"Talent is Everywhere. Opportunity is Not"
Fagan Harris, the founder and CEO of Baltimore Corps, has a clear vision of how to tackle what he calls the “crisis of opportunity" in this country - and it involves upending the status quo. Fagan believes that BIPOC youth are overlooked and underestimated – and that the answer to this crisis lies in creating pathways to high-mobility careers for these communities through public service and social entrepreneurship.
“[Baltimore Corps’] goal is to find the talented genius that exists everywhere in this city and to give them their best opportunity to make a difference for who they are and where they're going, but also for the city more generally,” says Fagan. “And I think if we can do that, Baltimore can be a model. It can be a lighthouse for the city that points the way forward, for how we catalyze community in new and impactful ways.”
Baltimore Corps was founded in 2013 with a simple premise: find better ways for the most talented people to go to work solving the city’s most important challenges. Harris and his team recognize the well-documented struggles of social sector leaders to recruit and retain and understand the need to scale the most effective solutions.
"You've got to invest in pathways that reach all the people,” says Fagan, “so that everyone has a chance to participate in the solution. That's really what service is about: giving everyone a chance to participate in the solution.”
The organization has grown substantially in the last decade and is now a leader in connecting young people to life-changing career opportunities in public service and social entrepreneurship. Baltimore Corps’ mission is to advance social innovation and a citywide agenda for equity and racial justice.
Each year, the nonprofit’s recruiters and placement specialists qualify and prepare over 2,500 adults and youth for full-time (entry-level to executive) opportunities in service, social entrepreneurship, and the broader labor market.
Through a wide range of programs, Baltimore Corps uses a “talent-first” approach to integrate cutting edge strategies in workforce development, small business development, and social innovation. Through the Baltimore Corps Fellowship, for example, they recruit highly talented, mission-driven professionals and connect them to cause leaders to work full time scaling social impact. Through the Place for Purpose program, they connect talent to opportunity outside of the Fellowship structure. And through the Elevation Awards program, they provide capital and development support to aspiring social entrepreneurs in Baltimore.
Earlier this year, Baltimore Corps announced plans to share its model for service with other cities and communities with the launch of City Corps and its first-ever expansion site in Birmingham, Alabama. City Corps will collaborate with city leaders, nonprofits, philanthropy, policy makers, and corporate partners “to build equitable, place-based ecosystems that turn service opportunities into sustainable careers for underestimated talent”. Read more about this initiative here.
As Fagan says, “Service is a way to get a lot more people in the game of life, helping them connect to their best opportunities so that they can make a difference for themselves and for others.”
To learn more about the work of Baltimore Corps, go to https://www.baltimorecorps.org/
