staff. The leadership and education portion I think was really helpful because it was not only for myself, but it was for the opportunity to work with your second-in-command.
- It built the bench within our organization too. We're just very grateful and honored to have received the Neighborhood Builder Award.
Alicia: Vikki, what do you think is the most important thing we can all do to help empower people to move forward?
Vikki: Do what you would want someone to do for you. Maybe that is donating money to an organization that helps many or donating clothing or donating time or any of those things, but each person would do something to help each and every homeless person, we would have the homeless crisis solved.
Alicia: Lisa and Vikki, I want to thank you both so much for being here today and for sharing your stories so openly. It's been such a pleasure speaking with you both.
Vikki: Thank you so much.
Lisa: Thank you.
Vikki: Bye.
Lisa: Thank you. Bye-bye.
Alicia: I also want to thank you, our listeners, for joining us this episode. Since 2004, Bank of America's Neighborhood Builders Program has invested more than $220 million in 49 local communities, partnered with more than 1,000 nonprofits, and provided leadership training and resources to more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders and counting.
Onscreen Text: Since 2004 Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program has
Onscreen Text: Partnered with 1,000+ nonprofits in 49 communities
Advanced the leadership of 2,000+ nonprofit executives
Invested more than $220 million to build more sustainable communities
….and counting
Alicia: To learn about how the Neighborhood Builders Program gives local communities the power to address the critical issues they face, please visit BankofAmerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders.
Onscreen Text: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE POWER TO DO?
(Bank of America logo)
Onscreen Text: Learn more: bankofamerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. © 2018 Bank of America Corporation.
© 2021 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
For the past 40 years, Downtown Women’s Center has served as the only LA-based organization focused exclusively on supporting and empowering women who are experiencing homelessness. Through affordable housing and development programs, the organization helps women gain economic and professional stability. Being designated as a Neighborhood Builders award recipient in 2007 gave the Downtown Women’s Center the power to triple community outreach and plan for the long term by purchasing another building and hiring additional employees. In this conversation, the bank’s Alicia Burke, Downtown Women’s Center CEO Lisa Watson, and a resident turned current employee of the Downtown Women’s Center, Vikki Vickers, discuss helping women rebuild their lives, and the power of a fresh start and a second chance.
Juma Ventures – Seattle, WA
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Onscreen Text: Neighborhood Builders Podcast Series
Episode 3: The Power of a Job Opportunity
Xavier Wade: My whole life, I've been judged by my peers and by my friends or people that I would call my friends. I grew up without a father figure in my life. I hadn't learned, "Do this and do this with urgency," or, "Do this and make sure you do it right." I had to learn that if you don't do it, you're going to fail. And it's okay to fail, but in a sense of you did this yourself and you can't blame anybody else for this, you have to stand up and you have to say, "Okay, well, I did do this and this is what I want to do better."
Alicia Burke: For much of his life, it was hard for Seattle's Xavier Wade to find an organization that believed in him and gave him the tools he needed to thrive. An adolescence marked by frequent moves had left him searching for a sense of belonging and community.
Mason Moore: Most of the young people that come to us, they've been told no over and over and over again, and, you know, that can shatter your confidence, you know, not being accepted. The systems, both the educational and workforce systems, have failed them up to this point.
Alicia: That's Mason Moore, Executive Director of Juma Ventures in Seattle. Through partnerships with major hospitality and food service companies, Juma offers year-round employment to over 140 Seattle youth at local sports stadiums. Through these jobs, Juma empowers young people to pursue long-term education and career goals.
- I'm Alicia Burke. On this episode of the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Podcast, Mason, Xavier, and I will discuss how an early job opportunity can make a huge difference in a person's life.
- Mason and Xavier, this is Alicia. So wonderful to meet you.
Mason: Nice to meet you as well.
Xavier: Great to meet you.
Alicia: Mason, Juma is an incredible organization that focuses on building skills and putting young people to work across Seattle. Tell us more about your organization.
