Lake County Chamber of Commerce announces youth mentorship program

Print
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. — The Lake County Chamber of Commerce is hosting a new youth mentorship program.

In the midst of a pandemic, a workforce shortage, and “the great resignation,” the Lake County Chamber of Commerce’s Board of Directors declared 2021 the Year of Youth.

After feedback from local business owners, they knew that there needed to be a program to support our young adults to help them not only to secure jobs early in their careers, but to also retain them as their skills grow. This benefits not only the young adults, but our entire economy as well!

The youth mentorship program was born from that. The target participants in this program are young adults from the ages of 18 to 24.

The program is designed to better prepare our youngest citizens to be strong members of our workforce, meeting a great need that many business owners and leaders in our community face.

The youth mentorship program is an eight-week experience to provide training and skills, particularly the soft skills, to our local young adults as they prepare to enter the workforce.

It is an academically structured program, through a partnership with Mendocino Community College and Woodland Community College faculty, combined with boots-on-the-ground, real-time guidance provided by local business leaders that serve as one-on-one mentors.

Six participants graduated from the program in 2021, and through a special partnership with Hope Rising and All Children Thrive California, the chamber expects to see 25 to 30 graduates in 2022.

The chair of the 2022 youth mentorship program will begin immediately to lead the various components of the program – the framework for success is already built. The program is currently planned to begin the week of Sept. 19 and conclude the week of Nov. 7.

They are seeking an individual with leadership skills, passion for connecting small business and youth in Lake County, a basic understanding of structured learning (academia) and project management skills.

The chair will be supported by the chamber’s chief executive officer, staff and board of directors.

The initial time commitment is five to 10 hours per week, and will lessen as subcommittees are developed.

Anyone wishing to express their interest in serving our community in this role should send a cover letter and resume to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..