Minneapolis Mayor RT Rybak and STEP-UP Achieve Alum Hashim Yonis recently attended a large gathering in Washington, DC organized by the White House to announce a new summer youth employment initiative. Hashim, a 23-year-old graduate of Edison High School and St. Olaf College, is now working for Minneapolis Public Schools as the youngest school administrative manager (SAM) in the United States.

Hashim spoke to the assembled guests about his journey from refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya to his life in Minneapolis. He described arriving in the US as a middle school student, without any English and little formal schooling, and about the enormous support and mentoring he received along the way. He also spoke about the importance of opportunity, of doors being opened and connection being made for him through his participation in the STEP UP summer jobs program. He challenged the audience to invest in young people, to believe in their potential, and to provide them with the skills and experience necessary to access college.

Mayor Rybak says that Hashim was a “rock star” at the gathering and that everyone from the Secretary of Labor to members of the White House Council of Economic Advisors was impressed. The Mayor also commented on other things that distinguished the way we do business in Minneapolis from the approach taken by others.

We focus on young people’s assets and gifts, rather than their challenges and hardships. We see our students' global birthplaces and myriad languages as strengths to be built upon, not barriers to overcome. We view our young people as the engines of our region’s economic future, not a drag on its progress. We are convinced that if we provide opportunity, access, experience and guidance, our young people will gain the social capital, motivation and perseverance to do well in school and go on to higher education.

With those tools in their tool-box, they will build their own future. We operate on hope, not fear; potential, not deficit; assets, not barriers. It makes all the difference in the world.