Intern Special Edition

The Step-Up Intern Special Edition for The Bridge is a yearly newsletter written by CPED Step-Up Interns. This year the newsletter is coordinated by CPED Marketing and Communications Step-Up Intern, Aateejah Barth. This newsletter will give you insight on who this summers interns are, what they enjoy doing, and what their plans are for the future. 

What is Step-Up?

Step-Up prepares Minneapolis youth for tomorrow’s careers. As one of the country’s leading youth employment programs, Step-Up recruits, trains and places more than 1,600 young people (ages 14-21) in paid internships at more than 200 employers each year.

There are 2 divisions in the Step-Up program:

• Level 1 (formerly Step Up Discover) – Foundational job experience for youth ages 14-15
• Level 2 (formerly Step Up Achieve)  – Career-oriented internships for youth ages 16-21 who are not currently enrolled in college

Step-Up brings networking and a variety of job skills to interns. Step-Up interns have the opportunity to work at all kinds of small businesses, non-profits, government agencies,and even big corporations like U.S. Bank and Xcel Energy.  

With only a few weeks before interns have to say goodbye and return to school, try to get to know them before the summer comes to an end. 

Who Am I?

Aateejah Barth

Operations & Innovation

Marketing and Communication

My name is Aateejah and this is my second year with the Step-Up program, however this is my first with the City of Minneapolis. I work with the CPED department, and have the title of Marketing and Commutations Intern.  I am 16 years old and this fall I will be attending Cristo Rey Jesuit High as a junior. Because the CPED department is so involved with the city, I get to explore a lot of Downtown. My favorite thing about my job is walking around town with both of my amazing mentors Dorothea and Kelly. One of my biggest dreams is to become a photographer who’s famous for all sorts of photography from modeling to sports. When I’m not working I love spending time with my family/friends, taking pictures, playing the piano, and reading. My plans for the future are to graduate High School and go to college for Digital Photography and Graphic Design, or Liberal Arts. I’ve learned so many great things from my supervisor/mentors, but one thing that really sticks out to me about CPED and our department in general is that there are many different parts of CPED or any organization for that matter and I’ve learned that teamwork and collaboration are very important parts of building that organization and keeping everyone connected.

Meet the Interns!

Torence Sly 

Long Range Planning
Community Planning, Public Art, and Research

My name is Torence Sly. I’m a Step-Up intern working with CPED Long Range Planning and this is my second year with the Step-Up program. What I like best about my job Step-Up job is the environment, and that you can pace yourself. Everyone is either working alone or together to finish a project, and that you can state your ideas without getting bashed about it. I go to St. Louis Park High School, I’m 17 and this is my last year at SLP. I enjoy hanging out with friends, going to the gym to go hoop, and or staying inside and messing with my family. My future plans are to go to college. Some colleges I have in mind are Texas A&M, Central Missouri for basketball, and or Canada; my list is long. But my dream job is to go to the NBA. I’ll be happy with playing overseas. But another professional career job path that I could take is go to college and see what else I’m passionate about.

Destiny Rollie

Economic Policy and Development
Employment and Training 

My name is Destiny and this is my second year working with the Step-Up program. This summer I am working with the CPED Employment and Training department. I am 16 years-old and this fall I will be in the 11th grade. I will also be attending North Hennepin Community College this fall as a PSEO Student. As of right now I don’t exactly know what I want to do because of all my interests, but one of my dreams is to design my own things. Whether it’s my own house, or clothes, I just want to have things of my own.   In my free time I enjoy eating candy and noodles, and watching Korean dramas. What I love best about my job is the feeling of accomplishment. I like knowing that my projects are done, and that they are done well. Step-Up has taught me a lot about networking and putting myself out there and making myself known, and for that I am very thankful.

Fadumo Abdiqadir

Ecomonic Policy & Development  

Business Licensing 

My name is Fadumo and this is my first year working with the City of Minneapolis. I work in the CPED department with Business Licensing. What I like best about my job is that I get to work with all kinds of people. I get to see professionals doing their day to day work, and how they resolve real life problems, whether it’s for the city or helping individuals. I am 17 years old, and this fall I will be a senior at Metro Schools College Prep. When I’m not at work I enjoy watching shows/movies, and reading books. My future plans are to go to a good college and find a dream job. I have learned that not every job you work at will be as expected, but if you come every day with a positive attitude, you can learn things that will help you for the rest of your life; whatever your job might be, appreciate the opportunity and learn from it.

Jasmine Penaloza

Housing Policy & Development 

Residential Finance

My name is Jasmine and this is my first year working for the City of Minneapolis with the Step-Up program. I work for the CPED Multifamily Housing Development department. What I like best about my job is that I get to be independent. I also really enjoy the tasks and challenges that my team gives me. I am 16 years old and this fall I will be a senior at Edison High School. In my free time I like to eat, read, bike, play volleyball, and run track. My future plans are pretty big. I want to get an internship with the District Court, I want to go to Hamline or Carleton, and I want to become a lawyer. From my internship this summer I’ve learned that it’s nice to have a laugh every once in a while. I’ve also learned that I prefer to be around adults rather than kids my own age.

