About Us

Working in close partnership with the Boston Globe, Boston University, Partners HealthCare and the City of Boston, John Hancock's MLK Summer Scholars program addresses what was deemed a critical need by Mayor Menino — summer jobs for city youth.

Our mission is to help develop a future skilled workforce while adding significant value to our community today. We provide funding to local community-based not-for-profits to enable them to offer meaningful summer employment opportunities to Boston youth. Organizations are given the flexibility to hire youth of their choosing and must provide internal resources to help Scholars succeed in their job. On top of knowledge gained from the work experience, we host a unique series of weekly job readiness and life-skills workshops that prepares the Scholars for the days and years ahead.

Over the last four years the program has served more than 2,000 Boston teens and is believed to be the largest, most comprehensive, corporate-based summer jobs program in the nation. The results are clear. Scholars come out of the program with improved work readiness and job skills; a more positive outlook about their future; increased mobility beyond their own neighborhoods and greater comfort with different types of people; and increased earned income and improved attitudes about their and their families' economic outlook and their role in it.

In addition to funding non-profit organizations, John Hancock, Partners HealthCare and The Boston Globe also hire summer interns to work in our respective organizations.