JPMorgan Chase Completes Final Year of Firm's $17M Commitment to Create Skills-Based Summer Jobs for Young Adults

JPMorgan Chase is helping more than 20 U.S. cities prepare thousands of young people for the future of work through new approaches to Summer Youth Employment Programs (SYEPs) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated economic fallout. 

Working closely with local city officials and non-profit partners, this year’s $3 million investment will help ensure the accessibility of SYEPs during the pandemic, leading to more career and learning opportunities for young people. The commitment is the final year of the firm’s five-year, $17 million commitment to helping U.S. cities increase the number of young people with access to quality summer work experiences that guide them on a path to greater economic mobility.

SYEPs help equip young people with the skills and experiences they need to succeed and bridge the gap between the demand for summer jobs and the number of available positions. With the COVID-19 crisis and associated economic impact leading to less access to summer jobs, teens are relying on part-time work and internships to support themselves and their families.

Historically, economic downturns disproportionately impact young people, especially young people of color. That’s why JPMorgan Chase is working with cities across the nation to provide young people with virtual learning experiences, career mentoring and other opportunities to learn about postsecondary options for promising career pathways.

While young people need access to consistent income to support themselves and their families, they also need meaningful learning experiences that provide skill-based opportunities. To help ensure young people have access to opportunity during this time, the firm is supporting innovative approaches to regular summer youth employment programming such as:

• Shifting career readiness and work-based learning programs to virtual settings (e.g., new web-based curricula, online mentoring);
• Partnering with high schools and colleges to support learning and class credit recovery for students (e.g. certification courses, boot camps); and
• Focusing on hard-hit career areas that need rebuilding following the COVID-19 crisis (e.g. hospitality and tourism industries, healthcare and caretaking).

Through collaboration across both private and public sectors to provide more young people with summer jobs and career readiness opportunities, this 2021 commitment will impact programs in over 20 U.S. cities including: 

• Baltimore
  • The Baltimore YouthWorks Summer Jobs Program will place 8,000 students in five-week internships in a variety of sectors such as information technology, health care, hospitality and human services. 
  • In addition, the program provides a virtual learning curriculum including time management, goal setting, resume building, conflict resolution, and successfully applying for a job and interviewing for a position in virtual office environment.
• Boston
  • The Boston Private Industry Council’s Tech Apprentice program will place 100+ students in tech-focused internships at local companies this summer. Students will use and develop coding and programming skills, manage websites, learn about and design software user experiences, and assist with IT support across large organizations.
  • Additionally, career specialists will provide job-readiness training to prepare students for their first day in the workplace.
• Chicago:
  • The One Summer Chicago (OSC) Everyone Can Code (ECC) summer youth employment program will provide opportunities for youth in Chicago’s South and West Sides to develop technology skills, gain industry-relevant experiences and credentials and develop work portfolios that will help them transition into post-secondary pathways.
• Dallas:
  • Education is Freedom (EIF) will provide work readiness training to over 1,100 students and placement of 31 paid internships at local companies in high growth, high demand sectors through the facilitation of the Dallas Works Mayor’s Summer Employment Program.
  • Students will gain both virtual and on-site experiences, 35 hours of workforce training, the opportunity to network with 400 interns across the city while learning through hands-on work experiences. The goal is to build a stronger, more inclusive future for students in underserved communities with access to high quality training and work experience.
• Detroit:
  • Detroit’s SYEP, Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT), will offer a virtual 6-week summer work experience to 8,000 students.
  • Connect Detroit partners directly with the City of Detroit and the Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation (DESC) to carry out the program, which has served 30,000 youth since 2009.
• Ft. Lauderdale:
  • The Broward Internship Program will open pathways including career-themed academies in engineering, business and finance, hospitality, health science and information technology.
  • Students will be exposed to industry-validated curriculum that incorporates current industry standards and practices while fostering customer service, employability skills and social capital.
• Hartford:
  • Hartford’s program will support 120 hours of paid work experiences for over 48 youth in the city.
  • The program will engage youth with training and work opportunities as a bridge into continued education or employment. The services provided through the program will also help youth meet basic needs during the summer months, which will be especially important amidst the continued closure and volatility within sectors typically providing summer employment. 
• Houston:
  • The Greater Houston Community Foundation through the City of Houston's Hire Houston Youth SYEP will empower at least 20 youth with fast-track healthcare certification, enrichment, immersion, and opportunities to build their social capital and networks to find a pathway to a healthcare career. 
• Indianapolis:
  • Indiana University (IU) will support the Informatics: Diversity Enhanced Workforce (iDEW) initiative, a SYEP that connects underserved Indianapolis-area high school students with summer jobs in informatics and technology positions focusing on programming language.
  • The program seeks to place 160 students in summer jobs, grow the number of students in the IT jobs and get 50 iDEW students to train, study and sit for industry certifications by the end of the summer.
• Los Angeles:
  • UNITE-LA's STEAM Career Readiness initiative will help young adults develop pathways into high-growth, living wage STEAM careers focused on engaging engineering and biotech industries and providing virtual career awareness, exploration and preparation programming.
• Louisville:
  • The KentuckianaWorks Foundation will help place 38 low to moderate income young adults in summer jobs, providing them with the opportunity to begin earning income, gain exposure to the real-world of work, and learn critical skills for a future stable and promising career.
• Milwaukee:
  • The Milwaukee Area Workforce Funding Alliance will provide employment opportunities for at least 1,000 Milwaukee youth between the ages of 14-24.
• Newark:
  • Newark’s SYEP will focus on providing youth with pathways to advance their financial health and build in-demand skills for the future of the workplace. Participants will receive five hours per week of virtual professional development training, including instructor-led webinars, program mentor offices hours and industry-specific guest panels and speakers.
• New York City:
  • JPMorgan Chase is supporting two programs in the New York City region:
    • The Futures and Options Internship Program will provide career development programming and paid early work experience to high school students, while connecting the business community to a diverse and motivated pool of young workers. The program is designed to address the skills and knowledge gaps low-income youth face when seeking jobs, foster social-emotional growth, provide access to actual paid work opportunities, make the connection between academic and career success, and help build new relationships with peers and adult mentors.
    • The PENCIL Internship Program will support the salaries of 14 interns, and training for 11 interns by PENCIL in paid summer internships.

