Mayor opens Project Indy season at Indy Parks, highlights program growth and summer hiring events

At an event hosted at Frederick Douglass Park, the mayor of Indianapolis opened the city's Project Indy youth employment season and highlighted the program's growth and summer job opportunities for local young people.

Project Indy, a city-backed youth employment initiative, has connected nearly 20,000 people ages 16 to 24 to local jobs since 2016, the mayor said. The program currently lists more than 160 employers hiring for over 250 positions, and officials emphasized that early work experience builds basic employability skills and long-term prospects.

"I'm always thrilled to kick off another season of the mayor's offices youth employment program, Project Indy," the mayor said. "Our park system plays a huge role in engaging our youth with fun and enriching summer jobs every year." The mayor thanked Project Indy and EmployIndy for their work connecting young people to employers.

Erica Chaney, vice president of career-connected learning at EmployIndy, described outreach and recruitment efforts that feed the platform. "Our team in EmployIndy are out in the community working to get job seekers on the platform through in-person recruiting at local high schools, presence at youth hiring fairs, and engaging business to take an active role in developing talent for their business and community," Chaney said. She said youth employment in Marion County has increased "over 7%" for ages 16 to 19 comparing 2018 to 2023, as reported at the event.

Chaney and other presenters outlined how the Project Indy platform recruits via text messaging and matches job seekers to geographically nearby openings or roles aligned with their interests. Chaney provided enrollment options discussed at the event: texting "Project Indy" to (317) 659-9657 or visiting projectindy.net. Vanessa Harris, identified at the event as the Project Indy coordinator, was available to answer questions about the online platform.

Representatives of Indy Parks described local hiring and an immediate recruiting opportunity. "Here at Frederick Douglass and Indy Parks, we are very grateful for this opportunity to partner with EmployIndy," said Derek Miller, a staff member at Indy Parks. He said Freddie Beck (Frederick Douglass) regularly sees between about 75 and 130 teenagers in the facility and encouraged attendees to come to an on-site hiring event scheduled that evening from 5:30 to 7 p.m., where he said employers would be on hand and candidates could interview.

Organizers said the program aims to teach young people how to fill out applications, interview and interact with customers while earning wages and building a pathway to long-term employment. Daptra Engage, identified at the event as a Project Indy service provider, was also present.

Event organizers and city officials encouraged interested young people to use the Project Indy contact options provided at the event to learn about openings and hiring events.