Designed on social network science, MYOH is available nationally to help students enrolled in federal, state, and local workforce programs build social capital with a select group of employed connections to learn about quality jobs and developmental programs. Through scientifically structured, monthly interactions, these Opportunity Guides connect users to potential employment opportunities, as well as provide guidance, support, and career development advice.

 

"Research points to the importance of social capital in long-term economic mobility, but no one is teaching our youth about it or giving them the tools to build it," noted Edward DeJesus, founder and CEO of the black-owned and operated SCB. "While schools are concerned about measuring what students know, measuring who they know is equally important—especially during these times of Covid when young people have been cut-off from the natural networks that could lead to a job, career, scholarship, or other positive developmental opportunities."

 

Sydnee Neal, a MYOH user, states, "I have many working people in my family and dozens of supportive professional around me, but I never had a way to keep connected to them.” Now Sydnee is using MyOH to keep her connections updated on her progress and getting important feedback in return.

Unlike most social networking platforms, MYOH is scientifically designed to increase the value of social capital between job seekers and the people they identify as potential sources of labor market support, including industry stakeholders, family, and former teachers, counselors, and coaches. MYOH facilitates social capital development through three evidence-based practices in social network empirical research by: 

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• Limiting the number of people in the ecosystem to 7 to develop more meaningful, reciprocal relationships.

• Utilizing the power of network closure among a group of non-redundant ties to increase information ­flow and decision making.

• Engaging parties in structured activities that promote and measure increased levels of compassion, assistance, reciprocity, and trust – the currency of social capital building.

“Our youth are the key ingredient to the success of the current and future workforce, but due to the disconnections they face, many will never get the chance to be part of the economic success they are looking for and what our communities need,” said Dustin Pack, Director at Project Yes, in Ceres, California, whose students are using the app. “MYOH gives our youth a platform and a voice to help them get connected to the Social Capital that exists all around them.” Other programs partnering with Social Capital Builders include CSS YouthBuild, Catholic Charities, the Maryland Innovation Center,  and OnCare TAY.

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"Social capital is the automatic parachute that protects affluent kids when they fall,” DeJesus shares. “I want youth from low and middle-income communities to learn about this overlooked asset and give them a tool to build it.”  More information about Social Capital Builders, MYOH and/or how to become an Opportunity Guide, please visit here.

 

ABOUT SOCIAL CAPITAL BUILDERS   

Social Capital Builders, Inc. (SCB) is the Black-owned and operated social enterprise dedicated to promoting the lifelong economic and social well-being of youth and families through the power of social capital literacy, analysis, and development. Creators of Foundations in Social Capital Literacy (FISCL), the only social capital building curriculum on the market today, SCB’s mission is to raise the social capital literacy and connections of 10 million families by 2025. SCB is a resident company at the Maryland Innovation Center and a member of the University of Maryland's I Corps program.