Juan Wilson: 20 Who Made a Difference in 2020

Juan Wilson: 20 Who Made a Difference in 2020

In recent years, key educators, community and business leaders have put in extra hours to mentor inner-city youth as to job opportunities and career paths out there that might be a perfect fit — or something they might not even have thought about — as they considered what their future might hold. 

2020 — with the coronavirus pandemic, educational challenges, high unemployment, and general uncertainty, wasn’t just any year. 

Juan Wilson, one of the organizers of #YesPVD — the annual youth summit for students and young adults in their teens and early 20s — knew that this year was more critical than ever for job exploration and connection. 

GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLAST

“With our previous youth summits serving over 1200 youth with over 175 volunteers, workshops and presenters, getting youth and young people to explore possible career paths with presenters that look like them is still our goal and very important,” said Wilson leading up 2020’s virtual summit. 

“Even with so much going online and with limited capacity events providing human interaction, one thing we are clear about is connection is key,” he continued. “ It is more important than ever for youth to continue to engage even online to build and broaden their networks especially with the community. Both youth and adults will have to continue to learn how to pivot to adjust overtime with this ‘New Normal.’”

Wilson didn’t stop with the summit, he led programming to help youth in need and helped spearhead a laptop donation drive.

Now, Wilson and #YesPVD organizers are recognizing those in the community for their work in 2020 — and GoLocal would like to take the opportunity to recognize Wilson.