With a $6.5 million investment into job training and future employment for teens and young adults in the Silver State, the Nevada Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation unveiled its Up Next Nevada Initiative in Carson City on Monday.
The initiative is a collaboration between DETR, Nevadaworks, and the Nevada Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs. It provides leadership training within after-school and childcare centers statewide with the goal of growing a professional youth development workforce and ensure childcare centers and school-age clubhouses operate at capacity.
The initiative addresses challenges in attracting and retaining employees in childcare and after-school programs. It also seeks to provide a professional pathway in the fields of education, energy and healthcare for teens and young adults.
Career Building for the Future
“This is career building and what we need to be doing. Youth are 25 percent of our population but are 100 percent of our future,” said DETR Director Christopher Sewell.
“What this initiative does, the money we are able to get over to the Boys and Girls Club, is going to help in two areas,” said Sewell. “First is child care. This is a huge issue in the state of Nevada. And the second and importantly is training for our teens and young adults. The training and skills they are going to learn — such as what it is like to be employed and the expectations — are so important because they can take those into every job they go into.”
“This project will help bridge a skill gap for young adults and teens,” said Sewell. “We are proud to support Boys & Girls Clubs’ employee development initiative to empower young people to dream, make a plan and achieve their career goals.”
Mentorship and Career Development
Through 2025-2026, Up Next Nevada will offer professional mentorship, youth development career pathway coaching, and competitive wages to 210 young workers, ages 15 to 24.
In addition, Boys & Girls Clubs licensed childcare centers and school-age after-school programs will be more consistently staffed with highly trained and well-compensated workers, ensuring club capacity is available to support Nevada’s working parents.
“For decades, Boys & Girls Clubs have grown our own employees, relying on club alumni and teens to staff clubhouses, seasonal camps, and administrative positions.” said Brett Zunino, Chief Executive Officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada based in Carson City. “This will expand career options for existing employees and ensure we are fully staffed with the best talent to serve Nevada’s children and teens.”
The Initiative offers a full menu of services
Serving 13 counties, Nevadaworks will provide participants with additional resources by co-enrolling them in the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) and other programs. Nevadaworks mission is to find these kinds of opportunities for young adults, dislocated workers and others.
“The Up Next Nevada Initiative really fits neatly in the menu of services we provide. We have been very successful at applying for and receiving multiple types of grants so we can weave together a full menu of services for participants,” said Milt Stewart, Chief Executive Officer of Nevadaworks.
“What this allows us to do is help support these individuals through their journey with the Boys and Girls Clubs and afterward when they are looking for work or when they are looking for training. It really fits the eco-system that we work within.”
Through this co-enrollment, Nevadaworks will offer wrap-around services, such as transportation assistance and additional career coaching, to help participants overcome barriers to employment and achieve long-term success, said Stewart.
Initiative success for young adults
For young adults entering the workforce, the future outlook on jobs can be daunting. Faith Reid from Dayton and Lukas Furzani of Gardnerville both said the Up Next Nevada Initiative couldn’t have come at a better time.
“I grew in Dayton, a community of less than 15,000 and rural. We definitely had a little less resources than the bigger cities. So when the Boys and Girls Club approached me and expressed they were interested in having me in this position and furthering my own professional development, I jumped at it,” said Reid, who is Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada’s Carson City program administrator.
For those entering the initiative, Reid urged them to “stick with it, pick your program, have faith in your supervisors and mentors. They want to see you succeed,” she said.
For sixth-generation Nevadan Lukas Furzani, who is serving as a program lead at the Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada, he said he had been doing manual labor and decided he wanted to get a change of scenery, deciding to work with youth at the Boys and Girls Club in Carson Valley.
He was approached by two people — his director and supervisor Taylor Lambert and Boys and Girls Club of Western Nevada CEO Brett Zunino — who told him about the opportunity to join the DETR program. Furzani signed up immediately.
The reimbursement for college was the main thing he was excited about especially because around this time last year he was unable to pay for spring semester at WNC.
“Having that reimbursement program meant that I was able to get right back on track and am now ready to graduate next year,” he said.
Furzani plans to go to UNR to get his teaching degree in secondary education, all the while working and picking up skills at the Boys and Girls Club.
The trajectory of his career track “would have been much more difficult had it not been for the backing of the DETR program and my amazing mentor Brett. They’ve made this absolutely doable. I’m back on track and things are running butter smooth,” he said.
Up Next Nevada is looking for young adults to work at Boys & Girls Clubs across the state. Go here for the website and follow here on Facebook and Instagram.
