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

Derek Rhodes • June 26, 2023

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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The Status Quo According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics , Black men have the lowest labor force participation and employment rates among men. Even when Black workers are able to penetrate into the work force, you see less and less of us as you climb the corporate ladder. Of the Fortune 500 CEO spots, only 6 are held by Black men (a “record” recently set .) A quote from Valerie Wilson , director of the Economic Policy Institute’s program on race, ethnicity, and the economy, sums up why this is such an important and disparaging fact. “Black workers, on average, are not being hired, promoted or paid according to what would signal their level of productivity based on their experience or their education. It absolutely impacts everything. It impacts your family’s economic security.” But it’s not only a desire to correct this systemic issue that should lead organizations to focus on seeking out more Black talent for their ranks. As it turns out, diversity in the workplace is actually an advantage when it comes to performance. According to Mckinsey , companies in the top quartile for racial and ethnic diversity are 35 percent more likely to have financial returns over their industry’s medians. In other words, more diverse companies tend to outperform competitors. Additionally, diverse companies are 70% more likely to be aware of (and capture) new markets according to HBR , and diverse management teams generate 19% higher revenue (as per BCG ). These are all the “why’s” of why it’s important and advantageous for business owners to correct for long-standing racial imbalances in the workplace. Now let’s get into the how. Recruiting & Retaining Black Talent When you commit to recruiting Black talent for your organization, there are some “gold-standard” rules that to keep in mind. 1. Paying a living wage, not minimum wage. According to MIT’s research , the living wage in the United States in 2019 was $16.54 for a family of four, far above the current federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour. And that was before the pandemic and inflation. Attitudes have shifted across the United States. Between the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting , employees are less willing to put up with subpar conditions and payment. Consider all the obstacles facing Black talent in the workforce, and how awareness of societal failures is only increasing. It’s highly unlikely that a Black worker is going to stick around if they don’t feel like they’re getting fairly compensated for their efforts. 2. Remove Other Barriers: Childcare, transportation, internet/equipment, more. One sometimes-overlooked aspect of the inequality facing Black talent is access to equipment or services that are often taken for-granted. For example, teleworking (working from home via Zoom, laptops, and other tech) boomed during the pandemic, but after the fact statistics showed that Hispanic and Black workers were 50% less likely to telework regularly compared to White workers ( CDC ). An easy way to avoid making this sort of mistake that might disqualify high-quality talent is by providing equipment and services (or at least making it known you’re open to doing so). 3) Connect them with another high-level Black male employee (OR an organization like Durham Success Summit). Another way to improve your retention of Black male employees is to immediately put them in contact with other Black male employees in your company, particularly those that are working at a higher level. Beyond providing them with an immediate role model for what success at your company might look like, this will allow both parties to discuss how your company handles delicate issues about and around race. 4) Check in regularly. Help make Black talent more comfortable at your company by checking on how they’re doing, ensuring that they’re adjusting, and seeing what you could do on your side to make their experience smoother. It’s possible that your company culture could be an adjustment for them, so checking in will help them understand that you’re at least willing to make the effort. 5) Be clear, transparent, and know what you don't know At the end of the day, Black talent is molded in a world filled with obstacles. You’re not going to be as in tune with these as your Black employees, and that’s okay. Always be willing to learn and listen to the experience of those who live this. For example, our consultants at Durham Success Summit are all professional Black men succeeding in various industries and are committed to improving the presence of Black men in the workforce. If you’d like to commit to joining us in our mission, we’d love for you to partner with us to help diversify your talent pool the right way. Click here to learn more.
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