by contributor Marana Moore
Photo credit: Courtesy of dpaf
America’s Future: While some say corporate America is ignoring Gen Y, others help them by throwing a party. Such was the case last week when The Future of America Gala was attended by more than 500 guests at The Homer Building in Washington, D.C. The mission of the newly established non-profit and youth advocacy host organization, headed up by David Pattinson’s America’s Future (dpaf), is to solve “America’s Great Youth Depression.”
Originally from Bedfored, UK, Pattinson spent a year teaching in Melborune, Australia before graduating from the University of Manchester, UK with a degree in Economics. The former television reporter and producer has been featured in publications including The Daily Telegraph, Roll Call and 944 Magazine on the subject of youth in crisis, launching the U.S. office of dpaf in January 2013.
Perhaps in keeping with professed millennial culture, however, one of the steps in dpaf’s action plan was apparently to throw a great party–sporting a full open bar, formal attire, and live music featuring CULTURE SOL, a hip-hop/funk band from Atlanta.
The VIP reception was held in the upper balcony of the eye-catching Homer building. Here guests mingled with the dpaf founder as well as his close friends and family in an intimate reception prior to the main festivities of the evening.
With the soaring white marble foyer and palm trees as a backdrop, we caught up with Pattinson and his mother, Ms. Nadine Pattinson, who explained the purpose of the event. “The idea is to highlight the problem of youth unemployment while exploring solutions to it,” she said in a charming English accent. Ms. Pattinson indicated that part of the problem-solving that dpaf plans to implement would include the creation of programs to help Millennials secure jobs with corporate partners such as the ones listed on their corporate sponsorship billboard, which included companies such as Passport Auto, Akridge, Regus, Comcast Business, CSI, and Bisnow.
Other signs displayed faces and slogans representative of the plight of the Millennial generation, or Americans between the ages of 19-29, with the dpaf slogan: “Why am I still living in my parent’s basement?”
David Pattinson
Millennial Unemployment By the Numbers: A recent Gallup poll found that only 43.6 percent of Americans ages 18 to 29 had a full-time job in June 2013. This represents a marked decline from the 47 percent of Millennials who were employed full-time in 2012—indicating that Millennials entering the job market are finding even less employment now than ever before. Millennial underemployment is a clear underlying cause in a second statistic: more than 21 Million “adult children” are now living at home with their parents, according to a recent Pew Research study.
Chris Denzel and Steffi Borda
A New Movement: Prior to the band Culture Soul taking the floor, Pattinson addressed the crowd. “Youth unemployment is an issue that is essentially robbing Millennial and future generations of the ability to achieve the American Dream. dpaf’s mission is to equip young people with the skills to succeed in the global job market and the power to end the current cycle of student loan debt and unemployment. Tonight’s event is the kick-off of a movement and we are inspired by the overwhelming support of our cause. All of the proceeds from the Gala will go towards our 2014 programming and we are very excited to move forward with our mission to put America’s youth back to work.”
While some parts of his speech were difficult to hear due to noise, Pattinson enjoyed a round of cheers and applause with his closing statement about the party being the “beginning of a movement.”
Regus, also a platinum sponsor, donated a free 12-month Business World Gold Membership in “goodie bags” distributed to each attendee.
Many found the strong show of corporate response a heartening indicator of a potential shift in the job market. Some saw it as a sign of genuine interest in employing Millennials.
We can only wish dpaf luck in establishing these critically needed links and setting a new trend bringing much-needed jobs to the Millennial generation.
