The Mentorship Gap: How Minneapolis’ Step Up Program Navigates Economic and Political Headwinds
MINNEAPOLIS — In 2019, Jordan Dotson was a standout graduate of Minneapolis South High School, a student whose daily routine involved a two-bus commute from the city’s North Side to participate in the school’s theater program. Raised in a working-class household, Dotson carried the weight of her parents’ high expectations—a belief that academic diligence was the prerequisite for future freedom.
Today, at 25, Dotson is an environmental compliance manager at Best Buy’s corporate headquarters. Her trajectory from a North Side teenager to a Fortune 500 professional is not a product of luck, but the result of a deliberate pipeline designed to bridge the gap between Minneapolis’ untapped talent and its corporate engines. That pipeline, known as the Step Up internship program, is currently facing a pivotal moment as it battles declining employer participation, shifting workplace norms, and a volatile political climate.
Main Facts: The Pipeline for Minnesota’s Future Workforce
The Minneapolis Step Up program, alongside its St. Paul counterpart, Right Track, represents one of the most significant public-private partnerships in the Twin Cities. Founded on the principle that economic equity begins with exposure, the program provides lower-income teenagers—disproportionately students of color—with the training and professional connections often missing in marginalized communities.
Since its inception, Step Up has achieved remarkable scale:
- Total Participants: Over 36,000 teenagers have completed the program since 2003.
- Compensation: Current internships offer competitive summer wages, paying up to $16.50 per hour for 40-hour work weeks.
- Curriculum: The program is not merely a job placement service; it includes online career-exploration courses, interview preparation, and one-on-one mentoring.
However, the program is currently at a crossroads. Despite a record of 2,325 interns in 2011, the number of placements has plummeted. In the summer of 2026, only 1,250 teens were placed in internships, down from 1,385 in 2025. This decline comes at a time of heightened demand, with two students applying for every available position, leaving thousands of eager young workers on the sidelines.
Chronology: From Civic Vision to Modern Challenges
The Formative Years (2003–2011)
Step Up was born in 2003 from a collaboration between then-Mayor R.T. Rybak and former U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis. The partnership was a recognition that Minnesota’s future economic health depended on integrating its growing population of color into the professional workforce. Rybak and Davis acted as the program’s primary cheerleaders, leveraging their influence to convince private-sector CEOs, nonprofit leaders, and government agencies to open their doors to high schoolers.
By 2011, the program reached its zenith, employing over 2,300 students. During this era, the "Step Up model" was lauded nationally as a blueprint for urban workforce development.
The Best Buy Success Story
Jordan Dotson’s journey illustrates the program’s long-term ROI. She began her internship at Best Buy at age 15, a transition she describes as "jarring."
"It was a little jarring at 15 or 16 to prepare for an interview at a Fortune 500 company," Dotson recalled. Working under the mentorship of Mary Thomas, a Best Buy attorney, Dotson spent her summers and college breaks learning the intricacies of regulation and corporate culture. Thomas evolved from a supervisor into a career-long mentor, encouraging Dotson to lean into her "compliance brain and math brain."
Dotson joined Best Buy full-time in 2023 after graduating from the University of Minnesota. Her story is the program’s ideal outcome: a local student from a modest background becoming a permanent fixture in the state’s corporate ecosystem.
The Recent Decline (2020–2026)
The downward trend in participation began to accelerate following the COVID-19 pandemic. While the 2025 budget of $3.75 million supported 1,385 interns through 85 wage-paying employers, the momentum has stalled. The rise of remote and hybrid work has fundamentally altered the "over-the-shoulder" learning model that high school internships rely on. Furthermore, economic uncertainty and the rapid emergence of Artificial Intelligence (AI) have led many firms to freeze entry-level hiring and reduce the number of managers available to supervise interns.
Supporting Data: The Rising Barriers for Teen Workers
The decline in internship opportunities coincides with a troubling rise in teen unemployment. According to Angelina Nguyen, director of labor market information at the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the statistics paint a stark picture:
- Unemployment Surge: Teen unemployment in Minnesota jumped from 7.9% in the spring of 2025 to 13.5% by May 2026.
- Racial Disparities: Unemployment among Black Minnesotans remains significantly higher than the state average, exacerbating the wealth gap Step Up was designed to close.
- Experience Inflation: "Teens are competing with older, more experienced workers in this economy," Nguyen noted. "There aren’t as many openings as possible… and it takes longer to find a job."
Traditionally, teenagers found entry-level work in fast food, retail, and entertainment. However, these sectors have seen a contraction in openings over the last year. While healthcare remains a high-demand field—offering paths from nursing assistants to medical technology—the transition from "neighborhood jobs" to "career-track jobs" remains difficult without programs like Step Up.
Official Responses: Navigating Political and Economic Headwinds
Tammy Dickinson, the long-time manager of Step Up, remains an advocate for the program’s necessity, even as she acknowledges the current difficulties. She emphasizes that Step Up "veterans" are significantly better prepared for post-high school planning, often showing a level of professional maturity that their peers lack.
However, Dickinson and other labor analysts point to a new, more sensitive obstacle: the political climate. The mercurial nature of the current federal administration has placed immense pressure on corporations. Some employers have expressed caution regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives, fearing political retribution or litigation. This "chilling effect" has made some businesses wary of programs specifically targeting students of color, even when those programs serve a clear economic need.
On the front lines of the program, mentors like Rene Madrid continue to push back against these trends. Madrid, an immigrant from El Salvador and manager of the U.S. Bank office on East Lake Street, has mentored over 50 interns since 2010.
"Some of my top bankers, and I have 20 direct reports here, started as interns," Madrid said. He points to Jorge Estudillo Castillo, a 22-year-old banker who began as a Step Up intern while attending Cristo Rey High School. For Madrid, the value of the internship transcends simple job tasks; it is about teaching "customer relationships, making professional connections, personal finance, credit, savings, and money management."
Implications: The High Stakes of Workforce Stagnation
The stakes for Minnesota’s economy are high. DEED data indicates that nearly all of Minnesota’s incremental workforce growth since the early 2000s has come from people of color and immigrants. If the state’s primary engines of employment—Fortune 500 companies and major healthcare systems—fail to engage this demographic early, the "skills gap" will only widen.
The story of Mike Archer, 27, serves as a powerful testament to the program’s impact outside of the corporate office. Archer, who is Black, grew up in a household where his mother, who lived with a disability, earned just $14,000 a year.
Archer’s Step Up journey didn’t lead to a boardroom, but to a job in a city park for $7.24 an hour. That early responsibility kept him away from "negative influences" in his neighborhood and gave him the confidence to pursue a trade. Today, Archer is a journeyman electrician and foreman, earning $63 an hour.
"I’ll make over $100,000 this year," Archer said. "I own a home. I’m blessed."
Archer’s success highlights a critical implication for the Twin Cities: Step Up is not just a social program; it is an economic ladder. When the number of internships drops, the ladder loses rungs. For every student like Dotson or Archer who makes it through, there is another currently stuck on the North Side or East Lake Street, waiting for an interview that may no longer exist.
As Minneapolis looks toward 2027, the challenge for city leaders and CEOs remains clear: they must decide if the short-term convenience of hybrid work and the safety of political neutrality are worth the long-term cost of a shrinking, less-prepared workforce. For now, the 1,250 students who secured spots this summer are the lucky few, while the program’s founders and managers hope for a resurgence of the civic spirit that once made the Twin Cities a leader in youth employment.
