LEADER USES ALLIANCES TO CREATE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR YOUNG PEOPLE

David Rojas, Jr., is the founder of The Alliance 98, an organization that aims to find employment opportunities for young people age 16-24. Photo provided by David Rojas, Jr.
David Rojas, Jr., is the founder of The Alliance 98, an organization that aims to find employment opportunities for young people age 16-24. Photo provided by David Rojas, Jr.

 Leader uses alliances to create employment
opportunities for young people

BY TIA CAROL JONES

     David Rojas, Jr., was the first in his family to go to high school, go to college and start a business in Chicago. His story is what led him to found The Alliance 98 in 2019. The Alliance 98’s aim is to tackle unemployment for 16 to 24-year-olds in the city of Chicago.
      Rojas said he found so many roadblocks in finding opportunities. He started to hear the same stories from others who were looking for opportunities after college. “I wanted to make it easier for the next generation and for young folx like myself to connect with other people, build a strong network of alliances, and be able to survive,” he said. “Once we’re able to survive, we’re
able to potentially thrive.”
    Rojas said what drives him is the ability to create more opportunities for young people. He said growing up on the West
side, he watched his parents struggle to find their footing in the states. Rojas, was born in Chicago, but was raised in Mexico and returned at the age of four. He said it is important for young people
to know where their family comes from and to know their family history.
    “That is what has been driving me and ultimately motivating me to continue to knock on doors and create those types of opportunities for people throughout the entire city, and hopefully,
across the country,” he said.
     Rojas said a lot of his friends didn’t have the option to continue their education because they needed to work to help out their family. He said it resulted in it taking longer for them to get where
they are now. “I really want to amplify people’s potential and accelerate that and I want to be part of the solution here in this city,” he said.
     Rojas, who graduated from Connecticut College in 2017, said he decided to give away suits to young people. More than 70 suits were donated. And since then, TA98 has been able to provide professional garments to young folx and there is a program called Suited for a Cause that provides hard and soft skills, and training for young folx to prepare them for an entry level job. “That’s kind of where the foundation of the organization lies, is really providing that type of workforce training,” he said.
     Rojas said there are so many great people who inspire him, the first who come to mind, are his parents. He also said growing up as a 90’s baby, he loves Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls.
He counts Jordan as someone who inspires him. He said the number 98 in TA98 stands for Jordan’s last year playing as a Chicago Bull. “The drive, I think, just to be the best, is unmatched and so I feel like I want to be a Jordan in some type of industry, in the social impact space and be able to continue to learn,” he said.
     Most importantly, Rojas said young people need options and practicality, adding, students want a real education, things they can use, and more opportunities for development in the sectors
they want to pursue, like the arts, graphic design and the marketing profession.
     “The students are telling us what they want, we’re just not doing a good job of listening and creating those systems for
them to be able to amplify their work,” he said. Rojas said as a child, he had the opportunity to travel to Mexico. He said seeing a different level of poverty, has always been a driving force for him.
“Seeing how much better we have it and never forgetting where I’m coming from. For me, I’m always in connection with my family, seeing how I can help in Mexico, as well. And, that really drives
me because they are so happy to be connected to a network here in Chicago,” he said. “And, more importantly, I think when I get those phone calls from moms and dad[s] thanking me for the programs and for all of the different services our coaches are providing, that is why we do the work. I think that is more valuable
than anything, more than money, in the world, just making sure we are helping people at the end of the day.”
     For more information about The Alliance 98, visit ta98.org.

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