Mason: In 2013, we actually launched Juma Ventures here in Seattle. Their three-pronged approach is working in stadiums, financial capability and literacy support, and then college and career access support. It's so important to us that all young people have the opportunity to succeed and advance in a career of their choice and more importantly, in a job market that's inclusive and that's equitable and that's diverse.
- That's really at the heart of what we're trying to do here.
Alicia: I love that.
Mason: I really kind of just fell in love with this idea of using sports and the popularity of sports for social good and change.
Alicia: And, Xavier, I would love to start with a little bit about your background, where you're from, and how you got involved in Juma.
Xavier: All right. I am from Portland, Oregon, originally, born and raised, and I moved up to Washington when I was six years old. My mother, my oldest brother, myself, we all moved to Washington, trying to get away from the negativity that was within the city. And it was around my last year of high school, so I'm a senior in high school.
- I don't know anybody, I'm not doing anything, I'm not doing so well, and I'm in a new environment, and I meet a girl. I meet a girl and I think this person is going to help me take care of my life and help me take care of Xavier because Xavier hasn't truly had anything to hold onto.
- And I drop out of school for this person, I get a job for this person instead, and this person isn't anything right for me. And we ended up breaking it off. Within that time, me and my family got evicted and we were homeless. I had to do something more. I had to do something better.
- I got back into school and through a newsletter, I found Juma. I took a chance. I wasn't thinking about the outcome, I wasn't thinking about what could happen. I didn't even know any information. They just said, "Hey, if you go to school and you need a place to work, we have what you need."
- The first week of going into Juma, I knew that I was going to be able to be myself and shine the way that I need to shine, just by going into the orientation, just by everybody being as nice as they are, just by them opening their arms and say, "Hey, we're giving you an opportunity to be the best you that you can possibly be."
- And I took that as the golden ticket.
Alicia: What was your job? What was your job in the actual program?
Xavier: I was a barista. Everything was new for me, but it was a beautiful setting to see that, "Hey, you have a set of skills that you have to use that you've never used before. How well can you do in this environment? And on top of that, how well can you do on a consistent basis in this environment?" And to know that you have the support. No matter what you do, no matter where you go, no matter how bad you mess up, you have people supporting you and on your side 100% of the way. I think that's the best thing ever.
Alicia: Absolutely.
Mason: Xavier came to this program with the right mindset, wanting to do better, wanting to be better. And, you know, he was the one that took full advantage of the program and he also was the one to give back while he was in the program. He was influencing his peers and I had been doing this long enough to know, you know, my wheels start turning in my head, and, you know, we always need managers in the stadium, we need somebody who's going to step up and be a good example for their peers.
- And that's where that kind of sparked from, is this guy has no reservation, he just goes for it, right? I really appreciated that characteristic in young people and Xavier certainly exuded that from day one.
Alicia: Can you talk a little bit about the challenges that you see the youth facing in Seattle?
Mason: I think the biggest challenge is really that whole process of how do you get into the system? Again, how do you seek out employment? You know, how do you have those conversations with mentors in your life to be not just take any job, but take a job that's going to be a stepping stone to your goals and your dreams and your aspirations?
Alicia: That's so true.
Mason: Most youth want to work. You know, it's not like they're sitting at home, "Gosh, man, you know, I just don't want to work. I don't want to make any money." And a lot of times, they lack the skills, the confidence, the experience to really navigate the application process. Like where do I go to find a job? And then once I do find a job that I want, what do I put in a resume? You know, and like, "Oh, my gosh, I got anxiety cause I'm going to have to interview with somebody. I have to tell them about zero or little experience that I have."
Alicia: Certainly not just Seattle, across the country, it's not for lack of appetite or drive or desire to get a job. It's, “How do I make that connection?”
Mason: We tell our Jumans, and that's what we call them all the time, that it's not who you know, it's who knows you, and then even more importantly, it's who knows you and who likes you. And so when we put them in social settings where they get to meet people, who, in some cases, came from the same background, they started at the same spot, and they've been able to climb the ladder and get into careers that they enjoy their job and they make a great living.
