A growing summer education program is giving teens in North Minneapolis a voice and a paycheck

For recent high school graduate Isaiah Martin, joining the CoLab program meant stepping into a room full of younger peers, and finding an unexpected community through mental health education and hands-on team projects.

Now, as he prepares to graduate from the program, Martin is headed to Augsburg University, and he credits the youth-led initiative with helping him and his classmates take charge of their own professional future.

"From like professional developments like goal setting, like self growth workshops, like you name it, we've probably done it," says Martin. "And from the people that they've brought in from like credit unions, to learning CPR to doing yoga, to be a product of how amazing it is. It feels awesome."

After eight weeks of earning a paycheck while tackling resume building, mental health classes, and direct employer networking, it is a proud group of local teenagers that now gets ready to graduate next week.

Martin says the is helping him map out a clearer vision of his future.

"Every Thursday we give feedback to our advisors, our teachers, and then they kind of like make the change next week for it," Martin explains. "I feel like ultimately we kind of get to decide, and design what we want to see moving forward."

Nonprofit ECMC Group is funding the program for the next three years with a $1.8 million grant that covers at least three cohorts a year.

That graduation ceremony is just around the corner on August 13, as organizers are preparing to launch two new cohorts this fall and winter as they expand the program at St. Paul College.