“Are you reliable? Can they count on you? And are you going to be engaged?” These are the questions Stamford Mayor David Martin asked a room full of high school students enrolled in Future 5, a nonprofit program that provides resources to guide low-income students on a pathway to educational and career success.
The event was a precursor to Future 5”™s six-week program called Job Prep, which teaches soft skills through seminars and includes interactive group sessions and team-building activities. At the end of the program, students get the opportunity to job shadow with companies such as The Ashforth Co. and Nielsen, where they get their first taste of the corporate environment.
- Mayor David Martin speaks during a Q&A session at Future 5 in Stamford.
About 25 students participated in the Q&A session, with Martin answering questions on topics ranging from his educational background and job experiences to his outlook for Stamford”™s job market.
He stressed the importance of positioning oneself for success on the job through preparation and a passionate pursuit of opportunities.
A few Future 5 graduates attended the event to hear Martin talk about creating more job opportunities. Florence Grant, a sophomore at Northeastern University in Boston, said when she enrolled in Future 5 in Stamford, she found a mentor who stuck with her throughout the whole college application process.
“Take advantage of every opportunity here at Future 5,” said Grant, who hopes to work in movie and TV production after graduation. “The mentors here are amazing. Because of them I got into college, and I was also able to get a scholarship.”
Samuel Alabre, a senior at Dominican College in Orangeburg, N.Y., who also finished Future 5, said the program instilled a confidence in him that carries into his job interviews.
“I”™d like to pursue audio arts and produce music,” Alabre said. “I just want to put forth my fullest ability and let other people see my passion and tell them that you can do whatever you want to do if you put your mind, determination and ambition towards it.”
As for attracting young people to live and work in Stamford, Martin said the downtown is increasingly expanding and developing to meet the population”™s needs.
“You see bars and restaurants in the downtown, which has grown further with plans to put up housing,” Martin said. “We reached a critical mass. We”™re finding more and more young people want to live in Stamford, whereas before they didn”™t. We”™ll continue to have more energy and vibrancy in the downtown area, which will spill out into other areas, creating interrelated dynamics. UConn has also been growing and expanding its program.”
Two challenges the mayor foresees will impact job opportunities are the Metro-North Railroad”™s performance and the Stamford school system.
“If there”™s uncertainty about Metro-North, businesses are not going to relocate here,” Martin said. “If (businesses) can”™t operate if employees are 10 minutes late, they can”™t move here. Reliability is that important. What”™s the reputation of our school system? There”™s a lot of challenges there. I think Stamford (schools) are much better than their reputation.”
Martin also touched on the importance of diversity in the workplace, including in his own administration.
“I”™m trying to appoint diverse people to our commissions, to various positions in government,” Martin said. “We have the most diverse fire commission and police commission we ever had in Stamford, and we”™ll continue to do diversity training.”
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