Partners in Innovative Initiatives

Three major organizations have joined together and helped develop a unique partnership that symbolizes the innovation encouraged by the Detroit Youth Employment Consortium’s effort. Among their youth employment and related initiatives:

Johnson Controls

Based in Milwaukee, the company contributed $300,000 to the 2009 summer employment of Detroit youth to help support the Conservation Leadership Corps. First established in Milwaukee in 2006, the Corps was successfully replicated in Baltimore before it began in Michigan last year. Through the Corps, economically disadvantaged high school students are hired to work in county parks on projects such as removal of invasive species, the building of trails and bridges, planting trees, digging ditches, and other environmental activism. Last year, 89 Corps participants in Detroit restored and maintained natural areas and parklands in city and state parks. Additional Johnson-sponsored programs include the “A World in Motion” Society for Automotive Engineers program that pairs Johnson Controls employees with students to encourage them in pursuing math, science and engineering and the “Jet Toy Olympics,” in which students will build and race mechanical devices in contests with other schools.

Greening of Detroit

A partner with Johnson Controls and the Student Conservancy Association in the Conservation Leadership Corps, the organization sponsors the Green Corps Youth Employment and Environmental Leadership Program. A non-profit effort developed 11 years ago, the initiative emphasizes tree-planting and maintenance, along with education and training in streetscape developments, community gardens, neighborhood park and playground restoration projects and work-force development. The Green Corps also hosts a free summer camp. Largely volunteer-led, the Green Corps recruits high school youth and trains them in urban ecology, which relates to job opportunities in the field of environmental protection.

Student Conservancy Association

Also a partner in the Conservation Leadership Corps, the Association provides summer projects, year-round work opportunities and internships designed to teach young people about preserving and protecting natural and cultural resources. Targeting high school students in major cities where environment-related job opportunities may be under-promoted, the Association connects youth with natural resource management professionals and instructs them in trail-building, wildfire prevention, land restoration and habitat protection. National work crews and community programs are highlighted, and students 18 and older are encouraged to explore both short-term and long-term employment.