Host an Intern

Invest Today in Tomorrow's Workforce

Shape and invest in the future by supporting the Urban Alliance High School Internship Program. 

Dan Ngoyi VP of Talent Acquisition, Rock Central "Our partnership with a workforce development organization like Urban Alliance made establishing and sustaining this talent pipeline easy."

Why become a Job Partner?

It's the smart thing to do. It's the right thing to do. 

Gaining a New Perspective

Each successive generation brings a new perspective to the workplace, your company, and your customers. Our high school interns participate in a robust professional skills training curriculum that fosters critical thinking and job skills. Urban Alliance interns are curious about how your business works. You have a lot to teach them, and in turn, their perspective can help your company evolve. 

Build A Talent Pipeline

Hosting a high school intern allows you to observe how much potential a young person has while concurrently developing their skills. You can evaluate skills and work ethic while helping to build company loyalty for your future employees. The program allows you to invest in a young person, your community, and your business all at once.

Impact Your Community

Beyond the economic and productivity benefits to your business, investing in Urban Alliance interns offers significant return on investment for your community.  A participating business extends social good beyond its own interest, resulting in a positive impact on the community, customers, employees, and the environment. This impact is realized by improved academic success, substantially higher college enrollment, and dramatically increased prospects for young people's long-term employment. 

What is Urban Alliance?

Urban Alliance is building a diverse next-generation workforce by providing job skills training, mentoring, and paid internships to high school youth. Since 1996, we've provided over 6,000 internships to youth across greater Washington, DC (including Montgomery County and Prince George's County, MD, and Northern Virginia), Baltimore, Chicago, and Detroit.

We fight for equity by inspiring students to dream big and achieve economic mobility. Our work supports the development of diverse talent pipelines. ​

In partnership with over 200 employers, we level the playing field for young people in the workforce by equipping them with the tools to overcome the systemic barriers that prevent equal access to economic opportunity.

What should I know about becoming a job partner?

For over 20 years, Urban Alliance has worked with thousands of young people to achieve economic success in partnership the business community. Urban Alliance works to make the experience as easy, rewarding, and valuable to job partners as possible.

How it Works

UA provides:

  1. Five weeks of pre-employment training for youth in critical workplace skills such as professional communication, problem-solving, and time management
  2. On-going job and life skill development through weekly workshops
  3. Individual case management to ensure that youth and workplace mentors are supported every step of the way
  4. Mentor training and ongoing troubleshooting to ease the transition for both interns and employers
  5. Regular check-ins, evaluations, and site visits for real-time improvement throughout the year
  6. Public recognition of job partner investment

Job partner provides:

  1. A fee for service to cover intern salaries, case management support, and post-program services
  2. On-site, one-on-one team member (mentor) to supervise intern’s professional development
  3. Meaningful work and assignments
  4. Workplace accessible via public transportation

Timeline:

  • Interns work up to 600 hours over a 10-month period
    • October through mid-June: Interns work part-time (Mon-Thurs from 2-5 pm)
    • Mid-June through early-August: Interns work full-time (Mon-Thurs from 9 am to 5 pm)
  • September: Interns begin pre-work training
  • October: Mentor training & Internships begin
  • January & April: Site visits and evaluations
  • August: Internships end

Contact us to learn more becoming an Urban Alliance partner.

Who participates in the Urban Alliance program?

Urban Alliance provides high school students with access to the training, paid work experience, professional development, and social capital needed to succeed in adulthood. 

Rising seniors are eligible to apply for Urban Alliance's High School Internship Program if they are a) students at a UA partner school, b) currently in their junior year of high school, c) on track to graduate with at least a 2.5 GPA, and d) authorized for an off-campus/early release schedule.

Learn more about our core High School Internship Program here. 

Which school districts has Urban Alliance partnered with?

Urban Alliance works with around 500 students annually in 10 school districts spanning five states and four major metropolitan regions: Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit, and Greater Washington DC.

How can the business community help?

Local businesses can host Urban Alliance interns to increase their access to economic opportunity through critical early work experience. For over 25 years, Urban Alliance has connected thousands of young people to achieve economic success in partnership with businesses. Urban Alliance works to make the experience as easy, rewarding, and valuable to job partners as possible

Learn more about becoming a job partner by contacting us. 

Reach out today about becoming a job partner 

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