YouthQuest Foundation Co-Founder and President Lynda Mann spoke to CEOs from the Washington, DC area on April 25 about how they can help at-risk youth.
Lynda’s presentation at the Vistage All-City conference in Tysons Corner, Va., outlined the scope of the nation’s chronic high school dropout problem and its costs for businesses, society and the teens themselves. She challenged business leaders to respond in four ways.
- Review your Employee Assistance Program to make sure it addresses problems at home or at work that could cause family turmoil and lead a child to give up on school.
- Review your educational assistance offerings to make sure employees have opportunities for continued learning. This improves employees’ work performance and confidence, and sends a message to their children about the importance of education.
- Engage your local community by getting personally involved to understand issues, needs and opportunities in local schools. Hold one-on-one or small group meetings with potential dropouts.
- Support skills training programs so teens who do drop out can learn a trade that will give them a chance to become productive citizens.
With the help of programs the YouthQuest Foundation supports, at-risk youth develop the vocational and life skills they need to fulfill their potential.
For more information about how you and your company can help address the dropout issue, please contact us at info@youthquestfoundation.org or call (703) 234-4633.