This September, Juma Seattle celebrated a milestone: their 5th anniversary. A wide network of partners and supporters came together at the historic Pacific Tower in Seattle to celebrate five years of encouraging Puget Sound area youth to achieve their dreams. Master of Ceremonies, Indigenous scholar, sports broadcaster, and former professional soccer player, Temryss Lane, and keynote speaker, Seahawks legend Nesby Glasgow, delivered an impactful program highlighting Juma’s values and accomplishments in Seattle.

At the celebration, Juma Seattle Executive Director, Mason Moore, took to the stage to tell the story of how Juma’s first days in Seattle didn’t always go as smoothly as planned. Juma youth walked in to their first day of work only to find their coffee carts without stock and not setup for service–a problem that could take hours to fix. Mason described his fear in that moment that the event that day would be Juma Seattle’s first and last at Centurylink Field.

While Juma youth worked together to get their carts ready, fans streamed into the stadium and Mason was sure the contract which allowed Juma to hire seventy-five low-income youth would be revoked. But then a single moment changed his perspective. Just as he was losing hope, Ashley, a brand new Juma youth, walked up and said “It’s alright, Boss. We’re going to fix this. Everything will be ok.” Seeing Ashley’s hope, determination, and indomitable will, brought Mason’s focus back to the present. The Juma team worked with everything they had to make it through the game, and at the end, Mason spoke with our Concessionaire partners to rectify the misunderstanding and promise that next time Juma would be ready.

Today, Juma Seattle is proud to continue their five year partnership with Starbucks and Centurylink Field along with Safeco Field and the University of Washington’s Husky Stadium. Since that day in 2013, Juma Seattle has employed over 600 young people who have earned over $2 million in wages and saved over $300,000 for higher education.

At the celebration, in the company of friends, family, partners, and supporters, Juma Seattle raised over $30,000 to support even more young people as they earn, learn, and connect. Thank you to all those who have supported Juma Seattle in becoming the robust social enterprise program it is today. With your help, we’re making possible, possible for our youth.