Program

WHAT WE DO:

Current programs and activities

  • Career panels and guest speakers at high schools and middle schools in Santa Cruz County
  • Support of job shadowing for students
  • The Roadmaps Series for youth who could benefit from extra support and opportunities
  • The Young Entrepreneurs Project for ages 16 –21
  • The annual county-wide Business/Education Luncheon
  • Consultation and support services for special projects at Cabrillo College including: Career Exploration/Middle School Outreach, the Teacher Pipeline Project, Grove Scholars internships, and the Industrial Technology Pathway Project.
  • Support for the Suenos Project for youth in the Watsonville Community

Background

YFIOB began in 1994 as a program of the Education Committee of the Santa Cruz Chamber of Commerce and evolved into a nationally recognized business/education intermediary. Housed at Cabrillo College since 1999, YFIOB’s mission is aligned with Cabrillo’s mission of “creating pathways to prosperity” for all students and supporting workforce development in Santa Cruz County.

YFIOB’s partners

Santa Cruz County high schools and middle schools, Santa Cruz County Tech Prep Consortium, Santa Cruz County Office of Education’s Regional Occupational Program, Alternative Education and the Sueños Collaborative, Cabrillo College, the Central Coast Small Business Development Center, Bay Federal Credit Union, Driscoll Strawberry Associates, Graniterock, Granite Construction, the Santa Cruz Seaside Company, and over 1,000 community career mentors!


Your Future Is Our Business provides students with a more realistic picture of the world of work to stimulate their thinking about possible careers and what is required to be successful. At the same time, YFIOB programs highlight the connection between school and work, establishing the relevance of education to the student’s future. YFIOB has built a database of over 1200 volunteers interested in serving as speakers, providing job shadowing for students and meeting with teachers.

  • Career Panels

    An in-school opportunity for students to meet with professionals in a wide variety of career areas to learn about what it takes to be successful in the world of work in general. Students and guest speakers gather in relatively small groups of 15 – 35 students, with a moderator, in a structured format for a class period (usually 90 minutes). The discussion is driven by student questions regarding all aspects of the speakers’ career.

    Career Panels are usually integrated into a specific required class (i.e. Economics or US History) and include some preparation and follow-up activities. A Panel may include a variety of speakers (for example: attorney, aircraft technician, marine biologist, FBI agent) or be “focused” on a specific career area, such as “health careers” or “construction technology”. Each year approximately 4000 high school students and nearly 500 professionals throughout Santa Cruz County participate in Career Panels.

    Career Panel 1 Career Panel 2 Career Panel 3

  • Job Shadowing

    Students visit a professional in the workplace to learn first-hand about careers that interest them. Job Shadowing may be done individually or in small groups and is usually a 3 – 4 hour activity. Nearly 500 students each year are engaged in Job Shadowing in Santa Cruz County.

    Job Shadowing 1 Job Shadowing 2 Job Shadowing 2

  • Roadmaps designed and implemented by Your Future Is Our Business (YFIOB), is as an empowerment curriculum that provides extra support for high-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 21 years who are struggling to move forward in their lives. Program participants are referred to Roadmaps by teachers, counselors, or juvenile probation officers and may include: school drop-outs, youth enrolled in alternative education programs or connected to juvenile probation, or emancipated youth. These young people need support with assessing their strengths and challenges, with developing their goal-setting and decision making capacities as well as with making positive connections with adult mentors in the community. Despite serious challenges, these young people show remarkable resiliency and want to find purpose in their lives. The 8 to 10 week Roadmaps curriculum supports them  with career exploration, goal setting and decision making activities. Participants meet with inspiring guest speakers covering a wide range of topics including: applying and interviewing for jobs, mindfulness based stress reduction, effective communication skills, current brain research, and financial literacy. They also gain opportunities for paid internships and community service projects.

  • Business/Teacher Events

    Educators and business people meet to exchange ideas about what students need to be successful in the workplace, either during luncheons/dinners or through teacher job shadowing – “Educators in Industry”. Over the past three years more than 400 high school and community college instructors have visited dozens of businesses, governmental agencies, and non-profit organizations throughout the region in order to enhance classroom instruction and to better prepare students for making school-to-work transitions.

By integrating these activities with classroom instruction, Your Future Is Our Business builds the connection between school and work, establishing the relevance of education to the student’s future. The program has built a database of over 1200 volunteers interested in serving as speakers, providing job shadowing for students and meeting with teachers.

YFIOB is supported through grants, community contributions and fees for service. DONATIONS of any amount are greatly needed and appreciated. Please consider making a donation today. THANKS!

For more information, please call Your Future Is Our Business at
(831) 477-5651 or email Vera Chesnut at vechesnu@cabrillo.edu