This past weekend, Pharrell took to Harlem Children’s Zone Promise Academy’s 2019 graduation ceremony to deliver an inspirational and motivational keynote. On top of Skateboard P’s wise words, the prolific artist also delivered a life-changing opportunity to the NYC high school graduates, announcing that he was offering internships to the entire graduating class following the students’ first year of college.
“Every member of the 2019 graduating class is guaranteed an internship waiting for them — you — next summer. It’s one thing to be ‘woke,’ another to be awake, leaned in, and engage,” shared the artist. BuzzFeed News shared that every student of the school’s 2019 class received offers to attend higher educational institutions.
CEO of the school, Anne Williams-Isom, shared that they created the internship program with Pharrell in order to give students better access to business opportunities and networks. "In order for us to get our community, these children, and these families out of poverty, we want to make sure that they are connected to a livable wage," Williams-Isom shared. “We know that for so many of our young people, the way that they’re going to be able to do that is with that college degree in their hands, but also with some experience from very good internships that they will be able to do while they’re in college."
You can watch Pharrell’s announcement and the reaction by students above.
In case you missed it, Nas just released the tracklist for his upcoming album.