Page 28 - Chester County Chamber - 2024 Guide & Membership Directory

EDUCATION &
LEADERSHIP
EDUCATING TOMORROW’S LEADERS
Chester County is home to highly
rated school systems, numerous
private and parochial school
options and well-known post-secondary
institutions such as Drexel University,
Cheyney University and West Chester
University.
However, one of the major difference
makers in the county are the educational
and leadership programs that shape local
residents — from high school students to
professionals of any age — into leaders
that will help the county thrive well into the
future.
One of these programs is the Chester
County Chamber Foundation’s Youth
Leadership Program (YLP).
The YLP is a yearlong journey from
September through May. Admission is open
to all students who live or go to school
in Chester County and the surrounding
region. They must be entering 10th, 11th
or 12th grade and undergo a simple
application process that begins in March of
each year. Selected students meet for six
to eight program days that are scheduled
on school days and viewed as excused
absences.
Originally started in the late 1990s, YLP was
conceived to “stop the brain drain,” said
Program Director Marianne Martelli. “The
best and brightest grew up here and were
being educated here, but then they’d go off
somewhere else to college.”
Martelli joined the program circa 2007
and was surprised to find that it included
a scholarship component to out-of-state
schools such as Harvard. “So the board and I
sat down and changed it so students would
have to matriculate at a Pennsylvania
school,” she said. She also proceeded to
grow the program significantly, from about
30 students a year to 80 in the 2023-2024
school year.
“The goal of the program is to connect
these kids with the captains of industry
we have here,” Martelli said. So while the
kids do group work and participate in
workshops on resume writing, etiquette
and other important soft skills, a key part of
the program are visits to local companies.
Participating companies come in all shapes
and sizes. “We’ll go anywhere — all we ask
is that there’s something interesting for the
kids to do,” Martelli said.
YLP participants will visit for one day and,
for example, hear stories from executives
about their career path and how they first
got their start. It’s an inspiring experience
for the students, but also a benefit for the
employers, she said.
For example, in one case, a conversation
between a student and the CFO of
a manufacturing company led to an
internship, which morphed into a part-time
job when the company urgently needed to
replace an admin on medical leave.
Other examples of compelling programs
that local employers have offered include
a tour of Aqua’s lab and a teambuilding
workshop hosted by one of the co-founders
of Coatesville-based nth Solutions.
To learn more about the program,
visit chescochamber.org/about-the-
foundation or email Marianne Martelli at
marianne@chescochamber.org.
26 Chester County Chamber of Business & Industry