Derek Rhodes • June 26, 2023

What Our New Workforce Development Center Means for Us - and for Durham

Our strategy is shifting because that's what our youth need.

America wasn’t built with the success of young Black male youth in mind. From economic hardship to challenges in schooling and entering the workforce, it seems like we’re constantly assailed by obstacles to our development. You can see it in the studies, you can see it in the media, and you can see it in our lives. We’re faced with 400 years-worth of barriers that have been erected to impede our progress. But we at Durham Success Summit have always been committed to continuous research and adaptation of our methods to overcome these challenges.

Why is why we’re pleased to announce a major shift in our strategy. In order to maximize the positive impact we can have on the lives of Black male youth in Durham, we’re moving from a cohort-based program to a year-round center.


This means young Black male youth will have a place to find support, get career counseling, and meet with like-minded peers throughout the year. What better way to prep ourselves for the challenges Black males are going to face, than to have resources readily available for us to come together in a coworking style space?


History Influences the Future


Just like the history of America is influencing the future outcomes of Black Americans, we use our organization’s past to help us shape the future for our scholars. Durham Success Summit is making strides in building a true, cross-sector network of support for young Black men. From universities to industries, we’re now expanding our scope to include community development in our purview. 


Through our fundraisers, outreach, community events and more – we’ve done the research and gathered the data to know what works for our people and what doesn’t. For example:


  1. We’ve learned that it’s our job to alleviate every possible barrier between disadvantaged Black male youth and success. Not just discriminatory hiring practices and organizations that claim to support social justice but don’t put actions to their words – but smaller things that get overlooked or taken for granted. Parking. Software. Childcare. Anything and everything that weighs harder on us than it does for others has to be addressed so that our scholars can show up ready to engage.
  2. Physical Spaces are a priority for improving communication. For too long, Young Black men (and Durham youth especially) have cited a lack of safe spaces with quality resources to support their dreams. Where are their role models to learn from and emulate? Where can they meet people their age to form a long-lasting bond, one that provides both financial and emotional support? For the most part, young Black men have been forced to work within church basements, coworking spaces, and public institutions where we have to check ourselves and our attitudes. We don’t really get to express ourselves, and therefore don’t really get to connect with each other. We’re seen more as charity cases than partners. But that’s changing now.


The Durham Success Summit Guarantee

As we work to actualize our workforce development center, we make the following pledges:


WE WILL:

  • Pay our young Black men for their time as they gain skills in industries growing in Durham. Life sciences, cybersecurity, financial services, skilled trades and more. These are all niches ready to be taken over by enterprising Black men.
  • Pay our young Black men to come in and earn certifications that are industry recognized and undeniable through our partnerships with organizations such as PocketPrep, Durham Tech, and now even Google. For the latter, we’ve been approved to administer scholarships to Google and LinkedIn programs to over 500 Black men over the next two years.
  • Provide our scholars with the MacBooks, iMacs, iPads, VR headsets, and next-gen technology that are so commonly found on the campuses of PWIs and other institutions. Our scholars will not fall behind on the technological curve. Not while so much of tech has long-lasting impacts on the rest of the world.

The only question left is if you’re going to join us.


FOR YOUNG BLACK MEN:

We’ve built this organization for you. If you want to become part of what we’re building, click here to learn about the Durham Success Summit General Community Membership application. We take Scholars year-round, but be warned: this requires active participation. We want to help you succeed despite the odds, but that requires us to train you for the obstacles you’ll be facing. Equipping and prepping you can only go so far. You have to be ready to seize control yourself, because we all know no one’s going to give young Black men handouts.


APPLY TO BECOME A SCHOLAR


For those INTERESTED in helping YOUNG BLACK MEN:

Durham Success Summit actively encourages organizations to contribute to the cause of helping young Black men find success in the professional world. Whether your support comes in the form of monetary contribution, donation of data, opening of doors via internships and scholarships or more, we’re always happy to collaborate. Our goal is to have a diverse range of committed partners that we can send our skilled and talented workers to help out.

Click here to get in touch about making a donation of technology, furniture, or supplies.

Otherwise, click here to become a corporate sponsor of DSS and its scholars (or to tell your employer to!)


The decisions to open our doors and become a center for year-round development of young Black men in the Durham area is just the latest step in our journey. Our goal is to eliminate barriers one by one, until the systemic imbalances young Black males face are a thing of the past. To that end, we’re constantly looking towards what we need to do to have the most impact on the future.


Durham Success Summit is always innovating and always growing. The sooner you become a part of our process, the sooner you can make a drastic change in not only your life, but the lives of those in the community around you. 


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