KeyBank Grant Expands Boys & Girls Clubs of King County Teen Career Program; Local Companies Can Help

A $500,000 gift from KeyBank Foundation will expand YouthForce, the teen career development program run by Boys & Girls Clubs of King County (BGCKC), and launch a second one in Portland, Oregon. This three-year grant is the largest single gift Key has ever made in the Northwest and is among the largest ever invested outside Cleveland, its headquarters city.

YouthForce helps low-income youth prepare for college, careers, and life by pairing job preparedness training with paid summer or year- long internships at companies like Stoel Rives LLP, Microsoft, Walmart, Seattle Sounders FC, Seattle Seahawks, and CenturyLink Stadium. The result is a stronger workforce and economic self-sufficiency for underserved teens.

In King County, where the program has been under way since 1998, approximately 220 youth ages 16-19 are enrolled each year, and there is a waiting list of more than 800.

The KeyBank grant will enable YouthForce in Seattle to enroll 68 more teens over three years in its paid after- school and summer internship program, increasing capacity by 120%.

The expanded King County program is expected to welcome the first 15 of 68 new interns in spring and summer of next year. Before that can happen, YouthForce needs to recruit three or more new Seattle-area corporate sponsors to provide the paid summer or year-long internships.

“Helping underserved youth realize their full potential is critical to their success and instrumental in building and maintaining a vibrant economy,” said John Roehm, KeyBank’s retail leader in Washington, in announcing the grant. He encourages other companies to get involved by providing internships.

Those running King County YouthForce since it became part of the Boys & Girls Clubs in 2009 have seen positive results. One such success story is told by 24-year-old Abel Teklai. He was hired to join KeyBank’s Management Associate Program in Seattle this year after graduating from Stanford University last year with a degree in international relations.

“I was a kid with lots of hopes and dreams,” said Abel of his years at Garfield High School. But the son of an immigrant single-mother didn’t know how to get where he wanted to go. YouthForce career coaching, leadership training and internships inspired him to learn how to get to college, land a job and navigate the world of work.

He credits YouthForce with giving him the tools to succeed. “KeyBank’s gift (to YouthForce) makes me happy – so, so happy – thinking of the hundreds of kids who can benefit from YouthForce the way I did.”

YouthForce University includes a basic money management curriculum developed by Seattle Key business banker Elizabeth Do. Since that aspect of the program was introduced in 2009, KeyBank employees have dedicated thousands of volunteer hours teaching the financial literacy component and adjusting it to suit evolving needs for teen learning.

“KeyBank has been a long- time corporate sponsor of Boys & Girls Clubs of King County,” said Calvin L. Lyons, President & CEO at BGCKC. “And we are excited to work with our Portland counterparts and KeyBank in growing jobs available to teens in our cities.”

KeyBank Foundation supports nonprofit organizations operating in communities where KeyBank does business. The Foundation focuses on projects that support financial education, workforce development, and diversity.

The mission of Boys & Girls Clubs is to inspire and enable all young people, especially those who need us most, to realize their full potential as productive, responsible and caring citizens. To learn more visit: www.positiveplace.org and www.teenjobs.org​.