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, Seay Zagar. 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. Step Up brings together young people of Minneapolis with Twin Cities employers through internships and training that build careers and lead to a diverse, skilled, and equitable workforce.
There are 2 divisions in the Step Up program:
- Level 1 – Foundational job experience for youth ages 14-15
- Level 2 – Career-oriented internships for youth ages 16-21 who are not currently enrolled in college
Through Step Up, interns are able to network and strengthen their job skills. 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.
Seay Zagar
I am Seay Zagar and I will be 19 in September. This is my fourth year with Step Up. I work in the Operations and Innovations Division as an intern. My favorite part about working in CPED is all the opportunities I have getting to meet and work with the people who develop this wonderful city. One thing I learned from this Internship is that there are so many different types of skill sets and abilities included in CPED.
I graduated Southwest High School this year and I plan to study computer science at Normandale Community College. I decided to pursue computer science and study AI as a career I've always been fascinated with how computers work and what potential they have.
I enjoy mountain biking and hiking. Running through the rocky mountains in Colorado with my cross country team is one of my favorite memories in nature. I also love to spend time with my friends making funny movies and songs.
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Miranda Edwards
My name is Miranda Edwards. I am 18 years old. I attend school at Longfellow Alternative High School. This is my first year being an intern with Step Up and I happen to also be interning with the Step Up program in the CPED department. I had heard many great things about the program in previous years, so I decided to participate myself. My favorite part about my job is the people I get to work with. Everyone is so friendly and welcoming. Another thing I like about my job is the opportunities it has given me, such as being able to present at the Minneapolis Workforce Development Board meeting. One of my aspirations in life is to become my own boss. I want to run my own cosmetics business one day. During my free time I love spending time with my daughter, Alaysia. We love being outdoors having as much fun as we can. During my internship I’ve learned how to step out of my comfort zone and overcome obstacles. I’ve got to do things I’ve never done before. Overall, my experience working with The City has been great.
Jules Wood
I’m Jules Wood, one of the interns working for Housing Policy and Development. This is my first year with Step Up, and I am glad to help CPED get ready for the move and intern with a department that shares a building with an ice cream headquarters. I’m about to be a senior at Watershed High School in Richfield, and I take classes at the St. Paul campus of St. Catherine University through the Post-Secondary Enrollment Options (PSEO) program. My long-term plans are to study political science in Iowa and then go on to law school.
My favorite hobbies are volunteering at the cat shelter, paper quilling, and playing bass clarinet. I also have two beautiful cats named Pom-pom (left) and Sunny (right) who are enjoying shedding on all my dress shirts.
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Malik Elate
My name is Malik Elate and I am a Step Up intern with the business licensing department here in Minneapolis. This is my second year in the program and my first year working for the city. In the fall I will begin my senior year at Upper Mississippi Academy and continue PSEO at St. Paul College. After high school I plan on attending college in New York City to be closer to the financial district. I hope to become an entrepreneur that can provide highly specialized skills to those in need. In my free time, I enjoy hiking, rock climbing, basketball, and worrying about the price of college.
Working for the city has been awesome so far. The two best parts of my job are helping make my coworkers jobs easier by eliminating simple tasks and riding lime scooters through the busy downtown traffic. The hard skills I’ve learned here such as Microsoft Word and Outlook will be useful throughout my career. Working for the city has helped me appreciate how diverse and complex the US government is. I’m looking forward to the coming weeks of work.
The following interns also worked in CPED this summer
- Ayan Abdalle
- Johnathan Sandoval
- Mohamed Ibrahim
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