CINCINNATI — More than 200 teenagers from nine Greater Cincinnati high schools will be leaving class today for some real world experience.
The D.A.D. Initiative is once again hosting the Black Futures event at TQL Stadium in the West End.
There, teens will meet and engage with 80 top professionals from the Greater Cincinnati community. Those professionals include judges, doctors, lawyers, chemists and others from a wide variety of occupations.
Tyran Stallings, executive director of the D.A.D. Initiative, said the initial goal of his organization was to get more Black teens into the education system. But in the last decade, Stallings said it’s developed into such a critical organization that helps expose teens to new careers and help others with workforce development.
Today, the professionals will lead small group workshops and panel discussions and they hope to teach kids how they can overcome obstacles in their lives.
“The workforce is changing and we can’t afford for kids to keep thinking about antiquated careers so exposure is the key to our kids to be active contributors to our workforce,” Stallings said. “So we want to expose them to things that will peak their interest, things that are livable wage, in order to help them attain their success.”
Local leaders often point to the need for continued education and reaching local youth to help curb violent crime.
Stallings said he hopes this program helps give Black youth some of the tools to better prepare for their future and give them something to do each day.
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