Baseball season has begun and we are thrilled to be employing 165 youth at AT&T Park and the Oakland Coliseum! For most of our Bay Area youth, vending in the stands, selling ice cream and coffee is a first job where they learn job skills that they can apply for years to come.
Working in Juma’s social enterprise, youth learn transferable job skills like customer service, professionalism, time management, and interpersonal skills that help provide a foundation from which to build a future. In a recent article called, “Here’s the Scoop: Why my First Job Mattered,” President Obama talks about the impact his first job as an ice cream scooper had on his development. “My first summer job wasn’t exactly glamorous, but it taught me some valuable lessons. Responsibility. Hard work. Balancing a job with friends, family, and school.”

Juma knows the value of a first job and the potential it has to shape a young person’s life. We believe that one day, a Juma youth could make it to becoming President! We believe that it starts with a job.