Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program
Summer Work Opportunites
Polished Pebbles Girls Mentoring Program is pleased to announce that we are now accepting applications for more than 200 paid summer work opportunities for Black and Brown girls. With an emphasis on west-side communities, at no cost to apply, Polished Pebbles’ six-week summer programming will be offered throughout the city of Chicago, introducing young girls to various paid career opportunities where they’ll develop career readiness skills and make meaningful connections in the future workplace.Summer work-study programs are the foundation of Polished Pebbles’ efforts, and this summer – in the organization’s 15th year – the programs are sponsored by The Obama Foundation, The NBA, and Cook County. Beginning in May 2024, Polished Pebbles will partner with corporations across the city of Chicago for an increased number of opportunities this year, including:
- West Side Every Girl is a CEO: In collaboration with One Summer Chicago, this program serves young Black and Brown girls on Chicago’s west side aged 14-15. The six-week program includes summer job shadows, career and leadership development, and a summer paycheck fair. Application Deadline: May 2, 2024. Program start date: June 24, 2024.
- Every Girl is a CEO: Open to Black and Brown girls from the south suburbs, western suburbs, and throughout the city of Chicago aged 13 – 18, this six-week program is offered both in person and virtually. It includes summer job shadows, career and leadership development, and a summer paycheck fair. Application Deadline: May 17, 2024. Program start date: June 24, 2024.
- Mommy and Me Entrepreneurship: Designed for girls ages 10-14 and their mothers, this six-week Saturday program provides the tools to transform small business ideas into reality while developing communications and career development opportunities. Application Deadline: May 30, 2024. Program start date: June 22, 2024.
All Polished Pebbles opportunities through the above programming are paid opportunities with no cost to apply. Applications are now open for all programs.
Curriculum
An essential career and success guide written by Reflections Foundation Founder Kelly Fair. Ms. Fair illustrates each point – from how to get your first job, to how to find a mentor, to how to design a dream career – with examples of the lives of women of color who have achieved great success. Each summer, our jobs and internship component connects girls with paid employment, with this curriculum as the core of the weekly meeting for girls in our summer work programs. In 2021 we hired more than 100 girls into our Every Girl is a CEO paid work program, even in the midst of the Pandemic, providing them with crucial, practical work experience. In 2022, PP had over 400 applicants and was able to hire nearly 160 girls from across the Chicagoland area, including in-person professional development workshops led by industry leaders and job shadow trips to various companies. The curriculum is also used for the job readiness components in all of our core Polished Pebbles programs.
Conference
Inspired by the Every Girl Is A CEO Curriculum, Polished Pebbles developed the annual global career conference to impact girls and young women not only locally but nationally and globally. For the past three years Polished Pebbles has engaged over 300 girls and young women from across the Chicagoland area, states across the U.S., and different countries in Jamaica, South Africa, Kenya, and India. The conference includes four panels highlighting different career pathways from hospitality to STEM to sports management. Each year the conference features one Pink Hard Hat career panel to expose girls from around the world to careers in construction, manufacturing, engineering, or the trades.