- Once they get a chance to get their feet wet, you know, they've worked a couple of shifts, they got some sales under their belt, you can see that confidence start to build, and then, you know, over time, they work with career coaches and our office staff, our program staff, to start building individual development plans. And then they, "Hey, these people do have my best interest in mind and they are a lot of fun to be around." You start to build a second family while you're on the job and with your coworkers.
Alicia: And, Xavier, I'd love to know, what are you doing now and how you feel like Juma might have helped you to be where you are now?
Xavier: I'm currently working at Costco right now. I'm one of the 10 Jumans to work at a Costco franchise that's in Washington and I feel like that's a huge achievement. This was a time where Costco, they needed a high school diploma. They also needed you to be 18 or older.
- I was older than 18, but I did not have my high school diploma. I just recently received my GED. That's a huge accomplishment.
Alicia: Huge.
Xavier: Now, I feel like I'm a huge asset to this location because of all the skills that Juma has taught me.
Mason: And so for me, it's being told no and not being accepted, to the immediate impact of having somebody embrace you and say, "Hey, I see you for who you are. I accept you. We're going to have to work on some things, but that's okay because that's what we do." And then their confidence goes from being shy, can't make eye contact, to stepping up and saying, "Hey, you know, I think there's a better way we can do this, right?"
- And so that's the biggest immediate impact for me, is just coming out of your shell, the ability to be yourself, but also, you know, take on some new skills so that you can improve who you are professionally. That's what sticks out to me.
Xavier: And I can say that 10-year-old Xavier would love to look up to 21-year-old Xavier today and say, "This is the person that I want to be when I grow up." And I love that.
♪ [music] ♪
Alicia: Mason, Juma Ventures is doing so much to employ, to teach, and to provide opportunities to young people in the Seattle area.
- You know, in recognition of the tremendous work, I know that Juma was given the Bank of America's Neighborhood Builders Award in 2017, so just last year. And it received $200,000 in unrestricted funding, which is a big deal, and training for 2 leaders, which I know you, Mason, took part in. Can you talk a little bit about what the Neighborhood Builders Award meant for Juma and for you as a leader?
Mason: When I found out the news, I literally cried because I knew what it would mean to us in the long term. You know, as we were changing our programming and the demographics that we serve, we knew there would be some challenges ahead, that we were going to have to bring on more revenue in the stadiums. And so we were able to launch Boba tea or bubble tea this year at Safeco and we did not have the funds previously to be able to do that.
- And that's generated more revenue for our bottom line, it's created more shifts for our young people to work.
Alicia: In terms of your own leadership development training, can you talk a little bit about your experience with that?
Mason: I was able to surround myself with folks from across the nation that are doing incredible cutting-edge work in social services. And as somebody who's relatively new to being an Executive Director, I'm like that little kid, you know, just like, "Why? Why? Why?" I'm just asking a million questions.
- I'm sure by the end of the week, like, "Man, this Mason guy will not stop asking, 'Why?'" There were so many questions that were answered that week that I got to take home with me in addition to the amazing workshops and the guest speakers that they were able to put together. But, you know, I left, you know, flying home just with a renewed sense of purpose.
Alicia: I love what you say about, you know, some of the things that you learned through the leadership training and you're also feeling your cup is filled up just in the sense of knowing that there's a lot of people going through the same difficult challenges and also the same excitement of what's possible.
Mason: The other thing that you learn is that we're all going through the same struggles together. So there's something therapeutic about understanding, "Okay, so I'm not the only one that's facing these challenges, right? This isn't unique to me."
Alicia: That's so well said.
Xavier: I don't want to say the sky is the limit. The sky can be pushed forward and past and we can be so much brighter than what we think that we are as long as we try and as long as we try to do the best that we can possibly do. And I feel like with Juma, if you have a good family and a good sense of direction, you would be very, very much successful.
- And I would like to say thank you to Juma for giving me that opportunity to do so, for opening up your doors to let me be who I need to be so I can shine and succeed.
