Juma Ventures
Mentor and provide job skill training and employment for underserved youth 18-24 years old
Location: Atlanta, Georgia, USA
Sponsor: Mark Breimhorst
Juma Ventures: Grantee in 2021, 2022-23, and 2024
Juma Ventures was founded in 1993 and launched its first social enterprise in a Ben & Jerry’s ice cream store. That initial venture gave homeless young adults 18-24 years old the job experiences the needed to transition from a life on the streets to a more stable adulthood. Juma has grown and now operates in six cities across the United States. Its national youth development programs have connected nearly 9,000 low-income youths with jobs selling concessions in almost two dozen sports and entertainment venues. These young folks have all suffered some personal trauma – through homelessness and housing insecurity, mental health issues, and/or racial inequality – and participation in the Juma Ventures programs can be a real game-changer for them.
Juma complements the partnerships it has built with venues to create employment opportunities with career coaching and useful contacts to education and career pathways. It also maintains strong relationships with helpful agencies in housing and social services so each participant has mentoring support as well. As a result, each receives basic job training and broader skills development that teach personal financial management and longer-term job search skills. In this way, these underserved youth are better prepared to overcome personal barriers to ongoing employment.
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GRANT SUMMARY AND PURPOSE
2021: $30,000 to support hiring a Program Coordinator who will oversee job skills development and short-term employment opportunities in sports facilities for underserved youth in Atlanta. Through a three-pronged Earn, Learn, Connect program that proved successful in other cities; participants will have help overcoming personal barriers to ongoing employment. Each will gain employment well as broader life skills education.
2022-23: $20,000 to fund a project that improves Juma’s system of individualized oversight and support required for successful outcomes by using a “journey map” for each youth. Juma also proposes to identify and implement more effective means of collecting and utilizing feedback and of measuring program success as they employ and prepare youth for long-term employment.
2024: $50,000 to help build upon the advancements realized from the previous year’s pilot. Juma will create individualized “journey maps” for over 300 youth and a case management logic model that will scale services across the organization. This will help determine the appropriate approach to judge type, frequency, and timing of services needed by individual youth.
GOAL
Directly reach and employ youth, giving them both much-needed income and support and improving their lives by preparing them for future education and career opportunities.
