“You might be training one of your organization’s future leaders!” Jeannie LeMere of Thrivent Financial for Lutherans says this is one of the many reasons Thrivent has partnered with the STEP-UP Achieve summer jobs program since 2005. “Welcoming STEP-UP Achieve interns back as full-time employees when they have completed their post-secondary education would be a huge win for us.”

As many as 14 interns per summer have worked for Thrivent, in jobs ranging from marketing to banking to IT. Since the organization believes that it succeeds when its members and communities thrive, providing young people with the skills they need to thrive as adults fits with a broader mission. Thrivent employees enjoy providing a nurturing environment for their interns each summer, helping them gain valuable job experience and explore career options in the financial services industry. And not only do students benefit from doing real work—employees gain valuable supervisory experience as well!

Thrivent encourages other organizations to make the investment of time and resources necessary to employ a STEP-UP Achieve intern. In the words of their trade, “The rewards far exceed the investment.”