Alicia: I can't think of a better way to end it. Mason and Xavier, thank you for spending time with me today and thank you to our listeners for tuning in. Since 2004, Bank of America's Neighborhood Builders Program has invested more than $220 million in 49 local communities, partnered with more than 1,000 nonprofits, and provided leadership training and resources to more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders and counting.
Onscreen Text: Since 2004 Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program has
Onscreen Text: Partnered with 1,000+ nonprofits in 49 communities
Advanced the leadership of 2,000+ nonprofit executives
Invested more than $220 million to build more sustainable communities
….and counting
Alicia: To learn about how the Neighborhood Builders Program gives local communities the power to address the critical issues they face, please visit BankofAmerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders.
Onscreen Text: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE POWER TO DO?
(Bank of America logo)
Onscreen Text: Learn more: bankofamerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. © 2018 Bank of America Corporation.
© 2021 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
Juma Seattle strives to break the cycle of poverty by providing youth with job opportunities, educational support and training programs through partnerships with major sporting venues and stadiums. In 2017, Juma Ventures was recognized as a Neighborhood Builders award recipient, giving the organization the power to create more opportunities for program participants, expand recruitment programs and reach more youth. In the final installment of the Neighborhood Builders podcast series, the bank’s Alicia Burke, Juma Executive Director Mason Moore, and Juma alum Xavier Wade discuss how a job opportunity can teach life lessons and kickstart careers.
Urban Alliance – Washington, D.C.
(Neighborhood Builders Logo)
Onscreen Text: Neighborhood Builders Podcast Series
Episode 4: Preparing Disconnected Youth for Success
James West: That's one of the most challenging things. Feeling like you've not accomplished enough although you might be doing something greater than you ever thought that you could do.
Alicia Burke: Growing up, Washington D.C.'s James West was a diligent student who worked hard. But his lack of resources and connections impacted his self-confidence and limited what he thought was possible for his future.
Eshauna Smith: A lot of our students are going through a lot of different kinds of situations. They're experiencing a lot of trauma. They may be experiencing relationships that have been broken over time. And so what we have to do at Urban Alliance is say, "Just give us one more shot."
Alicia: That's Eshauna Smith, CEO of Urban Alliance, whose national office is located in D.C. Urban Alliance empowers under-resourced youth like James to aspire, work, and succeed through paid internships, formal training, and mentoring.
- I'm Alicia Burke, and on this episode of the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Podcast, Eshauna, James, and I discuss the power of mentorship and the ability to make a lasting impact on the lives of underserved students.
- Hi, James. Hi, Eshauna.
James: How are you doing today?
Alicia: Great. Great. How are you? And thank you for doing this.
James: Thank you.
Eshauna: Thank you.
Alicia: Eshauna, can you tell me more about Urban Alliance and its focus on helping young people achieve success?
Eshauna: We are trying to match companies with the young people in their community who are going to be their next generation workforce. We have a model in place now that really is rooted in this idea of a year-long job for high school seniors who are economically disadvantaged or from places or backgrounds where, without an Urban Alliance opportunity, they would not be able to access this kind of a job experience so early on in their life.
Alicia: That's great. So, James West, you're a 2014 graduate of Urban Alliance and a current member on their alumni board of directors. James, can you share a little bit about your experience with Urban Alliance?
James: They wanted to have some type of impact on you, they wanted you to feel like, you know, although you were coming to a corporation where you've never had any experience, they wanted to make sure that you could...you can leave with something. Whether it was learning something, whether it was a connection that you made, whether it was a network that you made. I feel like all of the mentors that I had were well at doing their job.
Eshauna: The idea is that we are being the bridge between the schools and the employers and the students and that we identify these workplaces that have historically been off-limits to our young people.
Alicia: So, the folks are the people who have a higher risk of really being falling through the cracks because they don't have enough support?
