Learn how STEP-UP Achieve is changing the lives of young people in Minneapolis.

Minneapolis Mayor: We Welcome Immigrants to Community
CNBC interview by Brian Sullivan

As part of a CNBC series on Minneapolis, Mayor Rybak touts our city's great economy and diversity and cites the STEP-UP youth employment program as a key economic strategy.

STEP-UP returns the love to 'chief cheerleader' Mayor Rybak
by Beth Hawkins, MinnPost

Several students whose lives quite literally were transformed by their participation in the STEP-UP Achieve summer jobs program presented Minneapolis Mayor Rybak with an award recognizing his role as one of the founders and “chief cheerleader.” The mayor, who thought he was showing up at a breakfast banquet to thank the Twin Cities employers who have embraced his favorite cause, was momentarily, uncharacteristically tongue-tied.

City of Minneapolis Prepares Students for Real Life
by Todd Wilson, KSTP-TV

STEP-UP is the City of Minneapolis' summer jobs program. They train students and then place them in paid, professional summer jobs. Interns are matched with jobs based on their interests and skills and work at their summer job from mid-June to mid-August and earn at least $7.25 per hour. "We surveyed our alumni last year and about 85% of them had gone on to college. About a third of them had already come back and worked with their STEP-UP employer," STEP-UP Achieve Director Jeremiah Brown said.

Despite Tough Job Market, Minneapolis Program Matches Teens with Opportunities
by Calisa Dunbar, ThreeSixty Journalism

To most teenagers, being surrounded by 20 or more children would be something to avoid. To Anel Braziel, it’s an opportunity. During the summer, Braziel worked as a teacher’s assistant in Kaleidoscope Place in Minneapolis, helping students with math and reading in an eight-week program called Summer Kids. Braziel, 15, lives in Minneapolis with her mother. She got her job through a summer job program called STEP-UP Achieve, operated by the city of Minneapolis.

STEP-UP Program Employs 1,850 Youths this Summer
Insight News

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak visited six STEP-UP interns today who are gaining in-depth skills and experience at Agosto, an international high-tech firm based in the city. “STEP-UP has matured to the point that our employers offer young people not only meaningful work experience, but in-depth skills building and career laddering that they can expand through the summer and build on later in school and in future internships,” said Rybak. “This is how we build the economy of the future; by giving the young people that are our future the tools and training they need to help our fastest-growing sectors grow even faster.”

A decade-long partnership with schools: AchieveMpls marks its 10th anniversary
by Dylan Thomas, Southwest Journal

U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis leads mock interviews to help youth sharpen job-hunting techniques
by Nancy Kuehn, Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal

U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis led a group of 100 Twin Cities business professionals 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.

Step-Up mock interviews give Minneapolis students an edge
by Sheila Regan, Twin Cities Daily Planet

Eye contact. A firm handshake. Clear speech and diction. Good posture. Confidence. These are some essential skills of a good job interview, and this week, more than 1,600 low-income students had a chance to try out their skills at the annual Step-Up Summer Jobs Program mock job interviews, held at the Minneapolis Convention Center. There the young people were matched up with more than 400 Twin Cities professionals who interviewed the students as if they were applying for a job.

AchieveMpls receives transformative $500,000 grant
by Beth Hawkins, Minnpost

The staff at AchieveMpls, a decade-old effort to channel public support for Minneapolis Public Schools, could not be more pleased. The money will pay for the organizational equivalent of an infrastructure expansion that will transform STEP-UP Achieve, its successful youth college- and career-readiness program, into a national model. The grant will allow the nonprofit to work on several levels to target industries projected to have the biggest need for skilled workers in coming years, to coordinate high-school pathways with the kinds of work-force development programming provided by the Minnesota State Colleges and Universities System (MnSCU) and to use data already being collected for evaluation and planning.

A Lesson for Teen Hires
by Julie Pfitzinger, Star Tribune

The teen summer job search season has begun and once again, it is likely to be a highly competitive market for fewer jobs. One example: At STEP-UP Achieve, an AchieveMpls program that supports career and college readiness for Minneapolis high schoolers, more than 3,000 applications were submitted for paid summer internships at local businesses and nonprofit organizations. What should job-seeking teens do to set themselves apart from the competition? Stand out, says George Ellis, program associate for STEP-UP Achieve. The opportunity to be noticed begins when the teen requests an application.

Executives, there's still time to STEP-UP, so please do
by Gail Rosenblum, Star Tribune

For businesses on the fence about investing time and money in the STEP-UP Achieve summer jobs program, here are three reasons to jump in: Maruf Hassan, Ian Gacek and Celia Hernandez-Payan.  With eight years under its belt, the nationally recognized college and career-readiness program for Minneapolis youth has proof that it succeeds far longer than a Minnesota summer.

Business: In Brief
by Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune 

U.S. Bank CEO Richard Davis has joined with Mayor R.T. Rybak to solicit new businesses to hire through the city's STEP-UP Achieve summer jobs program.

Minneapolis leaders ask businesses to hire summer interns
 by Chris Newmarker, Finance and Commerce

Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak and U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis are asking Minneapolis employers to make an investment in the city’s future workforce by hiring interns for the summer through the STEP-UP Achieve Jobs Program.

