The Annual Grow Detroit's Young Talent program is now accepting applications for summer jobs.

Young people aged 14 to 24 who live in Detroit have until the end of May to apply for employment and training in a really broad range of jobs over the summer.

Organizers hope to match 8,000 teens and young adults with employers.

As part of Detroit Public Television's Future of Work Initiative, I talked with three people who are connected to the Jobs Program.

Dana Williams of Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation, Shuna Hayward from Connect Detroit, and Naeema Muhammad, a past participant.

Grow Detroit's Young Talent is one of my favorite, favorite programs.

It is one of the coolest things that we're doing here in the city of Detroit.

So I'm really excited to talk about what's coming up with it, this year in 2024, Dana Williams, I will start with you.

Talk about Grow Detroit's Young Talent.

Remind us what year we're in for this and what we have to look forward to this year.

- Sounds wonderful, thanks so much, Stephen.

So it is an honor to say that this is year 10.

- 10, oh my goodness.

- Incredible.

So we have actually done quite a bit, of course in that time.

We've grown from around 5,000 students a summer to now 8,000.

- Oh my goodness.

- We certainly couldn't do that alone.

The Detroit at Work system is so glad to have partners like Shuna who's here with us, and a host of other nonprofit agencies and workforce development companies that work with us really closely to deliver these experiences to young people.

We're glad that this year we're gonna be offering a range of experiences as we always do that really correspond to a young person's level of work experience.

So someone who's 14, never been to work, certainly may have a different experience than someone who'd be 18, 19, or 20, maybe at taking some college courses and who may be on a real, what we call a career pathway job.

Those will pay a minimum of $15 an hour, so real work, real money, right?

- Yeah.

- This summer, and they're gonna have a host of other customized experiences to get some professional development as well as they always do.

So in addition to resume writing and interviewing, some financial coaching, they'll open a bank account, right?

We gotta make sure young people are ready to receive the funds we're gonna give them, all these wonderful things.

So really excited again about this 10 year.

- Yeah, Shuna Hayward, talk about how this fits in the kind of broader context of workforce and workforce development.

The kind of things that we are always really worried about here in the city and that we need to be working a lot better.

- Right.

Well, first and foremost, we want our young people to know that there are resources available to them and that there are a host of connections and opportunities in the city of Detroit.

So that we not only grow our talent, but also retain our talent.

So they need to understand that there are high growth, high demand sectors here that they can connect with, they can experiment with opportunities that they may be interested in, but you know, don't know too much about.

So this just gives them a chance to kind of branch out, test out some things, see what they like, see what they may not like, but also importantly, provide those important connections to caring adults, to like-minded peers, and begin that task of building their skills and their network.

- Yeah, yeah.

So, Naeema Muhammad, I wanna bring you into the conversation here 'cause you're someone who had this experience.

Tell me about what you did, what you learned, and how you think of it today.

- Yes, absolutely.

So I did the program for three years and throughout the different experiences I had, I've learned so much.

I actually am now a unmanned aeronautical vehicle pilot, which means I can fly remote drones for profit commercially- - Oh my goodness!

- I had the experience of working for two summers with a Tuskegee Airman because of Grow Detroit Young Talent.

I also had the opportunity to go to the GM plant for the electric vehicles and I was honestly really excited about that because I just love EV and technology.

So being able to see what all goes into building the vehicle as well as I spoke to some people and they actually said that, "Well, actually you're not in where they design the vehicles, you're where they build them."

So just being able to have those opportunities to have those conversations.

And I also, through that experience, there were some people, because, you know, you get that experience and they're excited to have young people that are interested in technology and the vehicle designing and things of that nature.

They actually did mock interviews with me.

They say, "Okay, if you decided to come here, this is what you need to learn.

This is what you need to do, and let's actually sit down and ask those questions that you would get if you were in a real interview with us."

- Yeah, yeah.

- So it was really exciting.

- So let's go back to the first summer you did this and maybe that first day at work.

Did you know then that you would find a pathway to the thing that you're gonna end up doing as an adult?

- Yes and no.

I went in as this is a summer job, my mom told me to come, so let's- (Stephen laughs) - So I gotta be here, right?

- Yeah.

So let's just see what happens.

But actually going through this, I'm meeting different, a very diverse group of young people, even though we're about 15 or 16 when I first did it, just hearing some of their backgrounds and what they were actually interested in.

There was another young man, he wanted to be a pilot.

Still in contact with him.

He's now in college for it.

So he's going to pilot school and then there are just the different avenues people took and hearing their stories of how they got to that point in their lives was interesting.

- Yeah, yeah.

So Dana, that's gotta just absolutely warm your heart to hear, what a story, right?

She starts at 15 and now is doing something that's related to what you guys gave her an opportunity for.

- That's exactly right.

I am thrilled to hear stories like what I'm sharing with us here today.

And that's what we wanna do, right?

As Shuna said, we wanna make sure that these young people are connected to the high growth, high demand jobs and the industries that are here, as we know that are here in Detroit.

And we also know that young people become what they see, and so the more they see, the more they can become.

And so while someone might have a very clear picture about what it is that they wanna be when they grow up, I'm still trying to figure that out too, by the way.

