Youth Employment Program

The Youth Employment Program (YEP) at CMCB aims to provide young people with invaluable work experience in an arts administration space in addition to offering mentorship and professional development opportunities. 

This program is open to all youth ages 14-24. All program participants work on a part-time basis (5-20 hours/week) at CMCB’s Community Music School in the South End. We offer work in all three staff departments: Advancement, Programs, Finance and Operations. Depending on the department, work formats include fully on-site, hybrid, or fully remote.

The youth employee experience offers excellent opportunities for career development in the arts, professional development resources, and hands-on work with many opportunities for growth. If you are passionate about the arts and interested in having an impact on the local community of CMCB, consider applying to be a youth employee.

Please visit cmcb.isolvedhire.com to view all current positions and apply online and/or submit your materials for future consideration.

Please be prepared to submit the following materials (addressed to Cori Bodley, Chief Programming Officer) as part of your application:

1) A statement of interest explaining why you want to work at CMCB
2) A current resume that states your work and/or volunteer experience
3) The contact information (name, phone number, email) for at least one personal reference (professional reference preferred)

For questions, please contact Elizabeth, Human Resources Manager, at ecai@cmcb.org.

CMCB long offered Counselor and Counselor-in-Training positions through our summer programs, SummerARTS and SummerMUSIC. Over time, students expressed interest in participating in more expansive workforce training and paid job opportunities, as a supplement to their musical study year-round. In response, we deepened our offerings in youth employment, integrating young people into leadership and administrative roles throughout the organization. Each year, 20-30 youth work in paid roles throughout the organization, at a living wage of $18/hour, gaining hands on experiential training to work in the arts field.

In 2019, thanks to funding from the Sphinx Organization, CMCB led a pilot program for young professionals in the arts to have an 8-week mentorship and leadership training curriculum with CMCB’s Executive Director Lecolion Washington, whose curriculum was co-created by participants in the program. In 2022-23, CMCB was the lead grantee for a city-wide expansion of our youth employment work thanks to a major grant from the National Endowment for the Arts, and we partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Arts and Culture, and six other nonprofits to lead a city-wide exchange for talented youth in the arts. Students join us from existing CMCB programs, through exchanges with other nonprofits, or through programs like SuccessLink or the EdVestors Bloomberg Arts Internship program.