Cooking Up a Career at The Ritz Carlton

Marcus didn’t believe in himself when he first came to Boys Town Washington D.C. a year ago. His negative past fed his low self-esteem and he couldn’t see himself having a successful future.

But after being in the Williams’ home as part of Boys Town Washington D.C.’s Family Home program for the past year, those feelings have been replaced with fresh confidence. “Marcus has aspirations to graduate from high school and become a chef,” explains Dwayne Williams, one of Marcus’ Family-Teachers at Boys Town. “He now realizes that success is within his reach.”

To encourage this new found goal, Marcus got to test his skills by job shadowing at The Ritz Carlton for a large catering event. Marcus spent the day with the culinary team and enjoyed the full experience of prep work, menu organization, plate up and execution for the event.  One of the day’s highlights was cooking alongside Todd Goldian, the Executive Sous Chef at The Ritz Carlton. 

Marcus isn’t the only Boys Town youth who’s gotten career advice from staff at The Ritz Carlton. In fact, The Ritz Carlton has provided these job shadowing days to numerous Boys Town youth.

“We feel that it’s important to expose youth to careers early on and let them see that there are a world of opportunities within the hotel industry that could inspire them for the future,” shares Stephanie Pinol, Executive Assistant and Director of Community Footprints at The Ritz Carlton in Washington D.C. 

In addition to helping boys and girls prepare for careers, The Ritz Carlton is a strong partner and supporter of Boys Town Washington D.C. in numerous areas. “Our ladies and gentlemen of the hotel really want to be involved and make a difference with the youth of Boys Town,” explained Pinol. “It’s a wonderful organization and being able to directly relate, interact and teach these youth is extremely rewarding not only for us, for the Boys Town kids as well.”

If your company is interested in learning more about partnering with Boys Town Washington D.C., please contact Tosha Roundtree, Boys Town Washington D.C. Development Director, at tosha.roundtree@boystown.org.

The stories provided about the children and families in our care are real. In some cases, names my be changed and details altered to protect their privacy and therapeutic interests.