But they can also check out all sorts of different kinds of careers at the same.

And we certainly have people who have been with us a number of summers now considering we've been here for 10 years.

And it's just great to have more and more of these stories come out.

And it's not just about young people learning too how to work for other people, but we've got entrepreneurship career paths, right?

Because we know that's also major interests of what our young people wanna do today.

So that's another possibility and a pathway that they can go down as well.

- Yeah.

So Dana, talk about what it takes to put all this together each summer to get the employers who want to do it, match 'em with interested young people.

It seems like quite the operation these days.

- It is.

And Shuna can talked about this too, it is now a well-oiled machine, however, previous to maybe three or four years ago, we certainly were learning all along the way.

So they're quite literally it's a staff of hundreds considering all the other nonprofit organizations that work with us to deliver these opportunities to young people.

Even though GDYT is a summer program, we work on it all year long.

So really as soon as those young people go back to school in September, we start one, collecting our data, and then two, to continue to talk to philanthropy and to employers about next year.

And year round chances they wanna bring to folks as well as what they wanna do next summer.

I can tell you as of today, so February 8th, I believe the portal opened.

We already have nearly 7,000 students that are ready.

- Oh, wow, wow.

- And the number of opportunities that our employers are bringing are nearly the same.

Last year it was actually a wonderful problem to have.

We had to turn away employers- - My goodness.

- There were just so many of them that wanted to offer chances to young people.

Now we hope to begin to have new experiences because of that great interest that we have.

But now it's simply a matching process between those young people and the employers that we have.

We will do large career fairs where our participants will be able to come and check out some of those employers and experiences and be able to register and get the tools that they need for the summer on the spot.

We'll do that a couple of times and we don't forget about our parents either.

So although the students have orientations, the parents do as well.

We wanna make sure the whole family knows what their kids will be going through this summer.

- Yeah, yeah.

Shuna, I wanna talk a little about the employer side of this as well.

Employers are getting quite the sort of lift, I think, and benefit out of Grow Detroit's Young Talent as well.

And the importance I think of having that connection between employers that exist in our city and the young people in our city, it's immeasurable.

- Yeah, and it's really critical.

And it is definitely a two-way street, Stephen.

The young people benefit, but the employers benefit just as much from having the young people in those spaces.

They change the energy, they bring new ideas, and they also help those employers see the potential that's coming down the pipeline in our young people and what they can bring to the table.

So it's very exciting.

We just have tons of interest and support.

Detroit is such a great city because especially when it comes to our youth, people are ready to get on board to support our young people.

And so it's very exciting to be a part of it.

- So when you're trying to put together the options I guess for young people and having employers do it, is it hard in some cases to get that initial commitment, Shuna?

Is it hard to say to an employer, yeah, you ought to take this chance on this young person?

- There's a lot in the process.

There's a lot of cultivation, there's a lot of, here are all the tools that you'll need to be successful at this, with our partners.

We give them handbooks, we give them orientation, we give them, here's what the first day should look like for a young person.

Here's how you create a space for them in your building.

And so we really try to make sure that they're prepared.

We also try to level set around expectations because these are young people.

They aren't professionals coming out with experience and things of that nature.

But a lot of work goes into getting our young people ready as well as getting our employers ready.

- Getting the employers ready, yeah, yeah.

Naeema, you are talking about flying drones and you're now certified, I guess, to do that.

Talk about the future for you.

Is this where you wanted to get to?

Are there other things that you think you might go and do?

And are you gonna stay here in Detroit is the big question.

I mean, it's one of our big problems is our most talented young people grow up, get a skill, and then they go somewhere else.

We want you to stay here.

- Yes, sir.

Well, I was actually born and raised here.

So I've been a motor city baby since my youth.

But as far as being an unmanned air pilot, it's not what I thought I was gonna go into when I started the program.

But it's something that I actually do really enjoy.

My brother's a videographer and photographer, and he has his own business.

So being able to help him kind of do video and photography through a different view is interesting.

Just seeing what all goes into it.

I've had many opportunities.

I actually did some, I worked with GM, I did some faucet cleaning, so I was like cleaning their windows, but I was able to meet some of the people that worked there.

This is not the only thing I would like to do, but this has definitely helped open doors for me.

I'm a designer by trade and that is something I've always loved to do.

My mother's a graphic designer, so I grew up, it's interesting how they say you need to have 10 years of experience right out of high school.

I technically do.

So being able to say that and it being able to open doors and they're like, "You have a baby face, you look 13."

Okay, so I definitely wanna make sure I keep it in the circle of Motor City while also broadening my horizons and seeing where else it takes me.

- Yeah, yeah.

There's nothing wrong with leaving.

You just gotta come back, right?

- That's right.

(Stephen laughing) - So before we end, Dana, I wanna make sure we make it clear how young people can apply to be part of Grow Detroit's Young Talent.

- Yes, the young people, employers, and anyone who wants to donate and be a funder can all go to gdyt.org, gdyt.org.

It's very easy to navigate, three boxes, pick which one you belong to, fill out that form, and I promise someone will get back to you extremely quickly.