What is the Youth Leadership & Development Program?
The Youth Leadership & Development Program is a non-artistic program by UNITY that aims to help young people who want to improve their soft skills and learn how to start and manage a business. The program teaches behavior skills such as self-discipline, respect, etiquette, and decorum. The program also develops leadership and communication skills that boost self-confidence. The program follows a structure and discipline that promotes excellence in all aspects of life and equips students with the business vocabulary needed to compete in the business world. The program supports academic achievement, good citizenship, and good behavior. The program prepares young people for the professional world and equips them with the skills to thrive in a technologically advanced society.
Building Your Character, One Brick at a Time (BC Training Course) – Teaching students the importance of building a character that supports and sustains a successful life.
Communication, Leadership, and Impact (CLI Training) – Exposing students to leadership training that educates them on how to live to give, serve, and add value to others. Preparing them to be ahead of the game, so they are not playing catchup in adulthood but can compete in a fast-moving society.
Empowerment Weekend Break Out Group Sessions – Various age groups of students assemble to participate in activities and workshops conducted by business professionals and community members on topics relevant to their ages. This auxiliary program allows our students to improve their social and communication skills as they participate in these empowering group sessions.
Seasonal Training Classes – UNITY will provide various short-term training classes designed to expose and ignite our students’ interest in computer technology, database design, digital audio and video, photography and graphic design, sound production, and many other exciting disciplines.
Business Round Table Forums – These roundtable forums introduce our young students to the invisible corporate and professional world that many never see in a lifetime or not until they attend college. Exposing our students to Business Owners, Corporate CEOs, and Professional Executives we believe can inspire the next generation of business executives before higher education.
Shadowing & Internship Opportunities – UNITY conducts career aspiration surveys on each student every year once they become a member. We closely watch if a student identifies their future interest in a profession at an early age; if that interest continues up to high school, we find a professional in that field to agree to mentor and allow our students to shadow them. To increase hope in a child’s life, you must increase opportunities and possibilities for them to dream and think big for their life. Connecting our high school students to professionals who have achieved their career goals is the key to helping our students achieve their goals. We also seek out community and business partners in various professions that will provide internships for our high school and college students. We also offer work opportunities to our dedicated students, ages 14 – 19. They are given the option to work as student interns in our office or one of our programs. Once our students become adults and show interest in serving on our staff, we offer them part-time or full-time employment.
RAP with the Pros (Young Professional Guests Lecture Series) – One of the most effective ways to inspire young people to develop an aspiration for excellence is to create a path that gives them access to other people of excellence. Young people tend to be influenced by whatever example is accessible to them. If that example happens to be negative or positive, in most cases, they will be influenced by the one most accessible to them. Our professional youth lecture series brings in great young men and women of excellence who can relate to this generation of young minds and be a tangible example of greatness for them by sharing their stories and experiences.