Interns with Greenberg ties hired through SummerWorks program aimed at disadvantaged youth
For over a decade, Louisville’s celebrated SummerWorks program has connected thousands of young people between the ages of 16 and 21 with paid summer jobs and internships at local companies, nonprofits and government agencies.
In the words of former Mayor Greg Fischer, the private-public partnership “helps level the playing field for young people who are growing up in poverty or who lack the family connections that can be so important in landing that first job.”
Launching this year’s program, current Mayor Craig Greenberg said there was an “important public safety element” to SummerWorks supporting youth and giving them opportunities “so they don’t drift into a life of crime.”
In a press release sent out alongside the announcement, the mayor’s office said all Louisville youth between 16 and 21 were eligible to enroll in the program, but that “youth applicants who face barriers and come from disadvantaged backgrounds are prioritized” in the SummerWorks job matching process.
But in a sharp contrast to the at-risk youth the mayor described, The Courier Journal has identified two SummerWorks interns hired by Greenberg’s Metro Hall this summer whose powerful, influential families have close personal connections to the mayor.
Their families are among the wealthiest and most recognizable in Louisville.
One is the daughter of Mariana Barzun, who was tapped by Greenberg to lead the mayor's Office of Philanthropy.
Barzun is the former director of strategic partnerships at the University of Louisville.
Her brother, Matthew Barzun, served as U.S. Ambassador to Sweden and the United Kingdom under the Obama administration. He also owns Louisville Magazine and is married to Brooke Brown Barzun, an heiress of the Brown-Forman wine and spirits empire. The couple donated $8,000 to Greenberg’s campaign, with each giving the maximum amount allowed per election cycle.
Another intern hired through SummerWorks is the granddaughter of Steve Wilson, who co-founded 21c Museum Hotels with his wife, Laura Lee Brown. Wilson would later make Greenberg the CEO of the art-inspired hotel chain.
Brown is also a Brown-Forman heiress, part of a family Forbes ranked the 13th richest in America in 2020.
Wilson was selected as Greenberg’s inauguration chairman, serving as master of ceremonies for the Jan. 2 swearing-in celebration.
Together, Brown and Wilson contributed a combined $8,000 to Greenberg’s mayoral bid.
The Courier Journal learned that interns with family connections to Greenberg were hired through SummerWorks, according to a list of Metro Government summer interns provided under Kentucky’s open records law. The Courier Journal verified their identities using publicly available documents and social media posts.
Of 38 interns listed as hired by Metro Government under the SummerWorks program, The Courier Journal was able to identify at least six who work at Metro Hall. The Courier Journal was able to identify two of those six as having close family connections to Greenberg.
In a statement Wednesday, Greenberg spokesperson Kevin Trager did not directly respond to questions about the hiring process, whether interns' family connections to Greenberg played a role in their hiring or how youth from disadvantaged backgrounds were prioritized in the job matching process.
"The work of these young professionals, who came from diverse backgrounds and communities, was a benefit to the Louisville Metro Government and will also serve them well as they continue their education and begin their careers," Trager said of the 38 interns hired by the city through SummerWorks. "The application process was open to all and carried out by KentuckianaWorks and we encourage anyone interested, or who knows a young person seeking experience in local government, to apply."
Wilson, the 21c Museum Hotels founder, told The Courier Journal he knew his granddaughter had an internship at Metro Hall but did not know it was through a program the mayor's office presented as prioritizing disadvantaged youth.
"She interviewed for that job and got it. I had no idea that it was targeted for any kind of particular person," he said. "But she did a good job, and she benefited from it."
Barzun, the director of the Office of Philanthropy, did not respond to an email seeking comment.
No guidelines for SummerWorks employers
Speaking to The Courier Journal in July, Michael Gritton, the executive director of KentuckianaWorks, which oversees SummerWorks, said young people seeking a job through the program generally apply directly to the employer through SummerWorks’ online portal.
“In general, the employer picks, just like an employer would,” he said. “There’s nothing about the process that has me picking a kid and saying, ‘hey … here’s the kid you get.’ We just don’t have the staff horsepower to do that level of matching.”
Asked if employers have guidelines on prioritizing applicants from disadvantaged backgrounds, Gritton said: “So what we typically do is just try to make sure our recruiting efforts are focused on young people either at high schools that have high percentages eligible for free-and-reduced lunch, meaning lots of low-income kids. YouthBuild Louisville runs SummerWorks for us, they will make sure that they’re networked with community-based organizations that serve low-income families and low-income kids.”
For 2023, Gritton said, nearly half of the SummerWorks participants came from target zip codes.
He added that there is no income eligibility for the program.
While private companies are asked to pay wages for interns they hire through SummerWorks, youth hired by government agencies and nonprofits are “sponsored” positions paid for by SummerWorks.
Funding for SummerWorks this year included about $1 million from the city and an additional $500,000 or so from philanthropic donations, Gritton said. SummerWorks began in 2011, in the early days of Mayor Fischer's first term, and included a mix of private money and city funds.
On Wednesday, Gritton declined to comment on Metro Hall hiring interns with connections to Greenberg.
Interns working any SummerWorks job are guaranteed a minimum of $12 per hour.
At an August press conference marking the end of SummerWorks’ 2023 season, Greenberg said 168 private sector employers posted positions and received 1,800 applications. He added there were 38 nonprofit and government agencies that hosted 255 interns.
While at least six Metro Hall interns were hired through the SummerWorks program, an additional list provided to The Courier Journal under Kentucky’s open records law shows other interns hired by the mayor’s office were not part of the program.
That additional intern list includes another person with strong connections to Greenberg: 72-year-old former Louisville Congressman Mike Ward, who frequently appears at Metro Hall events.
Reach reporter Josh Wood at jwood@courier-journal.com or on Twitter at @JWoodJourno. Reporter Eleanor McCrary contributed reporting.
This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville mayor's office SummerWorks interns have Greenberg ties
