Summer 2019 — Project Z

This summer, Project Z trained 50 youth, ages 14-24 in Washington, DC and Los Angeles, California across three different programming cohorts.

Beginner Track: Intro to Technical Project Management

Project Z teamed up with New York based non-profit The Knowledge House and Los Angeles, CA based non-profit New Earth to pilot a 10 day intensive Technical Project Management training for ten juvenile justice and system involved youth in Los Angeles, CA.

Each student learned both Waterfall and Agile Project Management practices, how to design and build a website using HTML, CSS and JavaScript, as well as data analysis. Each student gained professional development skills including the development of LinkedIn profiles. The youth learned how to gain and maintain clients through an entrepreneurship module, as well as how to market a business through their digital marketing module.

Over $7,000 in stipends were provided to the trained youth allowing them to remove barriers that would impede the fellows truly focusing on the training.

I really enjoyed all the lessons and skills that were being taught to every single one of us fellows. I plan on using this knowledge and doing something big.
-Camerie Burley, 2019 Fellow

As a result of the training, New Earth was able to launch a social enterprise called New Earth Digital, that provides California businesses digital marketing, web development and videography services delivered by the youth of the New Earth vocational program. Each student designed and developed their own websites for prospective businesses. In addition, fellows Brandon Monroe and Ariel Smith were able to successfully launch their own businesses in videography and catering respectively.

Project Z was responsible for the Project Management, Client Management and Entrepreneur modules of the programming. Project Z also conducted a train the trainer for New Earth to ensure they had the necessary tools to launch New Earth Digital, scaling Project Z’s mission and approach.

The Knowledge House provided all Technical and Digital Skills, as well as Professional development training. New Earth handpicked the fellows and provided case management, as well as the continuation of programming once the training was complete.

Intermediate Track: A Case to prepare for the Future of Work

Named after former Washington, DC Mayor, and program catalyst Marion Barry, the Marion Barry Summer Youth Employment Program (MBSYEP), is a six week training and internship initiative by the DC Government that over 10,000 youth participate in each year for six weeks starting the last week of June. Through the program, DC government agencies provide youth ages 14-24 with work, an office space, programming and payment.

Project Z teamed up with DC’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO) to provide 30 of their interns entrepreneurship and professional development training with a focus on responding to Requests For Proposals in a team environment. Each Tuesday from June 25, 2019 until July 30, 2019 the students met for training and group assignments. To ensure practical application of their lessons, Project Z brought in trainers currently working in their subject matter areas.

Forbes 30 Under 30, Riley Jones, Co-Founder of Bloc, a resume and job search CRM startup leveraging artificial intelligence, served as our resume trainer. After providing best practices for our youth in resume writing, cover letters and LinkedIn profiles, Riley provided students access to the Beta version of Bloc to build and improve their resumes.

Costume Designer, Author, and Creative Director, Caitlin Alfred, served as our Professional Dress Trainer. Caitlin delivered a presentation highlighting how attire should be altered based based on the occasion. Caitlin then had the trainees use paper dolls to design an outfit based on a professional scenario. By the end of the module youth understood what was appropriate to wear ranging from casual dress to black-tie attire.

Award Winning Orator and Lifestyle Blogger, Yasmine Saibou, prepared the OCTO interns to deliver their presentation in front of peers and managers by serving as their Public Speaking Coach and working with the youth to refine their presentations.

Project Z Founder, Jazmin Tanner, prepared and delivered the core of the RFP training modules, which included:

Developing a Consulting Agency
Finding RFPs and Client Work
Creating a winning proposal
Crafting Statements of Work and Pitch Decks
Successful kick offs and project closeouts
Effective collaboration

Additionally, Jazmin leveraged her background in strategy and technology consulting to prepare a mock RFP for the youth interns. Youth worked in teams to develop a mock consultancy and respond, presentation style, to the mock RFP that was based on a report by Deloitte and the Global Business Coalition for Education. Youth developed an approach to ensure other DC youth were informed and prepared for the future of work based on a solution that included technology. Their solution included a budget and potential partners. The youth also explained why their team was best positioned to take on the task and scale to other cities.

I learned so much from Project Z and am even using my teamwork skills for my high school senior class project almost a year later.
-Alex Mills, 2019 Project Z Fellow & OCTO Intern

As a result of the programming, OCTO is increasing their student intern size to 80 youth for the summer of 2020 with a desire for Project Z to provide similar programming.

Advance Track: Client DELIVERY

Building on the success of last year’s experiential project based learning cohort, Project Z invited back two alum from the 2018 cohort, while also bringing in seven new students and distributing over $14,000 in stipends to our 2019 cohort.

Fellows in our advanced track program underwent a six week intensive training from July 8, 2019 - August 16, 2019. Our fellows met in person at a WeWork office twice a week and also had remote days.

Our fellows were trained and gained hands-on experience in:

UX Design
Web Development
Graphic Design
Digital Marketing
Professional Development
Entrepreneurship
Project Management
Client Deliver
Financial Literacy
Public Speaking
Remote Work
Critical Thinking
Teamwork
Stress Management

Thank you for my experience in Project Z. I still keep in touch with my mentor Jeff Kangar, he has been a great help through the process of my interviews and helping me choose a job. In July 2020, I will start working at JP Morgan Chase as a Software Engineer.
-Elisha Mabaje

While receiving training, youth were able to apply their skills real time through their work for The Walking for Freedom Venezuelan Immersive Experience and the Wikimedia Foundation. All of our fellows learned the same skills, however our fellows were split into focus areas for their projects.

Fellows in the Technologist focus area worked to build a prototype website for Walking for Freedom. Walking for Freedom is an immersive experience that leverages a 360-degree film to share the stories of Venezuelan refugees and raise money to support the ongoing crisis.

Our fellows met with their clients to scope their project. The fellows understood our clients challenge of not having a means to schedule viewings of the film. Through consultation they also learned that the client had a desire to raise awareness about the film.

The fellows designed and presented a prototype website that possessed a feature for scheduling viewings, which they presented to their clients during the end of the year showcase. The youth also created a guide during project close out for their clients to transfer their old website to the prototype when ready. To address their client’s desire to spread awareness about the immersive experience, the students developed a strategic marketing plan with sample posts.

I really appreciated my Project Z experience. I have since been accepted into Hampton University, where I am going to double major in cybersecurity and criminal justice with a minor in Leadership. I am also receiving one of the presidential scholarships. I plan to spend this summer using the skills I’ve learned through the program to continue earning money in preparation for college in Fall 2020.”
- Sheyla Gyles

Fellows with the Strategist focus area supported the Wikimedia Foundation in conducting a gap analysis of an Open Design Kit, created by Senior UX Designer Jess Klein. The fellows provided recommendations on how to incorporate the expertise of other designers at the Wikimedia Foundation. In addition, the fellows researched other design kits and tools to provide recommendations on other methods that could be added to the kit. Our strategists managed their relationship with their clients being fully remote and geographically dispersed.

Project Z provided me the experience and network to take on freelance Communications opportunities.
-Rayven Wilson

In addition to receiving stipends and training, each student received headshots for their LinkedIn accounts where they can be reached for opportunities.