In the eighth of its series of SOS webinars, Associated Black Charities (ABC) is offering Youth Employment Power and Safety Amidst Covid-19 and Racism. The December 3rd virtual meeting isat12 Noon-1:30pm. Click here for free registration.

According to Diane Bell McKoy, CEO of ABC, “ We at Associated Black Charities (ABC) and the broader community, during an era of COVID or no COVID - must not assume that training Black youth for the future is the same as training Black adults. Join us and hear from Black youth directly.”

Moderator Albert Phillips Jr. is a work-based learning specialist with Baltimore City Public Schools. He also just published Y’all Hiring?: The Black Teen’s Guide to Navigating Employment.. The Morgan State graduate blends his primary career passion from writing for numerous local and national publications with the development of inner-city youth. He served various roles working directly with Baltimore City youth while employed by the YMCA, Big Brothers Big Sisters, and the Choice Program. In 2015, he earned a state and national award for exemplary community service throughout Baltimore City.

Phillips will lead a panel including youth workers Klause Ferrell, Art with a Heart; Lee Palmer who is a manager at CUPS Coffeehouse; and Taylor Williams, Baltimore Youth Arts.

Other panelists are Nick Brooks, Workforce Development Coordinator, Youth Empowered Society Drop-In Center; and Christina Ralls, Director of Workforce Development and Social Enterprise, Art with a Heart. They will discuss how young workers of color face compounding dangers from COVID-19 and racism. With their essential role in our economy and future these young people do not receive the supports to carry this burden.

The solutions focused event will lay out what youth workers need from employers and service providers, and what participants can do to support youth and youth-serving organizations.

ABC works across Maryland as an educator, advocate, and supporter to eliminate race-based structural barriers and advance long-term solutions that create new opportunities for African Americans to thrive financially and build a stronger economy for all.