futureBOS Pledge
Invest in Boston's future by becoming a youth employer.
At the 2024 State of the City address, Mayor Michelle Wu made an extraordinary promise to our public school students. Building on the success of our summer job program in 2023, this year with your support we will guarantee a summer job offer to every BPS student who wants one. This promise became a reality, as during summer 2024, the summer jobs program employed over 9,000 youth through subsidized jobs in nonprofits, public sectors, and private businesses. To make the upcoming 2024-2025 School Year Jobs Program an even bigger success, we are asking private businesses to continue investing in Boston’s future through hiring youth in record numbers.
Why Make a Pledge?
Here's why you should consider hiring youth for jobs or internships:
- High school students can do real work for you and often work alongside college interns or employees.
- It's an opportunity to expose the future workforce to your industry and build a local talent pipeline for your business.
- It's a great way to engage your local community.
- It's a chance to learn different ways of thinking from young people, and may help you to better reach their demographic.
- It's a tangible way to contribute to building equity in our city.
If you are able to pledge, you will be recognized by the Mayor for your participation. We will also provide you with marketing materials to let the community know about your participation.
Whether or not you are able to pledge, if you have a job directly available to youth we want it on futureBOS, our new one-stop shop for paid opportunities for youth. Our goal is to publish every job directly available to youth age 14-18 (over the summer or year round) onto this job catalog.
Note: Internships are distinct from jobs in that they include close connection with supervisors and opportunity for youth to learn about careers in the field. If you are interested in hosting internships for BPS youth, the Boston Private Industry Council will help you set up your program after you complete the pledge. Here is a detailed fact sheet about hosting internships. .
The Ask
Business owners, hiring managers, and HR professionals, our ask is simple:
- If you are ready and able to commit to hiring youth ages 14 to 18 please make the pledge below.
Make the pledge - Either way please spend 15 minutes using our portal to post jobs available for youth ages 14 to 18 to futureBOS.
Post jobs
In Their Own Words
"Our interns were a breath of fresh air; their energy, curiosity, and eagerness to learn had an infectious effect on our office. As a designer, I can easily get caught up in day-to-day tasks, but their creativity helped inspire me to look at my work differently. I’m so glad to have been a part of our PIC experience this year!"
- Jackey Robinson, Designer at Goody Clancy
"The hiring of high school students helps to drive our commitment to grow future talent. Part of Dana-Farber’s mission is to train the next generation of healthcare professionals, and this really gets at the core of that goal."
- Candace Burns, Director of Inclusion and Workforce Development at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Participating Businesses Leaderboard
Dozens of businesses across sectors have already pledged to hire youth. We are sincerely grateful for your commitment!
