A Milwaukee organization prepares teens for careers. We followed one of them for a year

NOW: A Milwaukee organization prepares teens for careers. We followed one of them for a year
NEXT:

MILWAUKEE (CBS 58) — Teens are known to constantly have changes of heart when it comes to mapping out the rest of their lives. In Milwaukee, the Lead2Change program aims to minimize some of that adolescent turbulence.

The program connects teens with professionals in various vocations, and it puts them through "boot camps" on a variety of key skills, such as career identification, resume writing and interview skills.

The 10-month program requires a commitment from participants.

Between October 2025 and August 2026, we followed one of the program's participants, Jahmere Thomas. The junior at GreenTree Preparatory Academy was in his second year with Lead2Change.

It would be a year of change for Thomas. In a two-part series, CBS 58 documented how Thomas exited the program early as life's demands mounted and how his career goals came full circle, from architecture to psychiatry and back to architecture. The entire time, music remained Thomas' guiding light.

Close