The New Mexico Job ChalleNGe Academy is a tuition-free, 20-week residential program that provides real-world job skills and industry-recognized certifications for graduates of the Youth ChalleNGe Academy. Designed to prepare you for life and career success, the academy offers hands-on training, mentorship, and a supportive community.
I brought a group of community leaders to meet the cadets at the New Mexico Job Challenge Academy -- a transformative program designed for young people who've completed the Youth Challenge and are now preparing for careers in high-demand trades.
The Youth Challenge gives at-risk youth the discipline, structure, and confidence to turn their lives around, and the Job Challenge builds on that foundation -- offering industry certifications in welding, construction, CDL, and more.
We were joined by leaders from Associated General Contractors of New Mexico and Be Pro Be Proud, and I can't tell you how excited they were about what they saw.
One of the most powerful moments was when a cadet in the front row -- calm, confident, laser-focused -- told us she had once been kicked out of school for drinking. Her life was headed in the wrong direction. But after going through Youth Challenge and now Job Challenge, she's planning to join the military. She didn't break eye contact once. That's what soft skills and second changes look like.
Programs like this aren't just about workforce development. They're about dignity, redemption, and real opportunity. And they work.
Thank you to
Jaynes
Corporation. I can't do what I do without companies like them. They didn't just spark this idea (thank you, Doug Clark!), and help make this day happen -- they also believed in the mission behind it. Consider Jaynes for your next construction project. Who knows, by then they might've hired a few of these cadets.
I woke up at 4:15 a.m. to lead a workout for the Job Challenge cadets. Their PT starts at 5:15. By the time we were done running suicides, the sun still hadn't come up. At the end of the workout, we huddled in a circle. I asked them:
"What is your greatest talent or gift?"
One said he was good at reading people. One said she was good at listening. Another said she was the funny one.
Simple answers. Profound truths.
That's what our nonprofit, Greater Communities, is all about: unlocking the potential that every young person carries inside -- often overlooked, sometimes buried by hardship. Our mission is to help those gifts rise to the surface and become the foundation for a new future.
A listening ear can change a life. A sense of humor can lift a room. The ability to read people can hold a team together. And when those gifts are cultivated, they ripple outward -- strengthening families, communities, and even industries.
That morning, the lesson was clear: Our gifts aren't just for us -- they're for the people around us.