Social entrepreneur Edward DeJesus spoke to a half-full Salomon 001 Sunday about the benefits of reaching out to unemployed inner-city youth and high school dropouts through for-profit, rather than nonprofit, programs. DeJesus also spoke about the importance of addressing young people in their own cultural vernacular.
DeJesus, founder and CEO of the Youth Development Research Fund, hailed the benefits of pursuing social work for a for-profit entity rather than a nonprofit organization. A for-profit organization is not constrained by the need to solicit funding from one or two major sources, DeJesus said, while a mission-oriented nonprofit is dependent on funding that can dry up quickly, at which point the organization can often die.
DeJesus said experiences losing funding in the nonprofit sector inspired him to become a social entrepreneur. "I'm not going to be in that situation again," he said.
Great need for job training programs and support for students struggling in schools create a business opportunity, DeJesus said.
"I have all these households with children who are not achieving academically and if my firm is the one that can send the message to get a large portion of those households to support our mission ... our firm will grow."
DeJesus said his organization has found a niche where it can research and work with young people in areas where other companies don't want to invest resources.
"What makes YDF unique is that we do all this research (into the problems facing inner-city youth), then we find cool ways to communicate with young people. We're probably the top firm that does this," DeJesus said.
DeJesus said few inner-city youths realize how important changing their style of dress and etiquette are for landing a job.
Young people often develop social networks that are limited to inner-city friends and do not lead to future economic opportunity, but communicating this problem to young people is difficult, he said.
"They're not developing the social networks that are the key to success in America. But you can't tell them that. I'm not going to a group of kids in the inner-city Harlem and say, 'Yo brothers, why don't y'all smile? ... Hats off, pull your pants up, smiles on.' I don't say that. You've got to help them self-discover," he said.
Instead, youth workers have to develop "youth cultural competence" and find ways to help young people discover for themselves the importance of the skills they lack, DeJesus said.
DeJesus said he gives students copies of Black Enterprise magazine and asks them to count the number of smiling faces. "50, 100, 150, 250 smiling faces in Black Enterprise. Then we go to the hip-hop magazine. Hey there's one, Will Smith," he said. He added that the students then come to the realization that, "Oh snap, that's messed up!" It sparks discussion about this trend and a change in their behavior, DeJesus said.
DeJesus said though there are only 250,000 job training programs for the 5.4 million young people who need employment, the programs are never full. A youth worker must create demand by making these programs attractive to inner-city youth.
Corporations and the military are exceptionally good at influencing young people on their own terms because of millions of dollars of research, DeJesus said. He listed a number of slogans and advertisements that have been particularly effective, including the U.S. Army's "Be all you can be" slogan that appeals to young men's sense of independence and Boost Mobile's "Where you at?" campaign.
But he added that companies marketing to inner city youths with images of rappers with certain styles of clothing and hair give young people inappropriate images of what is required of them in the labor market. He screened an advertisement by Skippy Peanut Butter that depicts elephants rapping at a concert while dressed in jewelry and chains. People turn up for interviews in the same style of clothing they see on television and are turned away for inappropriate speech and dress, DeJesus said.
Evan Wright '10 said the lecture was helpful because it expounded on the unique nature of DeJesus' work. "It really gave me a good idea about what a different track of social activism might look like in terms of making a living while you're doing what you love," he said. "I felt Mr. DeJesus gave a really good lecture."
Jeremy Meacham '09 also found the lecture interesting. "I liked the idea of an entrepreneurial program," he said. "I think he's very engaging, and I think he's very eloquent."
Mayra Reyes '10 said, "It was very eye-opening to see these programs that are directed toward youth because I'm interested in the work."
Reyes added that she liked how DeJesus discussed "how to appeal to (youth), which is what a lot of organizations forget to do."
DeJesus's lecture, titled "Countering the Urban Influence: Reclaiming the Stolen Economic Fortunes of America's Urban Youth," was a part of the Activist-in-Residence program and was funded by the Center for the Study of Race and Ethnicity in America, the Swearer Center for Public Service and a grant from the Office of the President.
