When leaders in corporate America decide to become engaged on a social issue, they bring a corporate “can-do” mindset to the challenge. So in the case of providing jobs for Opportunity Youth, it’s only natural that many will try to utilize the training practices that have worked for them in the past with their current workforce.
However, since today’s youth cohort is much more multicultural and diverse than the current broad workforce population, engagement becomes a challenge. In urban and low income communities high poverty, crime, and high school dropout rates add to that challenge. Most important, many young people lose hope because they do not see a way out of a community filled with fewer options, and risk factors of drugs and violence, and often imperfect schools and infrastructure.