Eshauna: That's right. We're looking for high school seniors or, at that point, juniors who will soon become high school seniors who are sort of middle-of-the-road academically. They're sort of in that quiet middle where they are not causing trouble or needing a whole lot.
- But at the same time, likely not getting enough of the attention and resources that they need. So they sort of float under the radar. And because of that, are very likely to become disconnected.
Alicia: I see.
James: While I was a junior in high school, I don't think I knew what I wanted to focus on in school. I don't even think I knew if I wanted to go to college even with myself having a, you know, 3.5 GPA. And being at the World Bank, which was the first internship experience that I had, I realized that, you know, you can have an impact on people even though you don't think, you know, the job that you do gets that done.
Alicia: So, James, can you talk a little bit about the work you did at the World Bank?
James: I was in the sustainable development department and I worked very closely with water specialists and people specializing in agriculture research. And through that, we focused on countries all throughout middle eastern and northern Africa. So I would work with the water specialists on finding research.
Alicia: And you're coming from Ward 7 to the World Bank, can I ask you, James, what you felt like you took away from those experiences?
James: I would say confidence, honestly. Like, although, you know, the hard skills are there, you know, you want to learn as much as possible. You want to be available to feel like you're actually completing something or accomplishing something while you're there. The confidence is one of the things that I feel you can take to every job.
Alicia: Right.
James: You know, it's that confidence that separates you from everybody else. Do you believe in your skills? Do you believe in yourself as a person? Do you believe that you can take advantage of the knowledge that you have? That you can take advantage of the network? Are you going to be willing to step out there and shake somebody's hand at an event where you know nobody and talk to them and they might offer you an internship?
♪ [music] ♪
Alicia: Eshauna, can you talk a little bit about how you see your students' determination to strive despite the challenges they have?
Eshauna: I mean I think, one, our students want the opportunity. They want to learn, they want to grow, they want to be successful just like anybody else. The problem is the access to the opportunity. And so, in our bridging capacity, once we can pull that door open, just a little bit, they pretty much kick it through.
Alicia: That's so well said.
Eshauna: And so we are working with the counselors to identify those students, the end of their junior year. And then when they come back, senior year, we gather our pool who then go through a six-week boot camp with Urban Alliance called The Longest Job Interview of Your Life in order to really prepare them for the world of work that they will be entering into for about 10 months during their senior year.
Alicia: Wow. Something called The Longest Interview of Your Life sounds pretty daunting. If they come through that, they must feel really good.
Eshauna: They do, and I think we give them a high bar and that's part of it. Like, the expectations are high because we know they can reach it. So we're very early on sort of sussing out or sort of identifying the kinds of behaviors that they're going to need to demonstrate at the internship that they will receive through Urban Alliance but ultimately at the job that they get as adults, you know, the sort of workplace experiences that they are going to be finding for themselves post Urban Alliance.
- Workplace etiquette, what's the right attire to wear, how do you have difficult conversations? Be sure you are making eye contact.
James: We talked about communication, communicating between you, yourself, and your manager. We talked a lot about participation. Making sure that while you're at work, you're doing the utmost that you can be. And I feel like if you're going to be at an internship where you really would not have had any other opportunity, then your best to do was to take as much advantage of that as possible.
Alicia: It's so true that the basics, they're so core for all of us and I do think out there there's this expectation for all of us that, you know, we're going to learn by osmosis. Just, you know, you're going to show up to your job and you're just going to know it regardless of where you come from or who you are. And I think it's invaluable and it's timeless. And Eshauna, I did want to ask you how you came to Urban Alliance and what made you be really interested in this work?
Eshauna: Well, I have to start a little bit, like, just talking about, like, my passion and interest for social justice work really came from just feeling incredibly lucky given my background that I sort of made it out. I feel like so many of my peers were left behind for a number of reasons, and just this idea that some people make it out and some people don't.
- And so I decided I wanted to create a career that was able to help others that were coming behind me who could experience the same kinds of opportunities that I did.
