On September 24, the West Mecklenburg High School gymnasium filled with students, educators, board members, and community leaders to celebrate a new partnership between Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg (CIS-Charlotte) and Road to Hire, built to strengthen the path from classroom to career for young people across Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools.

For Road to Hire, the journey does not end when a participant lands their first job. This September, that belief took a new form with the launch of the organization's inaugural Alumni Leadership Council (ALC), a 15-member advisory and working body that brings alumni voices directly into conversations shaping Road to Hire's future.

More than 500 young people chose to spend four to seven weeks of their summer learning in person, reporting early each morning to professional and college environments across Charlotte, building relationships, developing durable skills such as communication, problem-solving, and workplace habits that transfer across any job or industry, exploring artificial intelligence and emerging technology, and preparing for their futures.