Career Dreams & DC Teens: Road to CAPE Marketplace 2026

Help build a new career and enterprise hub so young people can explore real careers with real mentors.

DC teens have big dreams. We’re building the space to explore them.

Powerful Beyond Measure is launching a new initiative for 2026 called CAPE Marketplace — a career and enterprise hub where teens don’t just hear about jobs, they step into real spaces, meet real professionals, and try on real career paths.

This year-end campaign will help us design, pilot, and launch CAPE Marketplace for our CAPE teens and other DC youth.

What Is CAPE Marketplace?

CAPE Marketplace organizes teens into Career Pods so they can explore different industries in a hands-on way. Pods focus on areas like:

Tech & Innovation
Finance & Real Estate
Sports, Entertainment & Media Business
Beauty, Wellness & Personal Care
Food, Hospitality & Franchising
Social Impact & Nonprofit Leadership
Entrepreneurship & Unique Business Models

Teens don’t have to know “what they want to be” yet. CAPE Marketplace gives them a safe space to ask questions, test ideas, and discover new paths they may never have considered.

Each Career Pod will:

Meet regularly with host professionals or companies who share honest insights about school, money, and career journeys
Go on behind-the-scenes visits to workplaces — from tech offices and restaurants to salons, studios, and nonprofits
Work in a Marketplace Lab, creating a product, service, or campaign connected to a host company
Present their work on behalf of that company or partner, practicing public speaking, teamwork, and business thinking

As teens stay committed over 3–6 months, our goal is to offer stipends or paid growth opportunities, reinforcing the value of their time and effort and showing positive ways to earn income.

Why This Matters Right Now

Our CAPE teens are brilliant, funny, creative, and deeply curious. But they’re also growing up in a city where:

Youth violence and instability are far too common
Safe, structured spaces can be hard to find
Many young people don’t know anyone who works in the kinds of careers they’re interested in

CAPE Marketplace adds one more caring adult into their lives — someone who can say, “You belong in this room. Let me show you how this world works.”

What Your Gift Helps Cover

Your tax-deductible year-end donation supports the building blocks of CAPE Marketplace and strengthens our ongoing CAPE League programming:

Coordination of Career Pods and host company partnerships
Transportation and basic costs for workplace visits and immersion days
Marketplace Lab supplies and simple tech tools for youth projects and presentations
A stipend fund for teens who complete a full 3–6 month cycle
Scholarships so cost is never a barrier for families

Every contribution — whether it’s $25, $50, $100, or more — helps open real doors for DC teens and adds another layer of stability, mentorship, and opportunity to their lives.

Want to Do More Than Give?

If you are a business owner, entrepreneur, or community leader and would like to:

Host a Career Pod
Offer site visits or project opportunities
Sponsor a specific track

please contact Tracy L. Press at tracypress@powerfulbeyondmeasure-cape.org or 202-631-7331.

Thank you for believing that our youth are powerful beyond measure — and for helping us build CAPE Marketplace 2026.

Career Dreams & DC Teens: Road to CAPE Marketplace 2026

Team Members