♪ [music] ♪
Alicia: So Eshauna, as you and James have told us, Urban Alliance is doing tremendous work in order to promote the success of young people both in the D.C. area and in cities across the country. In recognition of that work, in fact, Urban Alliance was granted the Bank of America Neighborhood Builders Award in 2013. And with that, the organization received $200,000 in unrestricted funding, which is a big deal, and training for 2 leaders. And I know, Eshauna, you took part in that.
- Can you talk a little bit about that grant and how it empowered both Urban Alliance as well as you as a leader?
Eshauna: I joined the organization in 2013 and became, you know, sort of I was preparing to become the next leader of Urban Alliance right when we received the Neighborhood Builders grant. We were so excited and so happy about the fiscal support. But I think it soon then set in that, "Wow, not only is this fiscal support from Neighborhood Builders, but we are going to be able to develop two leaders here at Urban Alliance.
- One of the things about Neighborhood Builders that again, you know, we didn't suspect at the time but you don't know until you start the leadership training is the incredible community of leaders that it surrounds you with. And right away, I met leaders from all over the country. Some were veterans, some were, you know, newer to this. But all of them wrapped their arms around me and said, "Hey, not only can you do this, but you were meant to do it and this is your calling. This is what you're supposed to do."
- And that, definitely, I came back home from each and every single Neighborhood Builders' trip sort of ready to lead and ready to go in a way that, you know, hadn't been there before.
Alicia: Oh, fantastic. James, is there anything that I didn't ask that you wanted to cover or wanted to say?
James: The idea of disconnected youth, I feel like that's better than saying, "Unprivileged youth," because I wasn't someone who, in school, I had bad grades or I didn't have any people to look up to or ideas of what do I want to do when I graduate from school. But Urban Alliance, kind of, they make you a connected youth.
- So they allow you to have these resources. Whether or not you use them is up to you. But they allow you to have these resources. They allow you to talk to these people. They allow you to, you know, feel like you're bringing something to your community more than just the money that you make. The same thing that they told you is the same thing that you have to tell yourself every day.
- I was once disconnected. And through making these connections, I'm now much better than I would have been. But how can I bring that back to my community? I feel like more people need to focus on not just getting away from their situation, but bettering people who were in their situation or making better opportunities for those who were in this situation or who might be in this situation as of now.
Alicia: That's incredible. Well, Eshauna and James, it has been so great to speak with you today.
Eshauna: Thank you.
James: Thank you.
Alicia: Thank you for sharing your own stories and for sharing the great work that Urban Alliance is doing on behalf of the community. And to our listeners, thanks for tuning in today. Since 2004, Bank of America's Neighborhood Builders Program has invested more than $220 million in 49 local communities, partnered with more than 1,000 nonprofits, and provided leadership training and resources to more than 2,000 nonprofit leaders and counting.
Onscreen Text: Since 2004 Bank of America’s Neighborhood Builders program has
Onscreen Text: Partnered with 1,000+ nonprofits in 49 communities
Advanced the leadership of 2,000+ nonprofit executives
Invested more than $220 million to build more sustainable communities
….and counting
Alicia: To learn about how the Neighborhood Builders Program gives local communities the power to address the critical issues they face, please visit BankofAmerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders.
Onscreen Text: WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE THE POWER TO DO?
(Bank of America logo)
Onscreen Text: Learn more: bankofamerica.com/NeighborhoodBuilders
Bank of America, N.A. Member FDIC. © 2018 Bank of America Corporation.
© 2021 Bank of America Corporation. All rights reserved.
Urban Alliance, a 2013 Neighborhood Builders award recipient, provides internships and professional opportunities to economically disadvantaged high schoolers in five cities throughout the U.S. In this conversation, the bank’s Alicia Burke, Urban Alliance CEO Eshauna Smith, and Urban Alliance alum James West discuss how paid internships, formal training and mentoring give under-resourced youth the power to aspire, and to work toward and reach their professional goals. Eshauna also reflects on how the Neighborhood Builders program provided a community of other nonprofit leaders as she made the transition to CEO of the organization.
