A youthful buzz was almost palpable Thursday morning during a gathering of job seekers at a Midtown event venue, generating an upbeat energy that seemed to vibrate through the space without revealing its source.
The acoustics at Crosstown Concourse, a mixed-use high-rise where the event was held, can sometimes sound like an echo chamber in places. But mostly, it was the unmistakable hum of young people in motion: conversations bouncing across the room, laughter, applause and the restless anticipation of something about to happen.
Then, the host for the youth-oriented confab grabbed the microphone. Within minutes, she had the room chanting a call-and-response: “Next Up! 901!”
But the event was not a party or a pep rally. The young adults filling the room were there for jobs, training, internships and information to help them answer one of life’s most pressing questions: What do you want to be when you grow up?
NextUp901, a new citywide workforce initiative led by The Collective Blueprint, a 10-year-old career readiness nonprofit, was created in partnership with the city of Memphis, job training providers and local employers. And it was the reason the bubbly young adults had come together.
The initiative aims to create a single “front door” that connects adults 18 to 30 years old with free career workshops and coaching, paid training and employment opportunities in various fields, including healthcare, technology and the skilled trades.
One front door
“Talent is everywhere in Memphis,” said Mae Abdelrahman, chief of staff for The Collective Blueprint. “But opportunity — real, sustained opportunity — is not.”
NextUp901 is designed to tackle a longstanding problem that workforce organizations face. Memphis may have training programs, employers looking for workers and young adults looking for direction, but those pieces often struggle to find one another.
“Think of it as our city’s front door to a real career,” Abdelrahman said. “No more wondering where to start or what to apply for. No more questioning, ‘Is this program legit?’”
The nonprofit’s approach is simple: one website, one application and access to multiple career pathways.
Applications officially opened Thursday, Sept. 10, at NextUp901.org.
After completing an online application, the program offers training with career coaching to selected candidates, along with support intended to address some of the barriers to job success such as transportation, childcare and counseling that can derail young adults before a job opportunity ever materializes.
NextUp901 is looking to help 1,000 young adults achieve financial success annually, Abdelrahman said, for the next five years for a total of 5,000.
(Lee Eric Smith/Tri-State Defender)
‘Essential city infrastructure’
For Memphis Mayor Paul Young, the initiative is about more than workforce development.
“When our young people have more opportunity, everything changes,” Young said.
He told the crowd that young people often make decisions based only on the limited options they see in front of them.
“If you only see one pathway to get to success, then that’s the one you’re going to take,” he said. “It’s incumbent upon all of us to make sure that all of our young people know all of the paths.”
That means employers have a role, too. Young urged businesses to offer entry-level and middle-skill jobs, internships and job-shadowing opportunities, and to recruit other employers for the effort.
“I want you all to treat this like it is essential city infrastructure, just like sewer and water,” Young said, “because that’s exactly what this is.”
Although he did not give a dollar figure, Young said the city’s contribution to the program came through Memphis City Council from the general fund, alongside other grant funding raised by the career readiness nonprofit.
The return on that investment, he said, should come in the form of a stronger workforce that can attract more jobs, increase incomes and perhaps even produce new businesses.
“We know that it takes money to operate programs like this,” Young said, “but we also know that it’s going to pay dividends long-term for our city.”
Training meets opportunity
Launch partners for NextUp901 are Tech901 and William R. Moore College of Technology, which provide job training in technology and skilled trades.
Kate Lareau, director of grants and compliance at Moore Tech and a member of the career-readiness nonprofit’s board, pointed to a contradictory reality: Employers are hiring and training programs are operating, but many seats remain unfilled.
“Great programs, great placement rates, and our grads are making seriously great money. And yet there are still empty seats,” Lareau said. “NextUp901 is the bridge between young Memphians and those empty seats.”
Aaron Lamey, executive director of Tech901, said demand is growing for skills in areas such as cybersecurity, artificial intelligence and digital literacy. But for many potential workers, the obstacle is not ability.
“The talent is here in Memphis,” Lamey said. “It’s here in this room right now.”
What gets in the way, he said, can be unreliable transportation or childcare, significant family obligations or not knowing how to access the opportunity.
That was reflected in conversations around the room. A group of program participants enthusiastically ticked off the support they had received — coaching, counseling, help with transportation and assistance navigating personal needs.
One said the experience helped her move from uncertainty about her future to knowing what she wants to pursue. Another gave an enthusiastic shoutout to one of the program’s staff members for the emotional and practical support participants had received.
From bartending to Baked Blessings
For Vrevin Robinson, NextUp901 is helping her think about career possibilities even as she creates an opportunity of her own.
Robinson, a member of the inaugural class of the Career Experience Program for adults 18 to 24, launched Baked Blessings in April. Before starting her at-home bakery, she had spent years working as a bartender. Baking began with experimentation.
“It’s been a lot of trial and error,” Robinson said, laughing. “I’ve burnt up a lot of things. It’s been smoky in the kitchen a couple times.”
But she kept at it.
“I like making things. I like art. I’m a creator,” she said.
One of her specialties is a strawberry cookie loaded with Golden Oreos and white chocolate chips that apparently made an impression on The Collective Blueprint staff after Robinson shared a box of her specialty treats.
Alex Robinson, manager of young adult programs for the nonprofit, recalled spotting the professional-looking box and assuming Vrevin had stopped at a bakery before arriving at the nonprofit’s office.
She hadn’t.
The bakery, baked goods and the box all belonged to Vrevin.
Vrevin was among more than 100 young adults who had spent the previous four weeks in the program, working on professionalism, communication and other career-readiness skills before beginning internships earning $17 an hour, Alex Robinson said.
Vrevin said the program has strengthened her confidence and ability to socialize professionally, skills that will serve her whether her next step is working for an employer or growing Baked Blessings.
For her, the bigger idea behind NextUp901 may be that opportunity does not mean waiting for someone to open a door.
“You can wait for things, and maybe they will come,” Vrevin said. “But in reality, if you want something, you have to go out and get it. You have to create it for yourself.”
Sometimes, she added, that is harder than expected.
“But if you remain persistent and just go after what you want,” she said, “you can have anything.”
