09/02/2026
TRiiBE EXCLUSIVE — Mayor Brandon Johnson announced that his administration made a record-breaking investment in youth this summer under the rebranded Chicago Youth Works.
The city funded more than 32,500 paid opportunities for teens and young adults, the highest annual total in Chicago history, Johnson told The TRiiBE.
“This is part of the hallmark, if you will, of my administration, investing in young people," he said.
Chicago businesswoman Tammy Brownlee employed about 150 youth this summer through her Prime for Change nonprofit, one of 50-plus delegate agencies for Johnson’s Chicago Youth Works initiative.
“Listen. I remember being a child in the city of Chicago, and we weren’t given these opportunities. Not at this level,” said Brownlee, a South Side native who also owns the for-profit Prime Proposal Group. “For every youth that we have in one of these programs, that’s one less youth doing something that they should not be doing. They’re learning skills that’s going to help them be a better person, and live a better life more than anything. So the investments that [the city] makes at 100 percent, they pay off 100 percent.”
Read the full story here: https://thetriibe.com/2026/09/chicago-invested-in-a-record-32500-youth-jobs-this-summer-heres-why-it-matters/
