Local leader recognized for completing two-year fellowship focused on collaboration and impact for opportunity youth
Jerrell Morton, Director of YouthBuild at Job Point, has completed the 2024–2026 YouthBuild Leadership Fellowship, a two-year international leadership initiative developed and hosted by YouthBuild Global, the headquarters for the YouthBuild movement. The initiative brings together leaders from YouthBuild programs across the United States and around the world to cultivate their leadership skills, strengthen the YouthBuild network, and create sustainable positive impact for opportunity youth.
Morton was selected in 2024 for this first-ever global cohort of dedicated international leaders from across the YouthBuild movement for their commitment to personal growth, the future of the YouthBuild network, and opportunity youth — young adults between the ages of 16 and 24 who are neither in school nor employed. They embody the principles of service and transformation at the heart of YouthBuild’s mission.
Jerrell Morton, Director of YouthBuild at Job Point, joined the team in 2011.
Morton celebrated this accomplishment alongside 16 of their peers during a completion ceremony with YouthBuild Global on March 19.
Jerrell Morton has two Bachelor’s degrees: Accounting and Business Administration. He is a certified Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) Instructor and has been working with youth since 2006. He has been employed with Job Point since 2011. He is Chair of YouthBuild (YB)USA’s Membership Committee, a member of the National YB Director’s Council and Network Reaffiliation Subcommittee, a YB USA Director’s Leadership Fellows, and 2024 winner of the Service and Solidarity Award. He is a member of the Central Missouri Region Workforce Development Board and the Juvenile Detention Alternative Sentencing Initiative. In 2022 he was selected as the Most Impactful Staff Member and honored with a 20 Under 40 Award by local CoMo Magazine in 2023. As a U.S. Army veteran, he served as Automated Logistics Specialist with the Missouri National Guard.
Job Point’s YouthBuild is one of more than 340 local YouthBuild programs around the world that partner with opportunity youth as they build the skillsets and mindsets that lead to lifelong learning, livelihood and leadership. In YouthBuild programs, young people who are out of school and out of work reclaim their education, gain job skills and credentials, and become leaders in their communities. Responding to the urgent need for knowledge, training and opportunity, YouthBuild primarily serves young people who lack a high school diploma and financial resources. As headquarters for the YouthBuild movement, YouthBuild Global unifies and partners with this expansive network, championing opportunity youth as they achieve their ambitions and reach their full potential.
“Fellowship with kindred spirits was so healing. I truly gained new family members with different zip codes from around the world through this experience. I am forever changed,” Morton Said.
Morton is passionate about connecting youth with opportunities to grow beyond their comfort zone, enhance their leadership skills and change their future.
The two-year fellowship is designed to support the leadership of local YouthBuild program directors globally, providing opportunities to strengthen their leadership and organizational development skills, build community and work together to strengthen YouthBuild’s collective efforts in support of opportunity youth. It offers an immersive learning experience with three key components: Leadership and Professional Development; Self-Care; and Peer Support and Community Building. Fellows work together on practices to inform the entire network about positive youth development and program sustainability, influencing the future of policies and practices at all YouthBuild programs. This framework is grounded in YouthBuild’s core values of love, accountability, community, collaboration and leadership.
The YouthBuild Leadership Fellows includes at least four in-person gatherings and multiple virtual sessions across two years, guided by a blend of peer insights, YouthBuild Global staff and external experts.
“Our Leadership Fellows embody the values at the heart of YouthBuild—leadership, service and belief in the immense potential of young people,” said John Valverde, president and CEO of YouthBuild Global. “Over the past two years, these leaders have invested deeply in their own growth and one another. Their leadership will have a lasting impact on the YouthBuild network and the young people they serve every single day.”
About YouthBuild
With love and respect, YouthBuild partners with opportunity youth to build the skillsets and mindsets that lead to lifelong learning, livelihood, and leadership. At more than 340 YouthBuild programs around the world, young people who are out of school and out of work reclaim their education, gain job skills and credentials, and become leaders in their communities. To date, YouthBuild has partnered with more than 220,000 young people to dedicate over 52.5 million hours of service benefitting rural, urban, suburban, and tribal communities. YouthBuild Global — the headquarters for the YouthBuild movement — unifies and partners with this expansive network of YouthBuild programs. From training, technical assistance, capacity building, and innovative program enhancements to leadership development, financial stability, and narrative change and public policy, YouthBuild Global serves as a convener, collaborator, and catalyst for the entire YouthBuild movement. YouthBuild strives to create a world where all young people are seen for their potential and power to transform themselves and their communities. For more information about YouthBuild Global and the YouthBuild movement, visit YouthBuild.org.
About Job Point
Job Point is Missouri’s premier employment center and Community Development Corporation. Since 1965, we have been linking people and jobs by providing career planning and job placement assistance. We specialize in preparing individuals to enter the workforce, while meeting a critical need of the business community. The organization is headquartered in Columbia, Missouri, with services historically extending to Moberly, Boonville and the surrounding communities. Job Point provides employment services, vocational training, community development and educational opportunities to central and western Missouri, helping people overcome the barriers in their lives to achieve long-term economic stability. Since 2003, Job Point’s YouthBuild program has helped over 1,100 youth and young adults reclaim their education and build the skills they need for life-long learning, leadership and personal and professional success.