Hotho Yussuf

Housing Policy & Development

Residential & Real Estate Development 

My name is Hotho Yussuf, and I’ve worked with Step-Up for 4 years. I work with the CPED Department in the Single Family Division. What I like best about my job is the professional setting, yet the people are very kind and welcoming. I’m 18 years old and an incoming freshman at the University of Minnesota. When I’m not working I like to read dystopian society books, and watch different types of Anime. In college I want to pursue a degree in medical sonography with a pre law path as well. I want to learn as much as I can of the sciences and the humanities. Something valuable I learned from this summer would be the importance of professionalism and the importance of networking. Building great relationships is a really good way to further advance your career.

Miftah Abdullah

Development Seervices

Land Use, Design and Preservation

My name is Miftah Elijah Abdullah. I’m a Step-Up intern working in CPED this year, this is also my second year working for the City of Minneapolis, and overall this is my fourth year working in the Step-Up program. The job that I got this year is the best one I’ve had so far! Everyone is really nice, and the work is easy to understand. I work in the Urban Planning department, which is basically looking at building designs and things like that and making sure that they meet all the required criteria to be approved.

I am 17 and I go to Theodore Roosevelt High School, which I am going to be a senior at. When I’m not working I love to read, play videogames, and interact with my two guinea pigs and sleep, like most people. My future plans right now are to get accepted into a college and make sure that I do well in it. The college I want to go to is unknown because there are so many good colleges out there. My dream job is something in the science field, probably neurology, which is the study of the human brain. One thing that I’ve learned from my supervisor and others is that you can get anything done if you just continually work on it. Making work-buddies is also a good idea because they can help you a lot when you don’t know how to do some things. This year I loved working in the CPED department and I hope next year I get to have this job or something similar to it. 

The following interns also worked with CPED this Summer:

• Muhyadin Abdullahi
• Kavoughn Hammons
• Yaqub Iman
• Moritz Lindner
• See Vang

Special Thanks!

Thank You to all interns who sent in their bio's and photos. Thanks to everyone for checking out this year's Special Intern Edition of The Bridge!

Special Thanks to Supervisors!

CPED was able to provide 12 internships with the help of 10 staff this summer. A special thank you to all supervisors and the Step-Up team for your hard work. By preparing, training, and giving Step-Up interns real work experience, you have helped to prepare our future workforce. Your hard work and dedication has given interns life changing experiences, and taught them unforgettable lessons.

STEP-UP supervisors: 

• Abdulkadir Jama
• Amanda Chavez
• Andrew Dahl
• Angie Skildum
• Brad Carter
• Breanna Patsch
• Dorothea Martti
• Jack Byers
• Nina Robertson
• Shanna Sether

Step-Up Annual Worksite Tour

Coen + Partners

Damon Farber

Every year the City of Minneapolis hosts a tour to a couple of the work sites that have partnered with Step-Up and agreed to have interns at their companies for the summer. The day started off with comments from Mayor Frey and a couple of presentations given by Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA), and the Fashion With A Cause program. They both gave presentations showing what they’re about and all of the great things that they are teaching their Step-Up interns.

For the tour, we visited Coen + Partners (Step-Up employer since 2016), and Damon Farber (Step-Up employer since 2017), both landscape architectural firms located in Downtown Minneapolis. At these locations, presentations were given by Step-Up interns themselves, and they got to talk a bit about what they do and what they’ve learned at their jobs. Afterwards we returned to Xcel Energy who hosted the event and they also gave us a presentation about what they are doing with their interns this summer and other activities that they are excited to have them participate in. 

Save the Date!

2017 End of Summer Celebration

16th Annual End of Summer Celebration!

Thursday, August 16, Join Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey and Step-Up Co-Chair Jennie Carlson plus hundreds of Step-Up interns and supervisors to celebrate another successful summer!  The program includes live entertainment, stories from Step-Up Interns and awards for Intern, Supervisor and Employer of the Year. This event will be located at the Guthrie Theater (818 South 2nd Street, Minneapolis) from 2:30-4:00 pm. 

Fashion With A Cause

This summer I got to meet some of the Fashion With A Cause team. I talked to the interns and learned more about what they do. 

FWAC started with a woman named Te’Lisa Twyman. Te’Lisa first started with a project with a group of students at her alma mater high school for recording arts. They started a fashion agency company for everyday people; they called it Urban Truth Fashion Agency. After that project Te’Lisa wanted to work with youth, helping them to explore careers related to fashion. She wanted to show them how they could use fashion to raise awareness and to fund or support causes they believed in; thus Fashion With A Cause was born. FWAC started their first class at Minneapolis North High School as an after school program, and later became partnered with Step-Up. 

Fashion With A Cause is partnered with Target Corporation, UMN Design School, and Minneapolis Community Education. All of these organizations help to make the work that the interns do possible. I did a few interviews with the interns and I had them tell me a bit about themselves and how they like the program.

I only talked to a few of the girls so I didn’t get everyone’s opinions but from what I heard it sounds like they really enjoy the program and are appreciative of all that it has offered. I also got to hear a bit from Dr. Dunn, a professor at the U of M. She talked a bit about the program as well. I found it really interesting that they not only focus on designing for looks, but also design clothing to assist different activities.  

Just this summer the Interns also hosted their very own fashion show. They got to model their own clothes that they made over the summer, and show them off to family and friends.