National Expansion of YouthBuild in Mexico Underway

Founded in 2004, Jovenes Constructores de la Comunidad (JCC) has operated programs adapted from the YouthBuild model in Mexico City, Chiapas, Tabasco, and Ciudad Juárez. The JCC model combines classroom learning for youth who do not complete secondary school with construction projects that serve the needs of the community and complement the classroom-based instruction. JCC provides young people with the tools necessary to define their life plans and build life skills through workshops on leadership, community service, self-confidence, conflict resolution, and teamwork, among other topics.

 

David Calvert, the founder of JCC, was the first YouthBuild program director at Youth Action Programs and Homes Inc. in East Harlem. With funding from the Ford Foundation, JCC ran its first programs in Mexico City and then expanded to Chiapas and Tabasco with a grant from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. JCC has leveraged every $1 usd of private funds with an additional $7 usd of public funding. 

 

The Government of Mexico will fund the scaling of the program to 30 additional cities in 2011 and 2012. Instituto Mexicano de la Juventud, Mexico’s national youth program, will support the expansion of JCC and JCC-like programs to 12 cities. SEDESOL, the Social Development Secretariat of the Government of Mexico, will source Programa de Empleos Temporales (Program of Temporary Employment) and Programa de Recuperación de Espacios Públicos (Program to Recuperate Public Spaces) funding to JCC to further scale by 18 sites. 

 

JCC, led by board chair Tere Lanzagorta and director Paco Almanza, will lead the replication of the YouthBuild model by growing JCC’s capacity to provide quality control, knowledge management, and coordination to the network of JCC sites. 

 

• High school diplomas
• Job readiness, matching youth to jobs
• Aligning job training with market demand
• Gang intervention and conflict mitigation