Connecting Youth to Jobs And Career Pathways

Perhaps, if you were watching the Giants and Padres play in Oracle Park one recent evening, you might have seen a shy but enthusiastic teen named Felix selling ice cream to shivering fans. He turned the “I scream, you scream” ice cream song on its head, getting fans to end it with “we all scream at Padres fans!”

Felix, who emigrated from Ghana as a kid, credits his grace under pressure to his mother, who instilled in him a sense of joy and possibility, and to Juma Ventures, the nonprofit program that hired and placed him in this job.

Juma began in San Francisco in 1993, with a single ice cream store employing homeless youth. That experiment provided anecdotal proof of what the data now clearly shows – early job success for underserved youth is a critical indicator for future work and educational achievement.

Today, Juma’s social enterprise model has given almost 10,000 young people their first jobs, not just in San Francisco but in San Jose, Sacramento, Seattle, Houston, and Atlanta. Many of those jobs are partnerships with major sports franchises like the Giants, or at its 20 social enterprise operations, including Steep, a boba and ice cream shop in San Francisco’s SoMa neighborhood. Founded by Juma alumni Angela and Alvin Yu, Steep will serve as Juma’s first youth-focused Management and Leadership Training Lab.

For CEO Adriane Gamble Armstrong, Juma’s success is wrapped up in the commitment of the young people it works with, and the quality of their work. “Employee satisfaction is through the roof,” Gamble Armstrong says. “And there is very little employee turnover.”

For employers who hire Juma youth, there is yet another return on investment: the opportunity to learn from an organization that has turned its emphasis on diversity, equity, and inclusion into an economic asset. 

“Companies are trying to create supportive workplaces for an increasingly diverse workforce,” Armstrong says. “We can help make that happen.” 

Felix’s post-ballpark journey led to a mentorship opportunity with investment firm Farallon Capital, and he was beaming with excitement after receiving a letter of acceptance from Brown University. He credits Juma with helping him build a resumé and giving him the financial and public engagement skills that will help him no matter what he does next.