Success isn't built overnight—it starts with someone willing to listen.

In this inspiring episode of the iBuild America Podcast, host Lorraine Lane sits down with Diane Roberts, Director of Youth Services at Employ Prince George's, to discuss what it really takes to prepare today's young adults for successful careers.

From her own journey that began as a 14-year-old in a summer jobs program to leading workforce initiatives that change lives every day, Diane shares powerful lessons about mentorship, trust, employability skills, apprenticeships, and why relationships matter more than résumés.

Together, they tackle important conversations about:

• Why so many young people struggle to find their direction

• The employability skills schools often overlook

• How employers can become life-changing mentors

• Why apprenticeships and skilled trades deserve more attention

• Building confidence through opportunity—not just education

• Meeting young people where they are instead of where we expect them to be

Whether you're a student, parent, educator, employer, or workforce professional, this conversation is filled with practical insights and inspiring stories that remind us that one opportunity can change someone's life forever.

🎧 Listen now, subscribe, and join us as we continue Building America's Workforce—one story at a time.

What does it take to go from the streets to the front office? For Corey Davis, Center Director at the Gadsden Job Corps Center in Gadsden, Alabama, the answer is equal parts hustle, humility, and an unshakeable belief that every young person deserves a shot.

Corey didn’t grow up on a clear path. He was a former gang member, made mistakes, stayed in trouble — his words, not ours. But a praying mama, a chance encounter with Job Corps, and eighteen years of grinding through every level of the program transformed him into one of the most passionate, authentic leaders in workforce development today.

In this episode of the iBuild America Podcast, host Lorraine Lane sits down with Corey to talk about what’s really happening at the Gadsden Job Corps Center — a unique program located on the campus of Gadsden State Community College, an HBCU, creating a one-of-a-kind partnership that’s opening doors for young people ages 16 to 24.

He shares how Gadsden is pioneering pre-apprenticeship programs in culinary arts and material handling — not just the hard trades people typically think of — and how every student is tracked and supported for a full year after leaving the program. He talks about AI training hitting Job Corps before most adults even knew to ask for it, leisure-time jobs that double as career pipelines, and why he believes “comfortability is a beautiful place to visit, but nothing grows there.”

And then there’s Zach — a student who came to Job Corps, wasn’t ready the first time, left, came back, pushed through, and last week signed a $16,000 signing bonus with the Army. That’s the kind of story that keeps Corey going. And it’s the kind of story that’ll keep you listening.

Key Takeaways from This Episode:

• How Corey went from touring with a rap group to running one of Alabama’s most impactful Job Corps centers

• Why culinary arts is the next frontier in pre-apprenticeship training — and what that means for students

• The power of wraparound services: being a mentor, counselor, and uncle all at once

• How Gadsden is already integrating AI training — and why the students are ahead of the adults

• The real secret to workforce retention: following students for a full year after they leave

• Why employers need to stop sleeping on Job Corps graduates — and give them the chance

• What it means to turn a leisure-time job into a full career pathway

Whether you’re a young person looking for your next move, an employer wanting to tap into an underrated talent pipeline, or a workforce professional who lives for this work, this episode is for you.

Subscribe, share, and drop a comment. Because this is exactly how we build America — one young person at a time. Build America — Building Workforce Success, One Podcast at a Time.

Ever heard someone say, “The dream is free, but the hustle is sold separately?” That’s not a quote from a motivational poster — that’s the lived philosophy of Walter L. Simmons, the Secretary of the newly-created Maryland Department of Social and Economic Mobility (DOSM) — the first cabinet-level agency in America dedicated to social equity and economic mobility.Walter didn’t start in a boardroom. He started on a football field in rural South Carolina, chasing a scholarship and a dream of law enforcement. But somewhere between criminal justice classes and real-world reality, he had a realization that changed everything: by the time someone touches the criminal justice system, the trauma has already happened. So instead of responding to the problem, he decided to prevent it.That shift in mindset set Walter on a path that took him from managing economic mobility centers with the United Way, to the 2014 White House Summit for Working Families under President Obama, through Prince George’s County where he grew a workforce organization to a $30 million annual budget with 150 employees — and ultimately to the office he holds today, leading a system designed to give Maryland’s small, minority, women-owned, veteran-owned, and disadvantaged businesses access to over $100 billion in annual state commerce.In this episode, Walter sits down with host Lorraine Lane to unpack what economic mobility actually looks like in practice — from the difference between being eligible and being suitable for a contract, to the five-level ecosystem DOSM is building across all 24 Maryland jurisdictions.

He breaks down why public-private partnerships are the backbone of economic change, why workforce development isn’t about entitlement but about opportunity, and why R&D in this field stands for something entirely different than you’d expect.Key Takeaways from This Episode:• Why poverty and the criminal justice system are dangerously intertwined — and how workforce development breaks the cycle• The three stages of economic mobility: instability, stability, and prosperity — and where you are right now• What Maryland’s $100 billion procurement landscape means for minority and small businesses• The real difference between being eligible and being suitable for a contract• Why “life is written in pencil” — and how to keep erasing and rewriting your story• Walter’s mantra: “You can never be ready, but you can always be prepared”Subscribe, share, and drop a comment — because conversations like this one are exactly how we build a workforce that works for everyone. iBuild America Podcast — Building Workforce Success, One Podcast at a Time.