Local Circles

Our mission is to facilitate youth-led research in which young Detroiters (ages 15-19) pose their own questions and conduct research to inquire upon social issues that are meaningful to them.

Our Founder, Nicole Jurek, spent 6 years working in Detroit high schools engaging teens in after-school community service. When it came to summer programs, even youth who were typically the most committed to service responded with some resistance. “I need some money,” Nicole heard. She dug a little deeper. The youth shared with Nicole: “I don’t even know what it means to have a job.” So Nicole took what youth told her and paired it with the innovative research opportunities that youth are getting in other cities to create Local Circles in 2016. At Local Circles, youth get to participate in research opportunities around community issues that are important to them, get trained on job readiness skills, and get paid to do it.

Youth-Led Research Program: A team of ten to twelve Youth Researchers are employed to identify, research and address an issue that is important to them.