Expanding opportunities for economic mobility and self-sufficiency
By 2030, more than 8,000 youth will be able to enter the workforce with the skills they need to thrive through CareerBound.
Strengthening the talent ecosystem. Strengthening Baltimore.
Baltimore has a robust talent ecosystem, where education, career training, and a blend of established and emerging industries come together to create opportunities for young talent to launch and grow their careers. Yet, many positions in the city remain unfilled. Why?
Too many talented young people in our city do not have equitable access to the kinds of occupational skills training that employers have historically sought in their applicants.
CareerBound is a collaborative strategy that addresses this pressing demand for accessible and high-quality career training opportunities for young people in Baltimore City by offering a dynamic vision that aligns academic support, training, credentialing, employment, and wraparound services.
Our Partners
CareerBound is a partnership between Baltimore’s Promise, Baltimore City Public Schools, and the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development offering holistic occupational skills and career training that will open new opportunities in high-growth industries for Baltimore City Public Schools students and graduates in order to promote economic well-being.
Building on Established Success
Research has shown us that the “college or bust” mentality doesn’t work for everyone. The need for career training opportunities that lead to family-supporting wages prompted the creation of Grads2Careers in 2018.
Research initiated at that time by Baltimore’s Promise showed that approximately 26 percent of Baltimore City Public Schools graduates become “opportunity youth,” meaning they do not enter the workforce or pursue post-secondary education or training by the fall after graduation.
Ahead of the Curve
The median annual income for those disconnected City Schools graduates six years after high school graduation was only about $11,000, even if they had connected with work or education.
The average starting wage for G2C graduates across all years is $14.67.
Grads2Careers was established to engage recent Baltimore City high school graduates—and in doing so, lower the rate of opportunity youth. It celebrated its
1,200th student
in early 2025 and has consistently high rates of program completion and job placement.
CareerBound ties these elements together with coordinated resources and registered in-school youth apprenticeships, and in alignment with goals established in the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future and by Governor Wes Moore.
Our Goal: Serve 8,300 Students by 2030
“CareerBound is very simple…all these people, THEY CARE ABOUT YOU.
They want you to grow…and to become young adults and to get into the work field.”
Travis Robertson
Grads2Careers Alumnus
