“Our visits to corporate partners have been one of my favorite moments of this summer! Getting the opportunity to learn about different companies’ missions along with different job functions within those companies has been very helpful.”
— Nasarith, Yawkey Club of Roxbury Alum, Intern Lead Summer 2023
Nurturing the next generation's pipeline of talent
This summer, Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston members were graciously invited to several corporate offices to continue developing their workforce skills. BGCB is nurturing the talent pipeline for Boston and Chelsea’s next generation of diverse, skilled, and gifted workforce, and we are grateful to have our community of dedicated partners who share in that mission alongside us. Early exposure to career pathways and professional spaces lays the foundation and knowledge for our members to grow in this area, combined with the mentorship of Club staff to create endless possibilities.
During the school year, Young Leaders and Teen Associates are part of the larger cross-club initiative called Ready To Work (RTW). Members learn all about professionalism, the workforce, and career opportunities. The program begins from middle school with the RTW Academy and continues to high school with RTW University. In the summer, RTW Academy members apply to be Young Leaders, where they gain more responsibility at the Club and continue their professional development learning. During the summer, Teen Associates from across our Clubs had the opportunity to intern in BGCB’s Main Office.
Thank you to nine of our corporate partners for hosting us: Aureus Asset Management, BlackRock, the Boston Bruins, First Republic Bank, Gallagher Insurance, Risk Management & Consulting, KPMG, National Grid, and PF Flyers.
Yawkey Club of Roxbury Boys & Girls Club’s Young Leaders at the National Grid headquarters
Highlights
Our Young Leaders from Roxbury were invited to National Grid’s headquarters in Waltham, where they learned from employees across the company and conducted and presented educational group STEM experiments. Members were even able to fly a National Grid drone in the parking lot with their expert drone pilot. Young Leaders asked engaging questions about energy and the environment and learned about the diverse career paths available at the company.
Young Leaders from the Edgerley Family South Boston Club had the unique opportunity to visit PF Flyers, headquartered in Allston, where each member was able to choose and customize a pair of brand-new PF Flyer sneakers by painting, drawing, coloring, and bedazzling. Not only did members get creative, but they also learned about the design process, and behind the scenes operations that it takes to run a shoe-brand.
Members from our Jordan Club of Chelsea and Edgerley Family South Boston Club were excited to visit the Boston Bruins at the TD Garden. They received a tour of the Sports Museum, the TD Garden, and were invited to walk through the Bruins front office. The Young Leaders also had the coveted and rare opportunity to sit in the Bruins locker rooms while hearing from Bruins employees working across departments such as youth hockey, marketing, communications, and the foundation.
“It’s important for members to see the correlation of real-life practice and what we talk about in RTW. With office visits, they’re able to practice their skills in real time, see how workplaces operate, and debunk myths and assumptions about professional spaces.”
— Jen Medina, Dana Smith Director of Workforce Readiness
For the second year in a row, graduating seniors from all BGCB Clubs were invited to BlockRock’s downtown Boston offices for “BlackRockin’ Out,” where they engaged in one-on-one mentorship and networking with BlackRock employees, workshops on leadership, and navigating corporate spaces as people of color, as well as money management for teenagers.
Aureus Asset Management hosted our largest Young Leader cohort from the Yawkey Club of Roxbury, where members had the special opportunity to meet and hear from their Co-Founder, CEO, and longtime BGCB Board member, Karen Firestone, and learn about her own career journey and path to success. Members also met with Aureus’ entire leadership team, including the President, CFO, COO, CCO to learn about the stock market, investing, saving, and financial literacy.
“Seeing the real time experience of the corporate world was really eye opening. It was also cool to see the interns interact with the employees of the company. It was honestly reassuring to hear their experiences and understand that your future isn’t set in stone.”
— Merkeb, Yawkey Club of Roxbury Alum, Intern Lead Summer 2023
We are grateful to our community of corporate supporters who embody what it means to have a wholistic partnership, where they are not only invested in our mission, but also engaged with our members and their individual goals. If your company is interested in getting more involved with BGCB’s efforts to build the city’s diverse pipeline of talent and grow our future workforce through robust partnerships, please reach out to Asli Ercem aercem@bgcb.org.
