August Newsletter
What’s Happening at NYEC: August 2026
One Month Countdown! 2026 D.C. Summit: Bridging Practice to Policy
September 21–23, 2026 | Washington, D.C.
Join community leaders and young people from across the country to connect directly with policymakers to highlight the successes, challenges, and opportunities in advancing economic mobility and social well-being for young people.
Register by September 7th! Grab your discounted hotel room by August 29th!
Employer Engagement Insights: Building Stronger Employer
Partnerships Together
Employers across the country are facing one of their greatest workforce challenges in years—finding, developing, and retaining talent. At the same time, community-based organizations are
preparing thousands of young adults with the skills, coaching, and support needed to succeed in
today’s workplace. As employers rethink how they build sustainable talent pipelines, there is a
growing opportunity to better connect these two realities. Community-based organizations are
uniquely positioned to become strategic workforce partners, helping employers build the talent
pipelines they need while expanding career opportunities for young adults.
Across NYEC’s conversations with employers, one message continues to emerge: businesses are looking
for more than candidates. They’re looking for trusted partners who can help them build stronger, more
sustainable talent pipelines.
That need has never been greater. According to ManpowerGroup’s latest Global Talent Shortage Survey,
77% of employers report difficulty filling open positions—prompting many organizations to rethink how
they recruit, develop, and retain talent.
Every day, CBOs prepare young adults for careers through work readiness, career exploration, coaching,
mentoring, and ongoing support. From an employer’s perspective, these aren’t simply workforce programs
—they’re workforce solutions that help employers identify emerging talent, strengthen retention, and build
long-term workforce capacity.
This fall, NYEC will continue these conversations through our Employer Champion Coalition and Employer
Roundtable Series, bringing employers together to discuss workforce challenges, share promising
practices, and explore how stronger partnerships with community-based organizations can help meet
today’s hiring needs.
As these conversations continue, we’d like to showcase the expertise within our own membership.
Before the Strategy Comes the Shared Understanding
Communities across the country are eager to tackle complex challenges facing young people. Whether the
focus is housing stability, workforce development, education, or economic mobility, there is often a desire
to move quickly from identifying a problem to developing solutions. While momentum is important, one
lesson continues to emerge from NYEC’s work with communities nationwide: effective strategies begin
with a shared understanding of the system.
Communities are rich with expertise. Service providers, educators, employers, government agencies,
philanthropies, and young people each experience the system from a different perspective. No single
organization sees the entire picture. Bringing those perspectives together through intentional listening and
structured assessment creates an opportunity to understand not only where challenges exist, but also
where strengths can be leveraged.
Community assessments are often viewed as the first deliverable in a planning process. In reality, they are
much more than a report. They provide a structured way for partners to examine existing relationships,
identify opportunities for stronger coordination, and establish a common understanding of the
environment before setting priorities.
This approach reflects an important principle of systems change. Sustainable improvement is built on
both evidence and experience. Quantitative data helps identify patterns and trends, while conversations
with practitioners and community members provide the context needed to understand why those patterns
exist. Together, these forms of knowledge create a stronger foundation for decision making than either
could provide independently.
Just as important, the assessment process builds something that cannot be captured in a report:
relationships. When partners have the opportunity to listen to one another, validate different perspectives,
and develop a shared understanding of the challenges they face, they begin building the trust necessary
for long-term collaboration. The conversations themselves become part of the change process
POLICY SPOTLIGHT
Bipartisan Senate Appropriations Leaders Announce Stopgap
Funding Deal
Senate Appropriations Committee leaders, Senator Susan Collins (R-ME) and Senator Patty Murray (D-WA), announced that they have reached a bipartisan agreement to continue level-funding for all federal
programs through December 11. As a reminder, Congress must pass an appropriations bill (funding bill) by
September 30 in order to avert a government shutdown. Because Congress needs more time to reach a
final Fiscal Year 2027 appropriations deal, the Senators announced an agreement to pass a continuing
resolution through December 11, which would maintain funding for all federal programs through then. The
Senate and House are on recess through September, so they will need to vote on this measure when they
return. It is likely that this deal – or something very close to it – will pass when they return.
Congratulations to NYEC & IRSJA’s Youth Voices Film Showcase Winners
The Second Annual Youth Voices Film Showcase celebrates the creativity, perspectives, and lived experiences of young people through the power of film and storytelling. Young people have important stories to tell, and their voices deserve to be heard, valued, and included in the conversations that shape our communities and our future. Creative arts provide young people with a powerful way to express themselves, share their experiences, explore the issues that matter to them, and invite others to see the world through their eyes.
