Internship program taps into ‘innovation and talent’ of Kansas City’s East Side youth

A pilot program aimed at employing up to 500 Kansas City students living east of Troost Avenue — long known as the city’s racial dividing line — is set to begin this summer. But the initiative is still in need of volunteers, partners and funding.

Working for Youth, a collaboration between Hire KC, Entrepreneurship KC and KC Common Good, aims to bring internship opportunities to a few hundred youth between the ages of 14 and 18, many of whom are students of color, beginning in June.

William Dowdell, senior director at the KC Social Innovation Center and Hire KC, said students will go through a work readiness program and will be matched to a coach. In total, the teens will work about 120 hours, he said. Most schools are offering class credit, in addition to up to a $1,000 stipend provided by the program.

Dowdell said the program not only contributes to the personal and professional growth of young people, but also helps reach the region’s long-term goals of diversifying the workforce while moving the area closer to “shared prosperity.”

Historically, the vast majority of student interns with Hire KC came from more affluent areas and schools, Dowdell said, adding that the new program is an opportunity to build a more inclusive culture and workforce. The new project hopes to uplift Black youth and other students of color.

“That in itself will allow the region to benefit from that talent in those communities that we haven’t been able to tap into for a long time,” he said. “I’m excited that the Kansas City of tomorrow, and the workforce of tomorrow, is going to be that much more diverse, that much more innovative and that much more dynamic.”

He hopes at least 300 employers join the program; so far they have about half of that. Dowdell encouraged small businesses and start-ups to support youth by hosting an internship, particularly those employers located east of Troost Avenue.

This increases access and decreases obstacles for students, he said. It also gives extra support to small businesses by providing them with an intern who’s being paid with program money.

He added that often, at-risk communities, like many of the ZIP codes east of Troost, are discussed through a deficit lens. But instead, Dowdell sees a surplus of potential.

“What we’re saying is there’s a tremendous amount of innovation and talent there, and we are just doing our due diligence to tap in, to nurture, to support and develop that talent,” he said.

Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said during a news conference announcing the initiative earlier this month that uplifting and creating opportunities for youth is a solution to many issues facing Kansas City, including violent crime and homelessness.

The program falls under the “prevention” arm of Reform Project KC, an effort launched last year by the mayor’s office to reduce shootings and killings following a surge in violent crime.

The goal of 500 students accounts for about 10% of the youth living east of Troost, Lucas said, adding that some of the internship opportunities will be at City Hall.

He noted that the initiative is based off a program out of Nebraska called STEP-UP OMAHA, which also works to expand opportunities for historically marginalized youth and young adults.

Since the program began in 2008, Omaha has seen a decrease in violent crime, an increase in high school graduation rates and an increase in the employment rate for Black people, Lucas said.

“So by helping our young people, you are lifting up entire groups,” Lucas said. “Violent crime is not too big of a problem to be solved, and we don’t have to reinvent the wheel to solve it.”

Kari Keefe, executive director of the KC Social Innovation Center, said they eventually hope to turn 500 internships into 5,000.

“Opportunity, in our opinion, is sort of the equalizer,” she said. “It is the anecdote to our violence problem. We are trying to make sure that opportunity is accessible and equal across the city, and we need to course-correct on some long-standing issues that have plagued us.”

She asked that employers and companies be willing to open a seat at their table for more students.

Paul Odu, 20, was offered a policy internship in the mayor’s office through Hire KC. In the job, he’s written letters related to COVID-19 to Gov. Mike Parson’s office, researched public safety initiatives and studied the ramifications of zero fare transit.

Odu, a junior at the University of Missouri, is studying economics and constitutional democracy. Though he didn’t have an internship in high school, he knows the value of the experience as a student now.

“Getting youth career experience as soon as possible is super important because those skills build upon themselves,” he said. “The skills reinforce themselves.”

Odu, who lives on Kansas City’s East Side, said students just need opportunities. He gets frustrated when young people are perceived as lacking drive or initiative. Having someone guide them to opportunities gives them the chance to do meaningful work that helps improve the city and gets them thinking about possible career paths.

Thalia Cherry, CEO of Cherry Co. (Entrepreneurship KC is an initiative under her foundation), said that as of last week, they’d raised about half of the $800,000 goal needed to support all 500 internships. They still need more support.

“When you truly create a long-standing partnership and relationship with an intern, that should transcend throughout their life,” she said. “And when that’s done, that alone, that positive relationship, is so impactful that it will change the trajectory for young people.”

She was an intern when she was 16 in city government in Kansas City, Kansas, and she later went on to head workforce development for the city of Kansas City, Missouri. She still knows her mentors from that first internship, and her mentees over the years still call her for advice.

“Everybody can contribute in some way,” Cherry said. “Someone invested in you, and that’s why you are where you are. And so it’s now our responsibility to invest in somebody else so that one day they’ll be able to do the same.”

Lucas, at the news conference, recounted his own experience as an intern in his early 20s for former Mayor Kay Barnes. She invited him into her office for an hour one day to talk about his experience and future.

“I saw this woman who is on TV, and she’s doing all these big things, and she said she cared about me,” Lucas said.

Barnes told him he could be mayor someday.

“And I’m like, you don’t know where I’m from, you don’t know anything about me,” Lucas replied. “But you believe in me.”

How to connect with Working for Youth

• Registration is now open. Students can register for the program at http://workingforyouth.org/youth.html.

• Employers can register to host an intern at http://workingforyouth.org/employer.html.

• Donations to fund interns can be made at https://gkccf.kimbia.com/work02.