WHAT WE DO
Become a Sponsor today!
Hire Locally was created as a Pilot for a Social Lab sponsored by the Chicago Community Trust in 2017. Through survey research, the data collected suggested that young men and women between the ages of 16-26 in the Bronzeville neighborhoods of Chicago were either unemployed or underemployed due to a lack of access to career fields of their choice. A workshop was held to bring together a focus group of both young people and community stakeholders to begin to discuss ways to address this issue and develop an action plan. Out of this workshop, Hire Locally was conceived.
Hire Locally is a paid internship model that allows disconnected youth access to small business internships based on their work experience and career interests. While there are internship based employment models that exist in Chicago, many of them don’t extend their services to youth that are older than 18 or to those that are not currently in school.
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Our Interns at Work
Hire Locally is unique for the following reasons:
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1. We offer opportunities to this displaced population
2. We utilize a ‘matching process’ as opposed to a random approach of placing Interns
3. Workforce training around soft skill development is mandatory for each Intern
4. Each Intern will be assisted by a Coach in designing a personal action plan
5. As part of the matching process, both the Business Owners and Interns are surveyed prior to the appointment to gain understanding of the specific needs of the Business Owner and to attain knowledge of the work experience and
career interests possessed by each Intern
What your sponsorship supports:
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The cost of Intern stipends for 7 weeks of Summer program related activities
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Capacity building for small business owners in Chicago
THE COMMISSION
The Commission is a coalition of aspiring artists and entertainment professionals. Members have demonstrated a Mastery of the fundamental & basic skill sets needed for their particular artform. UYEC Mentors and resources are provided to assist with developing their craft & careers.
