DETROIT (WXYZ) — A program that has put more than 87,000 Detroit young people to work during the summer kicked off on Tuesday.
This is year 11 of the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program. Today, I spoke with a young man who was one of the first to go through the program when it started in 2015 and now is a true success story today.
Teaching the ins and outs of technology through the nonprofit Journi is truly a full-circle moment for Matthew Jackson's life journey.
“GDYT was my first-ever job. Worked here with Journi nonprofit back in 2015, and I was young. I was really not understanding of software development at the time, but it changed my life,” Jackson said.
His journey since led him right back to head of the class.
“I started engaging with the technology community in Detroit, started participating more in hackathons and inspired me to go to college for computer science. So I went to Morehouse College, studied there and I achieved a lot,” Jackson said.
“I was in Stanford Intelligence Systems Laboratory and did an internship there one summer. We did AI regulations on aviation. I worked with Accenture and McKinsey doing consulting for two years and I've just been traveling everywhere from Atlanta to New York to back home in Michigan now has been a great experience.”
Now at 24 years old, he has a list of accomplishments that shows the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program is really an investment in the city's future.
“There's also a financial literacy component to the program, there's a digital literacy component to the program, a soft skills component to the program so that overall, these young people are not only working and earning a wage, but they're learning along the way,” said Terri Weems, group executive of Workforce Development with the city of Detroit.
This program is truly a strategic investment in young people that is paying off in returns.
“I know that the mayor wanted to make sure that every young person has an opportunity,” Weems said. “And with over 87,734 opportunities since 2015.”
A press conference at Northwest Activities Center kicked off the 11th GDYT work experience, offering 8,054 summer jobs for Detroit young people. Mayor Mike Duggan on Tuesday launched his last year of the program he created.
“In the city of Detroit, we've got the best summer jobs program in America where we put 8,000 people to work. That's what we're doing,” Duggan said.
More information on Grow Detroit’s Young Talent program can be found on the city’s website.