• Phoenix:
  • The City of Phoenix SYEP, Phoenix Youth R.I.S.E. (Reach and Invest in Summer Employment), will deploy a digital and in-person summer youth employment program for youth and young people, ages 16 to 24. The program provides paid employment opportunities for youth and young adults to work with employer partners during the summer and includes work readiness training, professional mentorship, career exploration, work experience, and social and emotional support.
  • Phoenix Youth R.I.S.E. helps build pathways to success through education, skill-building and employment. The exploration and educational activities will include presentations from local employers in high demand sectors, as well as coursework offered through an online learning platform to help guide students in pursuing skills training for jobs in high demand sectors.
• Pittsburgh:
  • Pittsburgh’s 2021 Summer Learn & Earn Program will provide support for a total of nearly 1,700 Pittsburgh and Allegheny County underserved youth through a 6-week paid summer internship program in growing occupations in the Pittsburgh region, work-readiness and financial literacy training, 25 hours per week of subsidized employment, mentoring and soft skill development.
• Portland:
  • Worksystems will deliver a summer work experience program for youth that has been adapted to the COVID-19 environment. Young people will learn workplace and technical skills that will prepare them to be successful on the job when the economy reopens.
• Sacramento:
  • SMCF will help 50 students complete their workforce training curriculum to get paid work experience. The program focuses on students who have been impacted by factors like child abuse and neglect, domestic and sexual violence, substance abuse, incarceration, homelessness, and mental health illness, and strives to interrupt this cycle by combining coordinated diversion and referral partnerships with other non-profits and public agencies.
• Southwest Washington Region
  • SummerWorks will help non-profits and businesses meet the emerging and increasing needs of the local community by providing them with interns, helping underserved youth to build skills and their social capital.
• St. Louis
  • St. Louis Youth Jobs (STLYJ) will support the summer Career Accelerator Program, which provides career readiness, mentorship and pathway aligned internships to STLYJ alumni. In response to COVID-19, STLYJ has adapted programming to provide virtual career readiness training, virtual and in-person internship opportunities, as well as wrap-around supportive services for youth with higher barriers to entry.

Quotes for Media Use

“Between persistent racial injustice, the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic downturn, it’s been a challenging time for families across the country,” said Linda M. Rodríguez, Executive Director, Global Philanthropy, JPMorgan Chase. “And especially in under resourced communities, young people are being hit particularly hard. That’s why JPMorgan Chase is working with cities to address this problem by identifying innovative strategies for reconnecting young people to work-based learning experiences. Summer jobs provide students with a meaningful learning work-based experience, source of income, chance to build professional networks, and pride in their ability to contribute to their families and communities.”

“When young people get a summer job, they gain more than work experience -- they build a firm foundation for economic growth, career development, and lifelong success,” said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. “As our cities and communities start to emerge from this pandemic, JPMorgan Chase’s partnership is tackling an essential part of our recovery: investing in equity, breaking down barriers for underserved families, and offering our youth the hands-on education they need to prepare for the opportunities of tomorrow.”

History of Supporting Workers

This investment is a part of JPMorgan Chase’s $350M New Skills at Work program, including the firm’s $17 million, five-year commitment to U.S. cities working to increase the number of teens with access to quality summer work experiences that put them on a path to greater economic mobility. Over the past seven years, the firm has helped more than 150,000 people across 37 countries develop in-demand skills for jobs in growing industries. This nationwide effort continues to equip young people with the skills and experiences they need to succeed and bridge the gap between the demand for summer jobs and the number of available positions. 

Today’s commitment builds on JPMorgan Chase’s continued commitment to supporting opportunities for Black and Latinx communities and young people. In October 2020, the firm announced a $30 billion commitment over five years to provide economic opportunity to underserved communities, especially the Black and Latinx communities, and drive an inclusive economic recovery.

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About JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.7 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management. A component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average, JPMorgan Chase & Co. serves millions of customers in the United States and many of the world’s most prominent corporate, institutional and government clients under its J.P. Morgan and Chase brands. Information about JPMorgan Chase & Co. is available at www.jpmorganchase.com.