Detroit Career Summit Aims To Connect Young Men of Color To Jobs

“I happen to believe this is the biggest issue of our time,” says My Brother’s Keeper Alliance CEO Blair Taylor.

Last year, Michigan’s overall unemployment rate fell to about five percent. But the unemployment rate for African Americans in Michigan was more than twice as high — 11.6 percent.

That same year, President Obama launched an initiative to address persistent opportunity gaps facing boys and young men of color. The My Brother’s Keeper initiative tries to connect young people to mentoring programs and support networks with the goal of getting a good job and working their way into the middle class.

The nonprofit that came out of that effort, the My Brother’s Keeper Alliance, is partnering with the City of Detroit and Mayor Duggan to hold a career summit at Cobo Center on Monday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

How big a dent can programs like this put in the problem of high black unemployment in America?

“I happen to believe this is the biggest issue of our time,” says MBK Alliance CEO Blair Taylor. “We can’t take 5.4 million young people and remove them from our economy, remove them from the mainstream of America, if you will, and not have an economic disaster over the next couple of decades. These young people have to be made a part of our economy.”

Taylor says people who attend the summit will have access to many career services, including job interview coaching and record expungement services. And he says they will have direct opportunities to get jobs.

“We’re going to have 20 or so companies and we think we’ll have north of 200, maybe even closer to 300, jobs available for young people,” says Taylor.

To find out more about MBK’s career summit in Detroit, click here.

Click on the audio player above to hear the full conversation with MBK Alliance CEO Blair Taylor.

 

Author

  • Jake Neher
    Jake Neher is senior producer for Detroit Today and host of MichMash for 101.9 WDET. He previously reported on the Michigan Legislature for the Michigan Public Radio Network.