HUNDREDS OF CHICAGO YOUTH ATTEND FIRST ANNUAL YOUTH CONNECTIONS SUMMIT
Skills for Chicagoland’s Future and Chicago Urban League host event to empower Chicago’s youth to take action, control the direction of their life, and build their futures
CHICAGO—April 11, 2019—Nearly 200 young people ages 13 to 24 attended the first annual Youth Connections Summit held Friday, April 5, by the Chicago Urban League and Skills for Chicagoland’s Future (Skills) at Malcom X College. The summit provided a series of workshops and speakers to help youth develop knowledge and skills in a variety of areas, including communication, financial literacy, conflict resolution and stress management.
All of the Summit’s programming stemmed from the theme “CHICAGO…I AM,” which was developed by a group of Youth Ambassadors from the Chicago Urban League and Skills. The two organizations designed the event for young people to come away with job preparedness and interview skills, a stronger sense of community, knowledge of resources available to them, an opportunity to meet with various businesses hiring young adults, inspiration to become advocates for change in their schools and communities, and feeling empowered to break down gender, racial and cultural barriers.
“Skills has placed thousands of Chicago youth into jobs over the past six years, and throughout that time we’ve heard from them what they need to succeed in their careers and lives,” said Marie Trzupek Lynch, founding president and CEO of Skills. “Working alongside the Chicago Urban League, this Summit is the perfect opportunity to put the collective learning from both organizations to work, and keep learning more about the best ways to serve our city’s youth.”
Approximately 60,000 young people across Chicago are neither in school nor employed, according to a report from Thrive Chicago. A report issued by the UIC Great Cities Institute found that in Chicago, 47 percent of Black youth, ages 20-24 and 35 percent of Hispanic/Latino youth were unemployed. The Youth Connection Summit is confronting the issue head-on by equipping young people with tools and resources to make them more employable.
“The Chicago Urban League works directly with more than 1,200 youth each year, providing educational experiences and preparing them for job opportunities,” said Barbara Lumpkin, Interim President and CEO of the League. “We conceived the Youth Connections Summit as a new way to support the development and future success of teenagers and young adults across the city by connecting them to new resources and to each other.”
Jacori Garrett, a 19-year-old West Englewood resident, served as the Summit’s master of ceremonies. Garrett joined Skills’ “Beyond the Diploma” youth employment program in 2018, and currently works in a career pathway program with Walgreens while pursuing an associate degree at Harold Washington College. “I want to figure out how I can help students get to that next step and Skills and the Chicago Urban League are giving me that opportunity by letting me help with this Summit,” said Garrett. The Chicago Urban League also supports Garett’s personal and professional growth as the mentor partner for the Beyond the Diploma program.
Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel closed out the inaugural Summit, sharing advice and motivational words with the youth attendees.
Visit www.chicagoiam.org for more details and photos from the event.
[soliloquy id=”5142″]
