Our Next Generation, a nonprofit organization that provides academic mentoring and support programs for Milwaukee urban youth, recently held a job fair with more than 30 area professionals (VIDEO)
Our Next Generation, a nonprofit organization that provides academic mentoring and support programs for Milwaukee urban youth, recently held a job fair with more than 30 area professionals. John Cain, managing partner at Khaler Slater Architects in Milwaukee and a mentor for Our Next Generation organized the second annual job fair.
“The need is quite obvious,” Cain said. “I had been mentoring students at Our next Generation on my own and finally we just decided it would be beneficial to do it on a larger scale.”
At the job fair, students are invited and encouraged to sit face-to-face with Milwaukee area professionals from a variety of different careers, Cain said.
“It’s a great opportunity for our kids,” said Robert Dunn, president and chief executive officer of Our Next Generation. “They are at a stage in their life where they are deciding what they want to do with their lives after high school and this is a great opportunity for them to get a chance to talk with area professionals and learn not only about careers they knew they were interested in but also others they may not have known they’d be interested in.”
The job fair featured professionals from careers named by the children as careers they were interested in, Cain said.
“We managed to get representatives from most of the careers our students expressed interest in,” Cain said. “But we also have representatives from a variety of careers that weren’t necessarily mentioned.”
More than 30 Milwaukee area professionals from industries like the culinary arts, professional sports, music, police force, armed forces, dance, software development, science and technology, electricians, engineers, social services, the medical profession and others were all represented at the job fair, Cain said.
According to Dunn, Our Next Generation serves nearly 600 neighborhood children from more than 25 schools throughout the inner city. Children participate in a variety of different programs including Homework Club, learning centers, transitions, High School Connection and Outbound Tutoring Programs with companies like Manpower Inc., St. John’s on the Lake and the University School of Milwaukee.
“Programs like the job fair provide an opportunity for our kids to get in front of the business community, but it also provides an opportunity for the business community to learn more about our kids and what this organization is about as well.”
In the future Dunn hopes to be able to expand services like the Outbound Tutoring Program into more companies in addition to Manpower Inc., he said.
“Ideally we’d have a variety of businesses that would be willing to work with our students as mentors to help teach them the necessary skills and importance of workplace ethic,” Dunn said. “We’re in the process of looking for more companies to work with and we’re looking forward to providing more opportunities for our youth as well as the business community.”
Those interested in forming possible partnerships with youth at Our Next Generation can contact Dunn by email at rdunn@ongkids.org. To learn more about the Job Fair held at Our Next Generation earlier this week, click on the video below.
“It’s a great opportunity for our kids,” said Robert Dunn, president and chief executive officer of Our Next Generation. “They are at a stage in their life where they are deciding what they want to do with their lives after high school and this is a great opportunity for them to get a chance to talk with area professionals and learn not only about careers they knew they were interested in but also others they may not have known they’d be interested in.”
The job fair featured professionals from careers named by the children as careers they were interested in, Cain said.
“We managed to get representatives from most of the careers our students expressed interest in,” Cain said. “But we also have representatives from a variety of careers that weren’t necessarily mentioned.”
More than 30 Milwaukee area professionals from industries like the culinary arts, professional sports, music, police force, armed forces, dance, software development, science and technology, electricians, engineers, social services, the medical profession and others were all represented at the job fair, Cain said.
According to Dunn, Our Next Generation serves nearly 600 neighborhood children from more than 25 schools throughout the inner city. Children participate in a variety of different programs including Homework Club, learning centers, transitions, High School Connection and Outbound Tutoring Programs with companies like Manpower Inc., St. John’s on the Lake and the University School of Milwaukee.
“Programs like the job fair provide an opportunity for our kids to get in front of the business community, but it also provides an opportunity for the business community to learn more about our kids and what this organization is about as well.”
In the future Dunn hopes to be able to expand services like the Outbound Tutoring Program into more companies in addition to Manpower Inc., he said.
“Ideally we’d have a variety of businesses that would be willing to work with our students as mentors to help teach them the necessary skills and importance of workplace ethic,” Dunn said. “We’re in the process of looking for more companies to work with and we’re looking forward to providing more opportunities for our youth as well as the business community.”
Those interested in forming possible partnerships with youth at Our Next Generation can contact Dunn by email at rdunn@ongkids.org. To learn more about the Job Fair held at Our Next Generation earlier this week, click on the video below.
