St. Pete Standard

On December 20, Mayor Kenneth T. Welch and the City of St. Petersburg celebrated the graduation of 12 cadets from the Mayor's Future Ready Academy. This program is an 18-week initiative designed to connect young adults with job opportunities within the city.

The ceremony took place at Hammock Hall in Boyd Hill Nature Preserve. It featured speeches from several city representatives and educators, including Mayor Kenneth T. Welch, Torryan Gammage from the Parks and Recreation Department, Helaine Roberts from the Water Resources Department, E. StePhan Lane from Pinellas Technical College, and Carl Lavender from the Office of Equity.

Among the graduates, one has secured full-time employment with the City of St. Petersburg, while nine have obtained their commercial driver licenses.

The list of graduates includes Najee Bradley, Zimorria Hilton, Jordan Weldon, Colin MacDonald, Quartez Woods, Keon Powell, Bryce Green, Jahmil Boy, Jayden Daniels, Javien Holmes, Jamariya McKinnie, and Aaron Smith.

Candidates for the Spring 2025 cohort have been selected and are undergoing pre-employment processing. Applications for Fall 2025 will open in June 2025 at stpete.org/FutureReady.

The Mayor’s Future Ready Academy was launched in January 2024 to provide motivated individuals with training and employment opportunities in St. Petersburg. Participants spend half their time in on-the-job training with city departments and half in classroom instruction at Pinellas Technical College.