Looking Ahead to GDYT 2026 by Celebrating a Strong 2025

Since launching the Grow Detroit’s Young Talent (GDYT) program nearly 20 years ago, the initiative has grown, even eventually being adopted by the City of Detroit under Mayor Mike Duggan. Connect Detroit is looking forward to the start of the 2026 GDYT program and another summer of helping Detroit youth build skills, earn income, and explore their futures. As preparations continue, we are also looking back on a strong 2025 program year, one that again demonstrated the value of meaningful summer employment for young people across Detroit.

GDYT is a citywide summer jobs program that trains and employs young adults ages 14 to 24 for up to 120 hours. Participants must be permanent residents of Detroit and eligible to work in the United States. The program offers a wide range of employment experiences, including community cleanups, event planning, accounting, retail, food service, art and design, summer camp leadership, and Junior Police and Fire Cadet opportunities. In 2025, GDYT provided summer work and learning experiences to 8,054 young Detroiters, following more than 18,000 completed applications.

Connect Detroit served as the City’s Summer Youth Employment Coordinator in partnership with Detroit Employment Solutions Corporation. In this role, Connect Detroit engaged 74 community-based partners that helped deliver meaningful work and learning experiences to more than 4,000 youth. The six-week program ran from July through August and focused on four core components: work readiness training, financial education, work and learning experiences, and wraparound supports.

Throughout the summer, youth gained experience across more than 400 worksites, including nonprofit organizations, small and large businesses, educational institutions, and local government. Many partners also incorporated field trips, job shadowing, mentoring, capstone projects, and culminating events that helped participants connect their summer experiences to future education and career goals.

A major highlight of 2025 was Connect Detroit’s continued investment in partner support and program quality. Program partners participated in orientation, bi-weekly training sessions, and an optional Program Planning Retreat attended by more than 100 participants. Training topics included trauma-informed programming, program logistics, youth development fundamentals, and GDYT payroll.

Financial education also remained a key focus. Connect Detroit partnered with the Michigan Roundtable for Just Communities to support 10 Peer Money Mentors, GDYT youth age 18 and older who were trained to lead financial education workshops for their peers. Connect Detroit also worked with the Center for Financial Empowerment Fund to expand financial education and access to banking. As part of this effort, the GDYT App was developed, and more than 300 youth opened fee-free, youth-friendly, non-custodial accounts with a partnering financial institution.

The 2025 Young Professionals Conference was another standout moment. Held July 31 at Huntington Place, the event welcomed more than 450 young people ages 14 to 24. With the theme “Building Resiliency for the World of Work,” the conference focused on the connection between behavioral health and employability. The day included plenary sessions, breakout sessions, a resource fair, entertainment, and wellness activities. More than 90% of surveyed attendees described the conference experience as positive.

Youth feedback reflected the impact of GDYT. More than 2,000 participants completed the exit survey, with 92% reporting they were very satisfied with the program, 96% saying they learned valuable technical and job readiness skills, and 93% saying they received the support they needed for a successful summer experience. Participants also reported growth in areas such as interview preparation, time management, money management, future planning, workplace behavior, and community involvement.

For many young people, GDYT was more than a summer job. It was a chance to gain confidence, build relationships, explore careers, earn income, and see new possibilities for their futures. As Connect Detroit prepares for 2026, the goal remains clear: to once again support more than 8,000 Detroit youth through meaningful summer employment.

With continued support from funders, partners, worksites, families, and the broader community, Connect Detroit is excited to help launch another impactful GDYT summer in 2026.