Our TA98 Mission
Empower young adults with the skills, experiences, and networks necessary to obtain meaning careers and long term fulfillment.
TA98 exists to invest in young people and shape the future of work, leadership, and opportunity.
From first jobs to long-term career pathways, we build systems that help young adults turn potential into progress by supporting their personal growth, professional skills, and access to mentorship, while creating pathways for ideas and talent to grow into sustainable ventures.
Every skill learned, every experience earned, and every connection made reflects our belief that a stronger future is built by investing in people.
When young adults are given access, trust, and opportunity, they don’t just enter the workforce — they help shape what comes next.
OUR FRAMEWORK
Our Vision
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— Culturally relevant education and resources
Education that reflects lived experience and prepares young people for the real world.— Opportunities for academic, professional, and personal growth
Programs designed to support growth authentically, not one-size-fits-all.— Pathways to give back and lead in community
Resources and opportunities that empower young adults to invest in the places they come from.— A global network of mentors and peers
An alliance that supports collaboration, learning, and shared success across industries and geographies.— Access to meaningful jobs and real experiences
Work that builds skills, confidence, and long-term opportunity.
OUR THEORY OF CHANGE
Our Focus Areas
Youth Opportunity & Workforce Development
Leadership & Community Power
Creative & Cultural Innovation
Wellness, Belonging & Long-Term Growth
Our Values
AUTHENTICITY
As we help young adults develop professionally, we ensure they do so while cultivating their authentic self-expression. We believe that everyone should feel like they can be authentically professional.
COLLABORATION
We believe the solutions to creating a better tomorrow happen by listening to and working with others.
INTEGRITY
As we celebrate self-expression, we equally value the integrity we put into it. We measure integrity by the words equality, kindness, curiosity, compassion, and deliberation.
CHANGE
It is what motivates us to work every single day. To create positive change around us by changing institutions and systems.
Our Why
Youth unemployment remains a defining challenge in Chicago’s most disinvested communities.
Research from the Great Cities Institute at the University of Illinois at Chicago identifies youth unemployment as a key driver of community instability, finding that a small number of neighborhoods experience a disproportionate share of harm. In these areas, unemployment rates reach 79–92% for teens and 49–70% for young adults.
These outcomes reflect decades of structural disinvestment, under-resourced education systems, and limited access to quality workforce pathways. When meaningful employment is unavailable, opportunity narrows and community risk increases.
Chicago’s youth unemployment continues to exceed national levels. In 2021, nearly 80% of teens in Chicago were unemployed, compared to 67% nationally, highlighting a persistent and consequential gap.
Access to work is a proven lever for stability, mobility, and safer communities. Youth employment is not only an economic intervention — it is a structural solution.
TA98 was built to respond to this reality.
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