Your next step starts
with a connection.
Teen Business & Career Network
Meet business owners. Explore careers. Build skills you can show.
Pilot in preparation · Proposed first cohort: ages 16–18
More than a meeting.
A next step you can show.
NEXT is designed to connect teens and local businesses through structured learning, approved opportunities, and a documented next step.
A skills portfolio, mentor feedback, verified participation, and a next-step plan make progress visible. No enrollment in another Teen Expo program or purchase of consulting services is required.
Explore what
could be next.
You do not have to know your career yet. Start with your interests and the support you need.
- Complete one private intake and readiness orientation when enrollment opens.
- Request up to three approved opportunities that fit your interests, age, schedule, and travel options.
- Meet the host. A coordinator clears the plan and required consent before the first visit.
- Check in weekly and finish with a portfolio, feedback, and a next-step meeting.
This is an interest inquiry, not a placement application. A parent, guardian, or participant age 18 or older can use the family form. Inquiries are reviewed by For The Future Consulting. Please do not submit student records or sensitive personal information.
Open a door.
Help build the path.
Bring your experience and a clear learning opportunity. Start with a reusable plan and practical mentor support.
- Submit one host intake with a named mentor, schedule, location, learning goals, and pay status.
- Complete site and adult screening, host orientation, and opportunity approval.
- Meet eligible applicants and agree on a coordinator-approved plan.
- Coach, verify participation, and give midpoint and completion feedback.
The pilot model proposes one group mentor hour weekly. Paid roles require appropriate supervision throughout work. No host is approved by submitting an inquiry.
A learning path.
A clear next destination.
Approximately four hours weekly across eight weeks, with days 57–60 for completion and next-step decisions. Final dates and approved schedules will be published before enrollment.
Get ready
Orientation, safe communication, goals, teamwork, and a host introduction.
Explore the work
How businesses operate, career observation, practice tasks, and a midpoint review.
Build your tools
Money and paycheck basics, career research, and approved service where available.
Show your progress
A resume, mock interview, portfolio, mentor feedback, and a documented next step.
Different routes.
Clear expectations.
These describe program pathways, not current vacancies. Approved listings will state dates, age eligibility, supervision, tasks, and pay status.
See a career up close.
Shared training, mentor conversations, tours, structured observation, and simulated practice.
Contribute with purpose.
Separately approved charitable or public-service activities through an eligible host.
Move into paid work.
Employer-selected roles with approved duties, supervision, wages, and payroll arrangements.
Progress beyond
the introduction.
The program will track completions, actual paid starts, retention, participant feedback, and the usefulness of each placement. Pilot targets are goals—not results already achieved.
Good questions.
Clear answers.
Is the first 60 days an unpaid internship?
The proposed first phase is learning, not an unpaid job trial. Only approved nonemployment activities are unpaid. If an activity creates an employment relationship, required wages apply from the point work begins—even before day 60. A signed acknowledgment does not waive wage rights.
Does participation guarantee a job or school credit?
No. Paid roles depend on employer selection, readiness, approved opportunities, and funding. Schools and colleges must approve and award academic credit. Service-hour acceptance is decided by the receiving organization.
How will teens be protected?
The program design requires screening, approved sites and tasks, named supervisors, consent, transport planning, and private reporting before placement. Teens may report concerns or stop unsafe activity without retaliation. No public teen directory is planned.
Do I have to join another program first?
No. NEXT is designed to operate independently with its own intake and participation plan. Other Teen Expo programs remain available separately. Business consulting purchases do not affect teen access or host approval.
Is enrollment open now?
The pilot is in preparation. Dates, cleared hosts, approved opportunities, and enrollment instructions will be announced when ready. Use the teen/family or host inquiry button to ask for program information.
People prepared.
Doors opened.
Teen Expo: teen and family engagement, readiness, participant support, and placement coordination.
For The Future Consulting: business host preparation, mentor support, entrepreneurship, and financial education.