Prebys invests $6 million in youth job opportunities
The 17 organizations will use the funding to support internships, apprenticeships and job training for people ages 18 to 26.
Written by Lauren J. Mapp, Edited by Maya Srikrishnan
A group of 17 nonprofits in San Diego will receive $6 million to support efforts to improve employment opportunities for youth, the Prebys Foundation recently announced.
The funding, which will be doled out over a two-year period, will pay for internships, apprenticeships and job training for young adults ages 18 to 26. The nonprofits will focus on youth who face barriers such as poverty, homelessness, incarceration or foster care.
Prebys Foundation CEO Grant Oliphant said in a statement that San Diego youth contribute “energy, innovation and resilience” to the region.
“Yet youth unemployment remains persistently high, leaving many young adults without access to meaningful job opportunities and financial stability,” he said. “The ‘Youth Workforce’ initiative invests in pathways to steady, livable wages, empowering young adults to build wealth, contribute their talents, and thrive right here in San Diego County.”
Nearly half a million people aged 16 to 24 throughout the state were considered “disconnected youth” in 2022, meaning they were neither working nor enrolled in school, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.
Local data from the San Diego Workforce Partnership shows that Black, Indigenous and Hispanic youth experience disconnection at higher than average rates. Data shows that 33% of young parents and 24% of disabled youth also are considered disconnected.
The David’s Harp Foundation based in East Village will receive $400,000 to support its youth program participants. The nonprofit empowers youth impacted by foster care, homelessness and the justice system through music, media and entrepreneurship.
Director and Founder Brandon Steppe said there are currently six, youth-led businesses operating under the foundation, which combined, generated more than $400,000 in revenue for themselves last year alone.
The majority of the Prebys funding — more than 85% — will go directly to youth creators and business owners, helping them fund new projects and hire other youth workers.
“These are their businesses, not program-related income,” he said. “We're building an ecosystem of small businesses that are providing young people access to the local creative economy.”
Youth hiring one another through a peer-to-peer employment model can be a powerful community building tool, Steppe said, especially for young people who have experienced hardships.
In a way, it builds a sense of a family business among the youth, which Steppe said has been a missing element for many of the youth he works with.
“We've been relying on other people to hire our family,” he said. “It's really important and impactful because as young people transition back from incarceration, or they're coming out of a space of trying to seek housing, the ability to be able to go to a group of their peers — those with the same lived experience — is a huge opportunity.”
Kyle Simpson, 23, first got involved with David’s Harp while learning how to make beats and music recordings there in 2021. Through the digital media and arts program, he started making graphic designs.
That creative outlet grew into a sense of purpose, and Simpson said the mentors he learned from gave him the confidence to build his clothing brand, Brave Heart Attire, during his time at East Mesa Juvenile Detention Facility.
“At times when it's kind of hard for us to believe in ourselves, and someone else sees something new that you don't really see in yourself, it kind of just fills something within us,” he said.
Through commission codes on his brand’s website, Simpson gives back to the community by donating a portion of t-shirt, hoodie and other sales to partnering nonprofits, including Mi Escuelita Therapeutic Preschool in Chula Vista.
Simpson recently transferred from Southwestern College to Fresno State, where he studies communications. Although new to the campus, he is already planning brand partnerships with local groups in Fresno.
“The money doesn't matter, the followers, it doesn't matter,” Simpson said. “What honestly matters is just building good relationships in the community and impacting lives. That's the goal.”
Other recipient organizations of Prebys funding include the Balboa Art Conservation Center, Children’s Initiative, Computers 2 Kids, International Rescue Committee, Partnership for a Better San Diego, Urban Street Angels and the Metropolitan Area Advisory Committee on Anti-Poverty of San Diego County.
