Kingston, Jamaica— The MultiCare Youth Foundation (MYF), Starbucks Jamaica, and the Sandals Foundation are set to launch the second phase of the Starbucks YUTE Work II project.

The J$16.4 million project, which began in February 2025 in Kingston and St James, will provide 30 young Jamaicans, ages 16-29 years, with critical tools for personal development, productive careers, and self-empowerment.

In collaboration with the HEART NSTA Trust and other vocational training partners, the project will also serve to train and orient participants as potential employees for Jamaica’s hospitality services industry.

Starbucks Group’s marketing manager, Nicola Lym, noted that: “We are extremely excited about the second running of the Starbucks YUTE Work project, in collaboration with the MultiCare Youth Foundation and Sandals Foundation. This project has proven to be an excellent vehicle for skills training, providing opportunity for youths in underserved communities—as seen through the many success stories coming from the original Starbucks YUTE Work project. We are looking forward to the same level of success and partnership with Starbucks YUTE Work II.”

Meanwhile, Alicia Glasgow Gentles, Executive Director of the MYF, highlighted the critical importance of such initiatives at the national level.

“The MYF’s Youth Upliftment Through Employment (YUTE) Model is specifically aligned with the urgent national priority of reducing crime and violence in vulnerable Jamaican communities. It aims to contribute to the holistic development of youth and reduce their risk levels by creating positive pathways for their contribution to society,” she said.

The eight-month Starbucks YUTE Work II project features two cohorts of 15 youth each, receiving life and employability training, vocational skills training, and paid internship placements for two months at relevant hotels, restaurants, and other organisations in the
hospitality/service industry. Its Mentorship feature will train, match, and support protégés with volunteer mentors for a period of one year. Mentors will also receive training in safeguarding and psychological first aid.

The project will encourage community engagement through consultation with and working alongside local civil society organisations and community-based organisations for recruitment of residents in the targeted communities and delivery of add-on services.

It will also offer beneficiaries critical support, including stipends to cover material needs, assistance with the acquisition of food handler’s permits and civil registration documents, and referrals and assistance with job placement where possible.

Gentles reports that of the 60 participants in the original Starbucks YUTE Work project, 100 per cent were trained and matched with 54 mentors, and 60 per cent were provided with internship placements.

Of the 36 who sat certification exams, 61 per cent or 22, were successful. Fifteen participants were retained in full-time jobs following their internship, and one young woman is now also running her own small business. Eighty-five percent of the participants were
female.

The Starbucks YUTE Work project piloted in 2018-19 featured collaboration between forward-thinking private sector, civil society, and community leaders, and a multi-faceted approach to equipping underserved youth in volatile communities with a viable alternative to
involvement in worrying levels of crime and violence.