CareerBound to provide apprenticeships, academic and support services
CareerBound, a major new occupational skills training and career preparation initiative for young people
in Baltimore, launched this week with a goal of helping thousands of participants build skills and move
into family-supporting careers over the next several years.
CareerBound had a formal launch May 15, with more than 150 community leaders from government,
nonprofits, universities, corporations, philanthropy, and youth leaders in attendance, a reflection of the
broad partnership supporting the initiative. CareerBound’s lead partners are Baltimore’s Promise,
Baltimore City Public Schools (City Schools), and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development
(MOED).
CareerBound was developed to offer new training and career opportunities to young people, opening
new pathways to jobs in high-growth industries for City Schools students and graduates who may not be
interested in pursuing a traditional four-year college immediately following high school. The initiative
expects to serve 8,300 youth by 2030 — a major increase in the city’s occupational skills and career
training capacity. It builds on the success of Grads2Careers, which launched in 2018, also as a
partnership of Baltimore’s Promise, City Schools, and MOED.
“CareerBound represents a major leap forward in Baltimore’s commitment to creating career
opportunities for young people,” said Julia Baez, CEO of Baltimore’s Promise. “We have built a broad
coalition of employers, occupational training institutions, funders, government agencies, and the school
system – all of whom are committed to this smart approach that will expand career opportunities for
our young people as they leave school.”