Minneapolis Somali youth talks jobs with President Obama
by Charles Hallman, Minnesota Spokesman-Recorder

STEP-UP Achieve alumnus Hashim Yonis recently met President Barack Obama at the White House. He and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak both were there January 5 speaking at a conference where the president unveiled a summer job initiative that he hopes will provide work for 250,000 low-income youth ages 16-24. The Obama administration is using the STEP-UP program as a model for the president’s new national plan. 

Minneapolis School Official Addresses President Obama
In Urban Education January/February 2012

Hashim Yonis did his STEP-UP Achieve summer job internships at a local law firm and in the Minneapolis Public Works Department, where he met important mentors, including Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak. The co-chair of STEP-UP, Ryback invited Yonis with him to a recent White House event where Yonis was part of a panel of young people who spoke about how they have benefited from meaningful summer employment and work-readiness training.

STEP-UP Achieve Summer Jobs Program
Radio interview by Lee Valsvik, Twin Cities Insight / January 29, 2012

Hashim Yonis, STEP-UP Achieve alumnus, and Lucien Justin, a STEP-UP Achieve supervisor at US Bank, talk about their experience with the summer jobs program, which has made Minneapolis one of the nation's leaders in youth employment and was recently recognized by the White House at a summit on youth employment.

Minneapolis Promise opens college to more: Partnership shows gains in getting grads to continue studies
by Steve Brandt, Star Tribune / Thu January 19, 2012

In 2005, only 45 percent of graduates of the MPS district's seven traditional high schools entered college the following fall. Last year, the district raised that figure to 58 percent. The figure jumps to 71 percent for the share of grads entering college within two years of graduation. That has happened because of new college and career planning rooms in each high school, STEP-UP summer jobs program, new scholarship incentives from public universities and a big dose of mayoral cheerleading, according to school and civic leaders.

Somali refugee promotes Minneapolis jobs program in D.C.
by Jim Spencer, Star Tribune / Fri January 06, 2012

Thousands of miles separate the White House from the Ethiopian and Kenyan refugee camps where Hashim Yonis once lived. He was in Washington on Thursday to help promote Minneapolis' jobs and mentoring program, called STEP-UP. The program, which operates in partnership with a group called AchieveMpls, brings together businesses, nonprofit groups and public agencies to find jobs and professional role models for poor young people at risk of dropping out of school or struggling to find employment.

Former STEP-UP Intern at White House Youth Jobs Event
by Beth Hawkins, MinnPost / Thu January 05, 2012

Born in war-torn Somalia, former STEP-UP intern Hashim Yonis grew up in refugee camps in Ethiopia and Kenya. This morning in the company of his mentor and friend, Mayor R.T. Rybak, Yonis, now 23, told President Barack Obama just how far he has come since then, and how many people made a concerted effort to help him broaden his horizons.

Q&A: Hashim Yonis of STEP-UP
by Tom Crann, Minnesota Public Radio / January 5, 2012

The Obama administration is launching a venture to improve employment for low-income and disconnected youth. The initiative brings together businesses, non-profits and government to provide opportunities this summer and beyond. As part of the kickoff event at the White House, the President highlighted the work of the STEP-UP summer jobs program in Minneapolis, and Mayor R.T. Rybak was on hand to speak on the program's success. Hashim Yonis, a 23-year old Somali-American, sat on a panel of young people from around the country who have benefited from programs like STEP-UP.

Radio Interview with STEP-UP Staff Member George Ellis
High School for Recording Arts interview that aired on KDWB-FM / December 25, 2011

Twin Cities Insight radio interview / Mon November 07, 2011

STEP-UP Achieve staff member George Ellis joins Career & College Center Coordinator Quinton Bonds to discuss career and college readiness, STEP-UP Achieve summer jobs program and the AchieveMpls Career & College Centers.

The Minneapolis Promise: A model for boosting youth achievement
by Mike Christenson, MinnPost / Wed September 28, 2011

A quiet miracle is transforming the lives of many Minneapolis youth. Through a combination of summer work and college supports, the percentage of Minneapolis high-school graduates attending college has grown from 45 percent to 62 percent in five years. Led by Mayor R.T. Rybak and U.S. Bank Chair Richard Davis, STEP-UP and the Minneapolis job program are introducing youth to better futures in surprising numbers. What's emerging is a model for closing the achievement gap in the city.

STEP-UP program changes lives
by Neal St. Anthony, Star Tribune  / Sat September 03, 2011

The Minneapolis STEP-UP program, championed by the likes of U.S. Bancorp, Allianz Life, YWCA of Minneapolis, Hennepin County, Thrivent Financial and more than 200 small and large employers, this summer employed nearly 2,000 city kids.

A bright spot for young workers in a gloomy economy
by Cynthia Boyd, MinnPost / Mon August 29, 2011

This summer in the Minneapolis STEP-UP summer jobs program, almost 2,000 young people between 14 and 21 were hired for paid internships provided by more than 200 employers. In addition, more than 90 percent of these young interns come from low-income families and more than 85 percent are persons of color.

Students STEP-UP to gain work experience during the summer
by Andrea Parrott, TC Daily Planet / Mon August 29, 2011

For eight years, STEP-UP Achieve has partnered with the Minneapolis STEP-UP program to provide youth with paid internships. This year more than 2000 students aged 14 to 21 received internships at more than 200 companies, including hospitals, schools, law firms, and major corporations.