Opportunity Tulsa focuses on workforce development by creating training and workplace possibilities for underrepresented teens. The foundation of our work is built on the understanding that there are significant barriers to employment that are historically present in most communities. The issue isn’t that so many young people of color or caste are unemployed or underemployed because of character defaults or individual failings, but rather that racial discrimination, educational disparities, gender bias, socioeconomics, disabilities even immigration status often keep teens and young adults from accessing opportunities to launch life-sustaining careers.
In response, our programs are designed to create on-ramps to employment for young people that reduce these obstacles by connecting our learning environments to paid internships and promising positions in the hospitality and restaurant industries. We begin with an asset-based mindset, knowing that everyone has greatness inside just waiting to be set free. And that there is a drive to succeed in life that exists in every young adult. Opening doors to opportunity for young people to thrive is where we see possibility. Every student in our program determines how and where the opportunities will take them.
The following restaurant and hospitality locations have agreed to serve as on-ramp to employment locations for youth exiting our program:
