U.S. Bancorp  CEO Richard Davis led a group of 100 Twin Cities business professionals Monday to help low-income students sharpen their interviewing techniques as they prepare to apply for summer jobs. Monday was the first of a four-day event at the Minneapolis Convention Center where more than 400 businesspeople are to help 1,600 students in mock interviews.

There are a lot of ways for the wealthy to give back that come accompanied by healthy doses of public recognition or an association with a warm and fuzzy charitable effort. Yesterday, the family of Wayzata philanthropist Tom Grossman and the Minnesota Community Foundation wrote a check for $500,000 to a local nonprofit that did none of the above.

Over 400 Twin Cities business professionals are participating in the annual STEP-UP Mock Interviews Monday through Thursday, which match professionals with over 1,600 young people from Minneapolis who are preparing for summer jobs at top Twin Cities companies, government agencies and nonprofits.

With eight years under its belt, this nationally recognized college and career-readiness program for Minneapolis youth has proof that it succeeds far longer than a Minnesota summer.

What should job-seeking teens do to set themselves apart from the competition? Stand out, says George Ellis, program associate for the STEP-UP Achieve summer jobs program.

While I cannot offer specific details, I want to share what I can and provide a brief update on the progress made so far and challenges still facing the negotiating teams. Only a couple of issues continue to separate MPS and MFT. We are hopeful an agreement is imminent.

It is with great excitement that I share with you that the Minneapolis Board of Education unanimously approved a proposal to partner with Eric Mahmoud, the founder of Harvest Prep Academy, to open four Mastery Schools over the next 10 years.