The picture that often accompanies this story is not of me. That’s intentional. It shows something bigger than any one person. It shows a community — business owners and employees — who believe their work is more than just a job. They believe in shaping the next generation.

That’s the SkillCraft Bermuda community.

Finding a path from school to meaningful work is tough. It was tough for many of us. Today, it is even harder. Youth unemployment in Bermuda (ages 16 to 24) is 13.5 per cent. And that struggle is not equally shared. These challenges are intensified by socioeconomic disadvantage and other systemic inequities, which means groups of young people are underrepresented in clear, supported career pathways.

Young Bermudians face unemployment at four times the rate of non-Bermudians. Black youth are twice as likely to be unemployed as White youth. Men are seven times more likely to be unemployed than women. Without targeted support, too many young people — especially from underrepresented groups — are left behind without access to clear, meaningful career pathways.

SkillCraft Bermuda was created to change that. We connect young people with real-world work experience, mentorship and training. Our goal is simple: to open doors and build workplace skills before the job search even begins. Each year, we run a social-media internship programme that includes:

• Professional development and digital marketing training

• Workplace skill building and coaching

• Hands-on, real-world experience

By the end of our 2024 programme, one intern, Henok Simons, told us: “SkillCraft helped me understand what I would be doing in an office-based job…and helped me figure out that it’s not what I want.”

That’s powerful.

Without this chance, Henok might have ended up in a career that did not fit. Because of this experience, he is clearer and more confident about his future.

We also train host businesses to support and mentor interns, many of whom successfully transition to full-time jobs. Jessica Bowers, the marketing and communications manager at Bermuda Underwater Exploration Institute, said: “The SkillCraft Youth Internship Team does a phenomenal job preparing both the interns and host businesses. We’ve been consistently impressed with the growth and confidence in our interns.”

In fact, BUEI went on to hire both of the interns placed with them.

Since our launch in 2022, we have supported more than 40 interns. Here’s what we have seen:

• 46 per cent of interns were offered jobs by their host businesses

• 100 per cent showed growth in core professional skills such as openness to feedback, willingness to learn, punctuality and problem-solving

• Three interns have already launched careers in marketing as a direct result of their SkillCraft placements

Our long-term vision is ambitious but necessary: we want youth unemployment in Bermuda reduced to a low, single-digit percentage. We want every young person to have access to career exposure, training and professional networks — regardless of their background.

Our programme’s successes are not just SkillCraft’s successes; they belong to the community. Business owners, mentors, team leaders — they are the ones who make space, give time and invest in young people. Our job is simply to connect the pieces.

Our work matters. But it works only because we do it together.

So, enjoy the picture. Every face in it represents someone who showed up for Bermuda’s future. We hope you will be part of the next one.

• Margot Shane is the cofounder and programme director of SkillCraft. For more information about SkillCraft, visitwww.skillcraft.bm. This op-ed is part of the Third Sector Spotlight Series, a collective media campaign co-ordinated by the Non-Profit Alliance of Bermuda. This campaign aims to raise awareness of the value, impact and contributions of Bermuda’s non-profit sector