With support from Citi Foundation, the Cities for Financial Empowerment Fund (CFE Fund) launched the Summer Jobs Connect (SJC) initiative in 2014 to connect low- and moderate-income youth with summer jobs, banking services, and financial education. In 2015, Karp Strategies supported Public Works Partners to explore the impact of the SJC initiative from the view of youth participants, specifically seeking to understand changes to participating youths’ perceptions of financial institutions and products resulting from their summer experience, and determining if the SJC is aligned with youth participants’ expectations. Public Works and Karp Strategies oversaw research team efforts, and developed research tools and analytical outcomes for the focus groups. Karp Strategies aggregated and analyzed focus group findings, and developed content for a national report for CFE Fund articulating these findings. The firm partnered with Public Works Partners on a second year of research with the CFE Fund SJC National Youth Survey. Karp Strategies provided project management for the final year of research, from research design to survey implementation across five programs in four cities. The firm led a team of five staff and subcontractors in partnership with the staff participating in this research to deliver a strong research product for CFE Fund and its stakeholders. On November 16, 2017, the CFE Fund organized the Summer Jobs Connect Convening in Washington, DC. One of the themes of the Convening focused on the multi-year, multi-city study about youth participating in the SJC initiatives and their experience and perception of financial institutions and banking services, shared in CFE’s newly released report Summer Jobs Connect: Where Strong Financial Futures Begin.