Staying in School Isn’t Enough

Kids Also Need To Learn How to Get a Job—and How To Keep It

I’m the founder and CEO of the Youth Action Project, a San Bernardino non-profit that aims to help hundreds of youth get their homework done, learn the skills and habits they need, graduate from high school, and then, by age 25, own their own business or have meaningful career options. Every year we also engage the services of about 50 volunteers from the community to act as mentors, offering life skills training and academic coaching.

Non-profits in this area are stretched thin. In 2009 the James Irvine Foundation did a study …