YOUTH BUSINESS ALLIANCE

County of Los Angeles

City of Los Angeles

LAUSD

Conduct research

Engage residents and stakeholders

Implement a pilot or new project

Expand a pilot or a program

Mobilize for systems change

Percent of community college students completing a certificate, degree, or transfer-related program in six years

Youth unemployment and underemployment

District-wide graduation rates

Academic Performance Index* scores

College matriculation rates

Student education pipeline (an integrated network of pre-schools, K-12 institutions, and higher education systems that prepares students for seamless transitions between high school, higher ed

Suspension and expulsion rates (Dream Metric)

The YBA was formed in 2012, servicing one disadvantaged school. We are now in 14 schools serving 350 disadvantaged high school students this year.

The YBA provides a year-long after school course ("Introduction to Business & Careers") to these students. The course description/breakdown is as follows:

1. The course meets every week for two hours for an entire year.

2. The first hour of each 2 hour meeting has the instructor teaching the students about business/careers/entrepreneurship from a textbook (Careers for the 21st Century). In addition, students learn both the fundamental soft and hard skills a young professional will need to know to succeed in their future job or business. Students are taught critical elements such as how to communicate as a professional, resume writing, business plan development, and even participate in experiential exercises like a stock market trading game or a Shark Tank type pitch workshop.

3. The second hour of each 2 hour meeting has a different Guest Speaker from the business community presenting their life journey to the class.

a.These Guest Speaker presentations include their childhood, high school, college, career and industry.

b. In general, the Guest Speaker presentations are approximately 40 minutes along with 20 minutes of Q&A.

c.The Guest Speaker program allows for these underprivileged students, most of whom have never met a single professional, aside from their teacher, to meet approximately 35 Guest Speakers over the course of the year. We have already seen some internships happen organically through the program.

4. The YBA takes each class of students on 1-2 field trips per year to local area businesses. What an impact it makes for our students to get out of the classroom and see a thriving company up close and personal. We've had teachers who have told us that after these field trips, some of their students are so inspired they pick up their grades almost immediately. Past field trips have gone to Google, SpaceX and StartEngine (a technology incubator in Santa Monica).

5. We are currently working on developing an additional element to YBA – A Summer Internship Program. This way our students can put the skills they have learned to use and gain valuable experience, not to mention earn some money in their pocket. Most importantly, the internship serves as a crucial springboard to catapult them into college and beyond.

We will evaluate our work through:

1. Student Surveys. YBA students will take a survey at the beginning of the program and at the conclusion to measure the program's effectiveness.

2. Teacher/Couselor Feedback.

3. Attendance and Persistence Rates

4. Student GPA's

5. Disciplinary and Suspension Rates

5. High School Graduation Rates

6. College Acceptance Rates

7. College Attendance Rates

8. Job Shadow/Internship Rates

Money (financial capital)

Volunteers/staff (human capital)

Publicity/awareness (social capital)

Infrastructure (building/space/vehicles, etc.)

Education/training

Technical infrastructure (computers, etc.)

Community outreach

Network/relationship support

Quality improvement research