I’m fortunate to have been part of a writing community who authored a book recognizing the ways youth development professionals provide the space and conditions for youth to build future-ready workforce skills! My focus was on the permanence of human-centered skills such as relationship-building, storytelling, and identity development as key to building successful and fulfilling careers. These have been modeled by many amazing human beings throughout my career including my friends and awesome team at Mizzen Education, former colleagues from After-School All-Stars and After-School All-Stars, Los Angeles, and my mentors including Gary Moody, Diego Sulaiman Arancibia, and Thierry Gonzalez. But most inspring of all are former youth participants of programs I've been a part of who are thriving examples of what happens when one focuses on humanity skills as part of the career pathway journey (as named by my colleague Byron K. Sanders). Citlali Aguilera-Rico, Joel Betances, Ti'Andre Bellinger, (major props to Sean Prospect, Guillermo Escobar, and Richard McKinley for their mentoring and support of Joel and Ti'Andre), Jamilah Mena (蒙嘉美）(shout-out to Julia Gabor for playing an important part of Jamilah's afterschool experience), and Juan Hernandez-Campos represent the power of relationship-building, community, and connection in building skills for the future! The stories, evidence, research and practices cited in my chapter were inspired by these and many other dedicated people and programs in this powerful community we call #afterschool, #expandedlearning, #outofschooltime, #summerlearning and #youthdevelopment. Thank you once again to Dr. Helen Janc Malone, Byron K. Sanders, Shannon Epner, MPAP and the great folks Information Age Publishing for this memorable moment in my career! #keepshining everyone!
As students head back to school, afterschool programs are more crucial than ever! We’re excited to promote “Built for More: The Role of OST in Preparing Youth for the Future of Work,” co-edited by Byron K. Sanders and Shannon Epner, MPAP of Big Thought. Carlos Santini, CEO of Mizzen Education, was delighted to contribute a chapter on the important role of youth workers. He'll share more on this theme during his Oct. 2 keynote at #KansasConnectionsConference for Out-of-School Time Professionals. Get your copy and join the conversation! #BuiltforMore #YouthDevelopment