Youth With Faces
From Statistic To Success
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Culinary Arts
The Youth With Faces culinary program gives youth interested in working in the restaurant or food industry an inside look at their future workplace and prepares them to stand out during the job interview process. This includes hands-on experience and training from industry professionals. Curriculum includes:
Food Safety: Youth With Faces teaches safety standards that help students study for and receive their Texas Food Handler Certification. In the restaurant industry, one person with this food safety license must be on duty at all times, making it an advantage in the food service job market. Youth receive detailed lessons as they study for the certification and complete the certification process before graduating from the program.
Nutrition and Kitchen Basics: Students receive lessons on basic kitchen skills and cooking with professional chefs. Participants also learn how to shop smarter, make healthier choices and cook delicious, affordable meals for themselves and their families.
Intro to Restaurant Work and Food Service: Students train and work in every aspect of a real kitchen – from the back of the house to the front, including dish pit, food prep, event planning, workplace decorum and teamwork. While developing these skills, students are introduced to chefs, restaurateurs and hospitality professionals who help guide, mentor and inspire students.
Internships: Students serve as interns for at least one special event during each culinary session, such as cooking for and serving Dallas County Juvenile Department residents and staff during holiday parties or working a community catering event like the Chefs For Farmers food festival. Students receive wages of $10 per hour during these special events and work alongside hospitality professionals and some of the best professional chefs in North Texas.
Field Trips: Students attend field trips to train with and observe industry professionals in action. Locations have included Bonton Farms, Dive Coastal Cuisine, Hilton Park Cities, The Adolphus Hotel, The Statler Hotel, Dallas College, Whole Foods, Cafe Momentum and many other restaurants and culinary institutions.
PREP Therapeutic Dog Training
PREP stands for Patience, Responsibility, Empathy and Partnership – the principles at the core of this structured curriculum are designed to benefit both the teens and canines. Juveniles are assigned a rescue dog to train, increasing the animal’s adoption potential, while students learn valuable life lessons like effective communication and leadership. The PREP program offers:
Therapeutic benefits: By steadily working through the dogs’ challenges and seeing their progress, youth witness the power of committing to something or someone – and sticking to it. They experience a living being looking to them for guidance, without prejudice for what they may have done in the past. It is an invaluable lesson in responsibility, relationships and leadership.
Violence prevention: Research documents the benefits of using animals in treating victims and violence prevention. For our participants, working with the dogs provides a hands-on lesson in gentle leadership and addressing challenges with empathy and compassion. Students learn to read the dog’s body language and respond to a challenge without gentle persuasion.
Pet-related job skills: Youth in PREP gain skills that can be applied to employment at pet supply stores, dog walking services, animal shelters and other pet-related businesses. For youth interested in working with animals, Youth With Faces offers post-release support to connect graduates with employers once they are back in the community.
Career Readiness
This course focuses on the critical tasks necessary to apply for and obtain a living-wage job. Youth With Faces places an emphasis on job searches, resume development, networking and professional habits needed to find employment, including:
Work readiness curriculum: Students prepare for future job searches by taking a career assessment, building a resume, mapping out specific job search plans and conducting mock interviews.
Job skills training: Students have the opportunity to enhance their employability by learning workplace decorum and participating in one of Youth With Faces job skills training programs.
Financial literacy: Students are introduced to the basic tenets of financial literacy with emphasis on budgeting and banking, so they know how to manage their earnings. We invite financial experts into the classroom to discuss these topics and a plan for success.
Computer training: Youth With Faces teaches youth essential computer skills so they can prepare a resume, create basic business documents and perform better in school. In 2020, Youth With Faces introduced virtual learning, which also allows the students to gain knowledge in using Zoom and other video conference platforms used in today’s virtual workplace.
Career exploration with professionals: Youth are introduced to professionals in a variety of careers. These speakers often share their own journey overcoming challenges in their lives and how they found their path to success.
Welding Career Preparation
In 2019, Youth With Faces helped establish an innovative welding certification program at Dallas County’s Youth Village in partnership with Dallas College. Our initial investment included a welding lab at Youth Village and tuition for Fall and Spring semesters in 2019 and 2020. The program prepares youth to work in a wide-range of entry-level welding jobs that pay $15 to $30 per hour - more than double Texas’ current minimum wage of $7.25. Now that the program is established, Youth With Faces supports the program with career readiness services in addition to the curriculum provided by Dallas College. This program offers students:
160 hours of welding instruction through Dallas College’s Bill J. Priest Innovation Lab.
Welding Fundamentals: An introduction to the fundamentals of equipment used in oxy-fuel and arc welding, including welding and cutting safety, basic oxy-fuel welding and cutting, basic arc welding processes and basic metallurgy.
Blueprint Reading: A study of industrial blueprints. Emphasis placed on terminology and accurate and efficient interpretation of welding symbols, graphic language and descriptions required to produce working drawings.
Forklift Operation: Information and training for forklift operators including forklift design, controls and instrumentation, comprehensive pre-use inspection, and forklift stability and factors affecting stability. Includes hands-on training and demonstration of proficiency.
Industry Certifications: Youth have the opportunity to test for certification in each program upon completion of curriculum. Upon certification, the Bill J. Priest Innovation Lab will help youth apply for jobs.
Career Readiness: Job search, interview and professional skills development specifically for the welding industry.
Professional Networking: Youth With Faces partners with employers across Dallas that have potential job openings for the welding students. Youth have the opportunity to tour employer facilities and meet their hiring managers. Youth With Faces also invites local welding professionals to speak to the class about their careers.
Reentry Support
Once released from a juvenile facility, Youth With Faces participants have access to post-release services that are customized based on the youth’s unique needs. These services could include:
Transition Support: Teens work alongside Youth With Faces staff to develop a transition plan. Specific support could include help securing their legal identification or finding housing, transportation or getting work clothes and food assistance. Youth With Faces also connects youth to community resources that address health and education issues.
Career Development: Mentorship meetings in person or via video/phone conference focus on job placement assistance, such as referrals to employment partners and help with interview apparel and resume prep.
Educational Assistance: Students set academic goals and staff helps them get access to GED study programs, returning to high school, or applying for vocational school or college. Youth receive individualized assistance and referrals to mentors, tutors and counseling to help them overcome barriers to success.
Where we work
External reviews

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Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
Youth involved with the justice system.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
SMS text surveys, Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Case management notes,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
We launched a robust food safety program in response to the needs stated and demonstrated by our clients.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
It has given them an active role in program decisions.
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We collect feedback from the people we serve at least annually, We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
Youth With Faces
Board of directorsas of 02/22/2022
Chandra McCormack
Chandra McCormack
Greyhound Lines, Inc.
Christopher Haltom
Private Legal Practice
Vanessa Cole
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Scott Becker
McCathern, PLLC
David Velarde
Gordian
Carrie Stumfall
Intl. Capital
David Bell
Haynes and Boone, LLP
Nicole Jacks
JP Morgan
Rebecca Masinter
Corey McCombs
Encina Dallas
Steven Petersen
Pricewaterhouse Coopers
Ray Pitts
Pitts-Birdsong Bonds & Insurance
Todd Salters
Combine Fitness
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
No data
Disability
No data
Equity strategies
Last updated: 02/26/2021GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We analyze disaggregated data and root causes of race disparities that impact the organization's programs, portfolios, and the populations served.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.