For over 30 years, Juma has been there for youth–and we aim to continue our impact with youth for as long as possible. With the dual goals of sustainability and reaching more youth, in 2022 Juma leadership crafted a three-year strategic plan. We are proud and excited to announce that, thanks to the dedication of our staff, supporters, leadership, and most of all, Juma youth, we have made considerable progress towards our goals, setting the stage for an even brighter future.

Our goals start where all decisions start at Juma: with our young people. While almost every young person we serve comes from a low-income household, we know that youth who have experienced significant barriers to entering the workforce receive the most benefit from programs like ours. Barriers like access to stable housing, prior experience with the juvenile justice system, and foster care system involvement can make the road to stable employment 

especially difficult. With this in mind, we set out to focus our recruitment efforts to ensure our programming reached the youth who needed it most, with a goal of 65% of Juma youth having one or more high-level barriers by 2025. In 2022, 59% of Juma youth were from our target population. By 2024, we exceeded our goal with 67% of Juma youth coming from this segment, who need our services most.  What’s more, Juma received a net promoter score of 45 from this target population of youth, indicating that they have high satisfaction with Juma and find value in the opportunities Juma presents.

Another key factor in our goal to provide the most impact for Juma youth is program completion. In 2022, only 48% of Juma youth completed the full series of 8 core workshops focused on topics such as resume writing, job searches, and financial capability. In 2024, 75% of Juma youth completed our full curriculum. In addition, 91% of Juma youth signed up for direct deposit–up from 83% in 2022. This milestone is an important step on the road to financial capability and indicates that many Juma youth are not only attending the workshops but are also actively changing their behaviors based on what they learn there.

In order to continue providing the best opportunities we can for Juma youth, another priority for us as an organization has been financial sustainability. Revenue from our social enterprise allows us to pay Juma youth and also helps cover gaps in our program funding. Through the hard work of our enterprise team, from maximizing our contracts with our stadium partners to in-stadium expansion and new venues, since 2022, that revenue source has grown from $1.99M to $2.39M in 2024. In addition to the revenue growth, the improvements in our enterprise operations have also benefited Juma youth by providing them with more shifts, more opportunities to learn, and more income. 

Thanks to the great work of our frontline staff, including Case Managers and Education Coordinators, 71% of youth who completed the program in 2024 have successfully connected to employment or education. This is an enormous increase from the 27% who were actively connected upon program completion in 2022.

We are now working on our next strategic plan, which will guide the upcoming three years of continued growth and improvement. We are also excited to celebrate the victories we’ve achieved along the way. Every goal we achieve means that Juma youth are getting more opportunities to Earn, Learn, and thrive. Thank you for supporting us on this journey and continuing to stand up for the next generation of leaders within our communities.