We are honored to celebrate the young filmmakers who took the time, courage, and creativity to share their stories with us.
We also recognize the organizations, mentors, educators, families, and communities that helped create space for
young people to develop their talents and bring their ideas to life. Thank you to every young person who submitted a film. Your stories, perspectives, and creativity remind us why youth voice matters.
Our responsibility goes beyond simply listening. We are here to listen, learn, and act upon what young people are telling us. Their experiences and ideas should inform the conversations, programs, and policies that shape their lives and their futures. This year, we were also intentional about connecting the showcase to the theme of youth workforce development. We are incredibly proud that so many of the films and stories that rose to the top reflected a connection to work, opportunity, perseverance, identity, community, and the experiences that shape young people’s pathways into adulthood and the workforce.
We also wanted to recognize that storytelling takes many forms. This year, we created two tracks—the Film Track and the Storytelling Track—to celebrate the different ways young people can use their voices. The Film Track highlights young people with the ability to bring their ideas to life through filmmaking, visual storytelling, and technical skills. The Storytelling Track recognizes those who have a powerful ability to communicate a message, share an experience, and use their stories as a form of advocacy.
Of our Top 10 submissions, seven are filmmakers and three are storytellers. While their approaches may be different, they share something important: a willingness to use their creativity and their voice to tell us something that matters. We are also incredibly grateful to the people who helped make this showcase possible.
Thank you to our judges—Samson Styles, Xochitl Torres, Jlove Calderon, and Cameron Carr—for sharing your time, expertise, and perspective and for helping us recognize and celebrate the incredible talent represented in this year’s submissions and to our planning committee for your thoughtfulness, collaboration, and commitment to creating a space where young people can share their stories, creativity, and perspectives.
“We, the youth, are the ones who will have to live in this future. It’s up to us to improve the present and make
sure our voices are heard to create the future we want to live in.” – Imani Laird
OUR WINNERS
| 1st Place: Washington Park: Beyond The Court JaMiracle White | Atlanta, Georgia 2nd Place: Is the American Dream Still Attainable? Imani Laird | Newton, Massachusetts 3rd Place: Perseverance Devontay Brown | Lansing, Michigan |
HONORABLE MENTIONS
| Grief: Ellie Jackson | Salt Lake City, Utah UNSEEN, BUT HERE: Ahmed Almarfadi | Seattle, Washington Bulletproof: William Jones | Lansing, Michigan Old Souls: Angelica Pelaez | Tucson, Arizona For Those Who Care: Anthony St.Clair | East Orange, New Jersey The Golden Fleece: Samarah Bently | New Orleans, Louisiana The Last Hit: Jeriah McMillan | Louisville, Kentucky |
Read More about Our three winners and view our program to see the list of our top ten films who were screened and awarded an honorable mention ‘on the vineyard.’ Following this screening the 3 final submissions will be screened for a second time at the NYEC D.C. Summit. Congratulations to all, and thank you to ALL of the young people who submitted!
Program can be found – HERE.
We encourage you to attend the 2026 D.C. Summit to see the top 3 films from the showcase.
Member Highlight: Piers Park Sailing Summer Youth Employment Program
As part of the Workforce Innovation Symposium, we had the pleasure of visiting our coalition members Piers Park Sailing Center . It serves asone of the City of Boston’s Summer Youth Employment Program sites amongst other year-round programming. This site visit was an exciting endeavor alongside fellow members from the City of Boston, D.C. Department of Employment Services, KentuckianaWorks, and core partners from the City of East Orange and City of Atlanta.
Piers Park represents what’s possible when we make strong investments in young people—creating meaningful career pathways, building skills and confidence, and providing a bridge to opportunity from adolescence into the workforce. Their Summer Youth Employment Program is a powerful asset for youth engagement and a great example of how workforce programs can connect young people to hands-on experiences, supportive mentors, and new possibilities.
We had a wonderful time out on the water with Piers Park’s teen leaders and are grateful to have Piers Park as part of our coalition. A special thank you to Omar Sahrour, Education Director and our sailing instructors for showing us the ropes (and sails!) and making our visit such a memorable experience!
Stay Connected: Join NYEC!
Join the National Youth Employment Coalition to access member-exclusive policy updates, resources, learning opportunities, and a national network advancing pathways to education, employment, and economic opportunity for young people. Join NYEC today!