Published
October 15, 2014
by Oscar Rennebohm Foundation
Madison, Wisconsin- The Boys & Girls Club of Dane County (BGCDC) in partnership with the Urban League of Greater Madison (UGLM) and The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation (ORF) will come together to announce a $300,000 grant from the ORF that will help both agencies boost internships, employment and career training over the next three years. The grant will support the two organizations as they collaborate to leverage each agency’s strengths on a two-generational strategy to build a world-class Dane County workforce that is inclusive now and into the future.
The BGCDC will provide 675 paid internships, career exploration and employment connections over the next 3 years for high school and college students enrolled in BGC Programming. These young people will be paid $8.00 to $15.00 an hour. The ULGM will more than double the number of low-income parents and other adults served through its employment and training programs with a goal of ensuring at least 1,500 people secure new or better family-supporting jobs by 2020.
This investment from the Rennebohm Foundation matches other recent public and private investments in the two organizations’ expansion strategies. It also will help leverage the additional funds needed to support both organizations’ plans over the next three years.
The agencies will hold a press conference on Tuesday, February 3, 2015 at 1:00 PM to publicly make this announcement at UW Health/ UW Medical Foundation located at UW Health Court, Middleton WI 53562
The BGCDC will work with more than 30 different local businesses, including the Dane County Government College Internship Program and businesses like American Girl, Saris Cycling Group, Fiskars, Great Lakes Higher Education Guaranty Corporation, BMO Harris Bank and UW Hospital & Clinics. The Urban League will expand from helping roughly 140 low-income parents and other adults secure new or better jobs over the last few years to 200 people in 2015, 250 in 2016, and 1,500 by 2020.
“We are excited about putting hundreds of young people to work so they can gain meaningful work experiences to prepare them for great futures,” said Michael Johnson, President and CEO of Boys & Girls Club of Dane County.
“This investment will help the Urban League expand its partnerships with employers to ensure a diverse, world-class workforce in local key industries such as health care, customer service and sales, construction trades, and information technology. It will also help us sharpen our focus on serving parents of low-income public school students and other adults to ensure more economically stable and self-sufficient families and communities, ” said Noble Wray, Board Member and former interim CEO, Urban League of Greater Madison.
These students will explore a number of careers from developing marketing materials for new products, web design, building indoor cycles, examining and diagnosing animals to event planning, exploring diagnostics and providing financial services.
Key Facts:
* Teenagers (16-19) holding a summer job declined from 53% in 2000 to 22% in 2012 according to the Brookings Institute Is this nationally or Dane County?
* According the 2013 Race to Equity report, African Americans in Dane County had a 25.2% unemployment rate, making them almost 5.5 times more likely to be jobless than their white neighbors; a disparity higher than the state and the nation.
* Nationally, the teen unemployment rate went up in January 2014 to 20.7 from 20.2% in December 2013
If you are interested in sponsoring/hosting an internship, if your company is looking for talented employees, or if you know a student or adult who would like to participate in one of the programs, please contact:
Boys & Girls Club TOPS Program & Internships Manager: Ronnicia Johnson-Walker at rjohnsonwalker@bgcdc.org
Urban League of Greater Madison: Edward Lee, elee@ulgm.org
Attending the Press Conference:
About the Oscar Rennebohm Foundation
The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation was established in 1949 by Oscar Rennebohm, founder of the Rennebohm Drug Store chain in Madison. Rennebohm was a successful businessman and generous philanthropist, who also served as Wisconsin governor and as the president of the UW Board of Regents. The Oscar Rennebohm Foundation funds projects in the Madison area with emphasis on four areas: education and research, the disadvantaged, health services and the community.
About the Boys & Girls Club of Dane County
The Boys & Girls Club of Dane County is a not-for-profit youth development organization that serves nearly 3,000 young people every year. The Club’s vision is to inspire and empower all young people; especially those who need us the most to reach their full potential as productive, responsible and caring adults through quality programs. Boys & Girls Club of Dane County’s mission is to be the leader in youth development programs by developing partnerships to produce positive outcomes for young people, families and communities. For additional information about our Clubs and programs please visit: www.bgcdc.org .
About the Urban League of Greater Madison
The Urban League of Greater Madison’s mission is to ensure that African Americans and other community members are educated, employed and empowered to live well, advance professionally and contribute to the common good in the 21st Century. We are committed to transforming Greater Madison into the Best [place] in the Midwest for everyone to live, learn, and work. We are working to make this vision a reality through a comprehensive strategic empowerment agenda that includes programs & services, advocacy, and partnerships & coalition building. www.ulgm.org