The Boston Opportunity Youth Collaborative (OYC) is a cross-sector convening focused on building pathways to education, employment, and economic independence for Opportunity Youth—16 to 24-year-olds who aren’t in school and aren’t working. The OYC works to identify education and employment pathways, connect relevant groups, and effect systems and policy change for this population, both at the local and state levels.
Members of the group include the Boston Public Schools, local community-based organizations, philanthropy, city agencies, postsecondary institutions, and youth leaders. The group is co-convened by the PIC and the Boston Opportunity Agenda.
Collectively, our focus is on both college and workforce pathways, as they are the two routes that lead to economic prosperity and most Opportunity Youth in Boston already have a high school diploma. As a collaborative, the OYC has developed recommendations (listed below) for local, state, and institutional leaders. Young people are a key voice in developing these recommendations as the OYC values the lived experience and leadership of youth and young adults in the community.
The OYC also advances its priorities by organizing research and direct service projects. One example is the Scaling Youth Outcomes Cohort initiative, funded by the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions at the Aspen Institute and the Ballmer Group, which 1) tracks data on local program participation among 16-24 year-olds, and 2) increases the capacity of career centers to service BPS graduates who do not enroll in college.
For more information, contact Kathy Hamilton, Youth Transitions Director.
The Data
Aspen Institute’s Opportunity Youth Forum developed a set of four Common Measures to assess the overall opportunity youth disconnection rate. These include the disconnection rates for high school, post-secondary, and workforce annually at the population level using the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey. The Common Measures provide a unique annual look into our community’s opportunity youth data and help to track progress and inform strategies.
