Jobs Not Guns Coalition hosts career-building workshop for Wards 7 and 8 youth

By Megan Sayles 
AFRO Business Writer
msayles@afro.com

The Jobs Not Guns Coalition welcomed students from Wards 7 and 8 to a career-building workshop on May 15. The event was designed to expose youth to job opportunities, skills training, career advice and support services. 

The coalition intentionally chose to focus on communities east of the Anacostia River as youth there tend to be associated with negative narratives that do not paint the full picture. 

“We focus on the high schools and middle schools inside Wards 7 and 8 because that’s where the concentration of negativity is, and it’s a misnomer,” said Dottie Love Wade, event coordinator. 

Conversations about Southeast D.C. are typically tied to high crime rates and concentrations of poverty without consideration for the area’s successes. 

“They don’t recognize the outstanding accomplishments of the high school students or focus on the number of students who graduate and attend college,” said Wade. “They don’t focus on the fact that even though young people make errors they come back and correct themselves.” 

Two local employers that spoke at the workshop included Pepco and Busboys and Poets. Brittny Pinto, workforce development manager at Pepco, highlighted the utility company’s participation in the D.C. Public Schools Career Bridge Program for high school seniors. 

Through the program, Pepco prepares students for full-time positions in operations departments, including overhead and underground line work, transmission and substation, meters and fleet. Students interview with Pepco and its partner contractors at the close of the program. 

“We just finished up our spring semester with a group of students this year. We’re hoping that all eight of them will be coming to work for us in the fall, straight out of high school. That’s pretty unheard of for a lot of jobs now,” said Pinto. “The jobs they’re getting hired for are not minimum wage jobs. These are jobs that you can come into making $85,000 to $90,000 within your first year.” 

Ashley Bethel, director of events for Busboys and Poets, shared her journey from starting as a host at the restaurant to transitioning to the corporate side of the business as a director. She said the hospitality industry enables people to earn steady money while working toward other passions. 

“One of the beautiful things about the service industry is it allows you to pursue other dreams while bringing in money,” said Bethel. “You can come in for four or five hours, leave making $300 that day and go pursue some other opportunities.” 

Busboys and Poets is also a part of the Marion S. Barry Summer Youth Employment Program. Through it, students can participate in marketing, information technology and social media internships. 

“We look for people who have a vision or an idea, and we try to give them the support to pursue that,” said Bethel.

Wade thinks experiences like the career workshop can be even more beneficial than classroom subjects as they equip students with possibilities—they have the opportunity to discover attainable career paths for themselves. 

“The thing I hope they take away is that there are options other than violence, outside of what they have been exposed to and outside of east of the river,” said Wade. “If we can get them to change their focus to a positive trajectory for their lives, we will be successful.” 

Megan Sayles is a Report for America corps member.