Bridging the Opportunity Gap: The Critical Role of Minneapolis Step Up in a Shifting Economic Landscape
Main Facts: A Success Story Under Pressure
In the competitive corporate environment of a Fortune 500 company, the transition from a working-class neighborhood to a management role is often portrayed as a matter of individual grit. However, for Jordan Dotson, a 25-year-old environmental compliance manager at Best Buy, that journey was paved by a deliberate, decades-old infrastructure known as Minneapolis Step Up.
Dotson’s trajectory—from a standout graduate of Minneapolis South High School in 2019 to a full-time professional at a global retailer—serves as a primary case study for the efficacy of youth workforce development. Yet, as success stories like hers emerge, the program that facilitated her rise is facing a complex set of modern challenges. While Step Up has served 36,000 teenagers since its inception, current data reveals a concerning trend: employer participation is declining even as the economic necessity for a diverse, trained workforce reaches a critical juncture.
The Step Up program, alongside its St. Paul counterpart, Right Track, functions as more than a simple summer job placement service. It is a career-readiness pipeline targeting lower-income Minneapolis teens who are disproportionately students of color. These students often lack the professional networks or "social capital" common in wealthier households. For Dotson, who grew up on the city’s North Side and took two buses daily to participate in theater and academics, the program provided the "jarring" but necessary experience of interviewing with a major corporation at age 15.
Today, the program provides training and summer jobs paying up to $16.50 per hour. However, the gap between demand and supply is widening. Currently, two teenagers apply for every one available internship, leaving thousands of motivated youth without a point of entry into the professional world.
Chronology: From 2003 Vision to 2024 Reality
The origin of Minneapolis Step Up dates back to 2003, born from a bipartisan-style collaboration between then-Mayor R.T. Rybak and former U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis. The partnership was rooted in a pragmatic realization: Minnesota’s economic future depended on the success of its youngest, most diverse residents. Davis, who began his own career as a part-time bank teller, and Rybak acted as the program’s primary "cheerleaders," aggressively recruiting private sector, nonprofit, and government employers to open their doors to interns.
The program saw a steady ascent during its first decade, reaching a peak in 2011 when it employed a record 2,325 teenagers. During this era, the program became a national model for municipal-private partnerships. It was during this period of stability that many of today’s young professionals, including Dotson, began their journeys.
Dotson’s timeline illustrates the program’s long-term "stickiness." She began interning at Best Buy during high school, continued working there during her summers while attending the University of Minnesota, and was hired full-time in 2023. Her mentor, Best Buy attorney Mary Thomas, evolved from a supervisor to a colleague, guiding Dotson through the nuances of law and regulation.
However, the post-pandemic era has introduced a period of contraction. By the summer of 2024, the number of internships had dropped to 1,250—a significant decline from 1,385 in 2023 and nearly half of its 2011 peak. This decline occurred despite a 2025 budget of $3.75 million and support from 85 wage-paying employers. The chronology of the last five years shows a program struggling to adapt to a "new normal" in the American workplace.
Supporting Data: The Economic and Demographic Imperative
The necessity of programs like Step Up is underscored by data from the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED). According to DEED, nearly all of Minnesota’s incremental workforce growth since the early 2000s has been driven by people of color and immigrants. As the state’s population ages, these "New Americans" and their children represent the only viable source of labor to sustain economic expansion.
Despite this, the labor market for teenagers has become increasingly hostile. Angelina Nguyen, director of labor market information at DEED, notes that teen unemployment in Minnesota jumped from 7.9% in the spring of 2024 to 13.5% by May 2025. For Black Minnesotans, these rates are historically even higher.
Several factors contribute to the declining number of internships:
- The Rise of Remote and Hybrid Work: Traditional internships relied on "desk-side" mentoring. With managers working from home, many companies feel they lack the capacity to supervise high school interns effectively.
- Managerial Burnout: Workforce shifts have left fewer middle managers with the bandwidth to take on the additional responsibility of mentoring.
- Economic and Technological Uncertainty: The rapid emergence of AI has caused many businesses to pause entry-level hiring as they reassess their future staffing needs.
- Political Pressures: Labor market analysts suggest that some employers have become "wary" of diversity-focused initiatives due to the political climate and pressures to eschew anything that could be labeled as a DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) program.
While demand is high in sectors like healthcare—where entry-level roles for personal care and nursing assistants offer a clear path to medical technology and nursing—traditional entry points like retail and fast food are seeing fewer openings than in previous years.
Official Responses: Voices from the Field
Leadership within the program and its participating partners are sounding the alarm while remaining hopeful. Tammy Dickinson, the long-time manager of Step Up, emphasizes that high school career counselors report a marked difference in students who have completed the program. "Step Up veterans are better prepared to discuss post-high school plans," Dickinson says, urging more healthcare and corporate employers to view the program as an investment in their own future talent pool.
Rene Madrid, manager of the U.S. Bank office on East Lake Street, represents the type of "boots-on-the-ground" support the program requires. A Mexican immigrant and University of Minnesota graduate, Madrid has mentored over 50 interns since 2010. His office, situated in a diverse neighborhood across from the Midtown Global Market, reflects the community it serves.
"Some of my top bankers started as interns," Madrid says, pointing to 22-year-old Jorge Estudillo Castillo. Castillo, who began as an intern while attending Cristo Rey High School, now works as a banker under Madrid, serving customers in both English and Spanish. Madrid argues that even if an intern doesn’t choose banking, the "professional connections, personal finance, and money management" skills they gain are invaluable for any career path.
Implications: The High Cost of Disengagement
The implications of a shrinking Step Up program extend far beyond the individual students. When the pipeline from high school to the professional workforce is constricted, the entire regional economy suffers. The story of Mike Archer, a 27-year-old journeyman electrician and foreman, illustrates the profound social mobility that early employment can trigger.
Archer, who is Black, was raised by a single mother with a disability who earned only $14,000 a year. His first Step Up job paid $7.24 an hour for park maintenance. "I wasn’t just running around the neighborhood," Archer recalls. "I became a mentor… I was responsible."
That early experience with responsibility and income allowed Archer to navigate away from "negative influences" and toward Dunwoody Technical College. Today, he earns $63 an hour, owns his own home, and expects to make over $100,000 this year. His success is a direct result of a $7-an-hour internship that gave him a "break" and a sense of belonging in the workforce.
The risk for Minnesota is that without a robust Step Up program, more "Mike Archers" and "Jordan Dotsons" will be left on the sidelines. If employers continue to pull back due to remote work challenges or political caution, they may find themselves facing a catastrophic labor shortage in the coming decade.
As Jordan Dotson reflects on her journey to Best Buy headquarters, she credits the program with giving her the confidence to believe she belonged in a Fortune 500 room. "I was one of only a few women and people of color on our team," she says. "Best Buy now feels like a good place for me. I’m encouraged to grow."
For the Minneapolis business community, the challenge is clear: the current decline in internships is not just a statistical dip, but a potential threat to the state’s economic vitality. The success of the "New American" workforce depends on the willingness of today’s executives to return to the mentorship-heavy model established two decades ago. Without it, the "high expectations" of working-class parents for their children’s futures may become increasingly difficult to realize.
