Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT) is a citywide summer jobs program that trains and employs young adults between the ages of 14 and 24 for up to 120 hours. Youth participants must be permanent residents of the City of Detroit and be eligible to work in the United States. There are a broad range of jobs available to the participants. Examples of jobs include: community cleanups, event planning, accounting, retail and the Junior Police or Fire Cadets to name a few. Last year, over 8,000 local youth received employment, which is our goal again this year.
GDYT Jobs placements are based on a developmentally appropriate, tiered model for summer employment:
Tier 1: Career Exploration
The Career Exploration tier introduces young people to first-time work and career opportunities through community service, team projects, and job shadowing. This tier is for youth with little to no previous work experience (typically 14-16 year olds).
Tier 2: Ready for Work
Developed for young people with some previous work experience, the Ready for Work tier places youth with a host employer or in a vocational training experience, while continuing to build career readiness skills. (typically 16-24 year olds).
Tier 3: Career Pathway Internships
The competitive Career Pathways Internship tier is for young people with previous work experience and a desire to focus on a specific career pathway with a host employer (17-24 year olds).