MAYOR WU LAUNCHES THE 2022 CITY OF BOSTON SUCCESSLINK SUMMER YOUTH JOBS APPLICATION

Mayor Michelle Wu today announced that the 2022 Boston SuccessLink Summer Youth Jobs program has been expanded and is now accepting applications. As part of Mayor Wu’s commitment to youth development, the program has been expanded to include 6,000 job opportunities which is 1,000 more jobs than last year. Boston youth ages 14 to 18 (14-year-olds must turn 15 by September 1, 2022) can now apply for a summer job. Youth will have the opportunity to get connected to thousands of summer jobs that aim to promote skill building and networking through the City of Boston’s Department of Youth Engagement and Employment’s (DYEE) SuccessLink Employment Program. The Department will grant up to $3.8 million to local nonprofits for summer 2022.

“Boston’s youth summer jobs program is critical in empowering our youth and expanding opportunities for them to develop job skills and confidence in the workplace as a foundation for their future,” said Mayor Michelle Wu. “I’m grateful to all of our programs and organizations and encourage every teenager and young adult in Boston to apply.”

“Despite the ever changing landscape of COVID-19, the youth jobs ecosystem in Boston managed to remain flexible in how we deliver youth jobs opportunities, skill development, and career exploration – and most importantly our youth participants and employment partners adapted to navigate the changes with us,” said Rashad Cope, Director of the Department of Youth Engagement & Employment. “We are excited to continue the work alongside so many incredible youth leaders and champions to drive forward a summer of learning, fun, and growth through summer jobs.”

Every year, the City of Boston invests over $10 million into organizations located in neighborhoods across the city to give youth early exposure to various career paths and industry areas. There will continue to be hybrid, virtual, and in-person experiences in a wide variety of fields like the arts, community/social assistance, government & advocacy, food services, health care, public administration, STEM, sports & recreation, childcare, education, and more. The City of Boston will also continue the Learn and Earn Postsecondary program, which will be managed by the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD). The City will continue to support organizations that offer virtual job opportunities this summer and focus on efforts to provide jobs to vulnerable youth populations through the Massachusetts Commonwealth Corporation YouthWorks partnership. This partnership helps ensure disadvantaged youth, vulnerable youth, and youth with identified risk barriers have access to employment opportunities.

Last summer, DYEE introduced a grant funding component as part of the SuccessLink Youth Employment Program, providing youth wages for grantees. Partner organizations were responsible for managing the recruitment, hiring, and payroll processes with the goal of increasing the quality of workforce development opportunities for the young people of Boston. DYEE awarded $2.2 million for nearly 1,200 youth positions. 

“What I loved about the Boston Area Health Education Center is how they exposed students to different medical careers, beyond just the familiar clinical careers,” said Andrianna Leon, SuccessLink Youth Jobs participant at Boston Public Health Commission - Boston Area Health Education Center. “With endless supportive staff and a dedication to diversity in the health field, BAHEC helped me discover my love for public health. I’m forever grateful to them for helping me find my passion, and providing the resources and confidence to pursue it as a future health professional.”

DYEE is again collaborating with the Mayor’s Office for Immigrant Advancement (MOIA) through the Dreamers Fellowship, which provides stipended leadership training and hands-on experience to immigrant youth, regardless of immigration status. Led by the Caribbean Youth Club, this fellowship helps ensure all youth have the same opportunities for personal and professional development. 

“We have been a SuccessLink partner for over 15 years and were really excited about the implementation of a new grant process,” said Kasey Boston, the Director of Youth Programs at St. Stephen’s Youth Programs. “The grant process allowed us to make connections early on with our teen staff and coach them through our own internal onboarding process. The implementation of this grant process allowed us to successfully employ over 80 youth last summer. We look forward to continuing to partner with YEE as a grant partner again this summer.”

There are two ways for youth to get connected to a SuccessLink youth job:

• SuccessLink Direct Partner jobs - where youth will be hired by the City of Boston through the SuccessLink portal to work across various organizations, and;
• SuccessLink Grant Partner jobs - where youth will be hired directly through the grant partners organization website and application process. 

The DYEE youth jobs webpage is designed to help young people navigate the application, onboarding and hiring processes. The website also ensures that youth and families have access to the resources they need to navigate the employment process for both SuccessLink Direct Partners and SuccessLink Grant Partners effectively. 

The SuccessLink Youth Employment Program is largely funded by the City of Boston and is designed not only to recruit and hire youth, but also to ensure that their employment experience is engaging, meaningful, and a building block for their professional development and personal success. DYEE partners with a host of nonprofit organizations, city and quasi-city agencies, as well as other key youth employment providers across the city, including Action for Boston Community Development, the Boston Private Industry Council, John Hancock’s MLK Scholars, and Youth Options Unlimited and the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development, to provide meaningful employment opportunities to a collective 8,000 youth between the ages of 14-21. Each of these agencies expand the summer job opportunities available to youth across Boston. 

Registering for a summer position with SuccessLink does not guarantee a job. Applicants are welcome to register online at Youth Summer Jobs or visit Department of Youth Engagement & Employment at 1483 Tremont Street, Roxbury, or call 617-635-4202 for registration assistance.

For more information on the Department of Youth Engagements summer employment program, visit youth.boston.gov. There you can also find out more about DYEE's employment program and additional youth resources.