The Vanishing Ladder: Why Minneapolis’ Landmark Youth Internship Program is Facing a Crisis of Participation

MINNEAPOLIS — Jordan Dotson’s journey from the North Side of Minneapolis to the corporate headquarters of Best Buy is a testament to the power of structured opportunity. A 2019 graduate of Minneapolis South High School, Dotson grew up in a working-class household where expectations were high but the path to a Fortune 500 career was not always visible.

Today, at 25, Dotson serves as an environmental compliance manager for Best Buy, a role she secured full-time in 2023 after graduating from the University of Minnesota. Her trajectory was not accidental; it was forged through the Minneapolis Step Up program, a city-led initiative that has spent two decades bridging the gap between urban youth and the region’s largest employers.

However, as Dotson settles into her professional life, the program that launched her career is facing an existential crossroads. Despite a proven track record of transforming lives, Step Up and its St. Paul counterpart, Right Track, are grappling with a sharp decline in employer participation. At a time when Minnesota’s future economic growth is inextricably linked to the success of its diverse youth, the "ladder of opportunity" is seeing its rungs disappear.

Main Facts: A Tale of Two Realities

The Minneapolis Step Up program, alongside St. Paul’s Right Track, serves as a critical pipeline for lower-income teenagers, many of whom are students of color or first-generation Americans. The program offers more than just a summer job; it provides a comprehensive ecosystem of online career-exploration courses, interview coaching, and professional mentoring.

For participants like Dotson, the experience was "jarring" but transformative. "It was a little jarring at 15 or 16 to prepare for an interview at a Fortune 500 company," Dotson recalled. "The internship helped me with networking and to start feeling that I belonged. I was one of only a few women and people of color on our headquarters team. Best Buy now feels like a good place for me."

The program’s impact is visible in three distinct professional spheres:

1. Corporate Compliance: Dotson utilized her "compliance brain and math brain" to move from a summer intern to a full-time manager, navigating the complexities of environmental regulations.
2. The Skilled Trades: Mike Archer, 27, used Step Up to escape "negative influences" in his neighborhood. Today, he is a journeyman electrician and foreman earning over $100,000 a year. "I own a home. I’m blessed," Archer said, noting that his early exposure to work responsibilities gave his disabled mother a much-needed financial break.
3. Financial Services: Jorge Estudillo Castillo, 22, began as an intern at a U.S. Bank branch on East Lake Street while attending Cristo Rey High School. He is now a full-time banker, serving a bilingual customer base in the same neighborhood where he started.

Despite these successes, the data reveals a troubling trend. While the program once placed over 2,300 students in a single summer, that number has plummeted by nearly 50%.

Chronology: From Visionary Growth to Modern Decline

The Step Up program was born in 2003, a product of a unique collaboration between then-Mayor R.T. Rybak and former U.S. Bancorp CEO Richard Davis. The duo recognized that the "Old Boy Network" of internships—often based on family connections and neighborhood proximity—excluded a vast swath of Minneapolis talent.

• 2003–2010: The program established its foundation, focusing on "work-readiness" training. It targeted students who lacked traditional career connections, offering them a gateway into the private sector, nonprofits, and government agencies.
• 2011: Step Up reached its zenith, employing a record 2,325 teenagers. During this period, the program was a national model for municipal youth employment, championed by Rybak and Davis, who acted as relentless recruiters for the Twin Cities’ corporate community.
• 2012–2019: Participation remained steady but began to plateau as the initial fervor of its founders transitioned into institutionalized management.
• 2020–2024: The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent shift to remote work fundamentally altered the internship landscape. By the summer of 2024, the number of internships had dropped to approximately 1,385.
• 2025–Current: The decline reached a new low. This summer, only 1,250 teenagers were placed in internships, despite a budget of $3.75 million and a surplus of eager applicants. Currently, two teenagers apply for every one available internship.

Supporting Data: The Economic and Demographic Imperative

The decline in internships comes at a paradoxical moment for Minnesota’s economy. According to the Minnesota Department of Employment and Economic Development (DEED), the state’s workforce growth since the early 2000s has been almost entirely driven by people of color and immigrants.

"Providing more opportunities for people of color is key to economic growth," a DEED report noted. Yet, the labor market for youth is tightening. Angelina Nguyen, director of labor market information at DEED, points to a stark rise in teen unemployment:

• Spring 2025: 7.9% teen unemployment in Minnesota.
• May 2026: 13.5% teen unemployment.

The situation is even more dire for Black Minnesotans, who face unemployment rates significantly higher than the state average. "Teens are competing with older, more experienced workers," Nguyen explained. "There aren’t as many openings as possible, and it takes longer to find a job."

Traditional entry-level sectors—fast food, retail, and entertainment—are seeing fewer openings than in previous years. While healthcare remains a bright spot with strong demand for nursing assistants and personal care aides, the corporate and professional sectors have seen a significant pullback in their commitment to youth training.

Official Responses: Obstacles and the "DEI Chill"

Tammy Dickinson, the long-time manager of Step Up, remains an advocate for the program’s necessity, but she is candid about the hurdles. High school career counselors report that Step Up veterans are vastly better prepared for post-secondary life, yet the "supply" of jobs from the business community is not meeting the "demand" from students.

Labor market analysts and program leadership identify four primary reasons for the decline:

1. The Remote Work Friction: With many managers working from home or in hybrid models, the "on-the-shoulder" mentoring required for a 16-year-old intern has become more difficult to facilitate.
2. Economic Uncertainty: Businesses are currently adjusting to a "mercurial" economic environment, leading to a general caution in hiring that extends down to summer internships.
3. The AI Factor: There is growing caution over how Artificial Intelligence will impact entry-level tasks. Some employers are pausing hiring while they reassess what "entry-level" work will look like in a post-AI world.
4. The Political Climate: Analysts note a "chill" in diversity initiatives. Pressure from the national political stage has led some employers to eschew programs that specifically target students of color, fearing they might be labeled as "diversity initiatives" rather than workforce development.

Rene Madrid, a manager at U.S. Bank who has mentored over 50 Step Up interns, argues that these excuses overlook the long-term value. "Some of my top bankers started as interns," Madrid said. "They learn about business, customer relationships, personal finance, and credit. That’s good for all their futures."

Implications: The High Cost of a Broken Pipeline

The implications of a shrinking Step Up program extend far beyond a few missed summer paychecks. If the Twin Cities’ largest employers continue to retreat from youth internships, the region faces several long-term risks:

1. Erosion of the Middle Class

As seen in the case of Mike Archer, Step Up is a proven path to high-earning trades. Without these early interventions, students from low-income backgrounds may never be exposed to career paths that lead to homeownership and financial stability, exacerbating the state’s already wide racial wealth gap.

2. A Workforce Mismatch

Minnesota’s aging population means the state will soon rely on the current generation of students to sustain its economy. If these students reach adulthood without "work-readiness" skills, the state’s productivity will suffer. Employers who fail to "step up" now are effectively failing to train their own future workforce.

3. The "Soft Skill" Deficit

The most valuable aspect of Step Up is often the least quantifiable: the sense of belonging in a professional environment. Jordan Dotson’s ability to transition into a Fortune 500 company was rooted in the confidence she gained at 16. Without these programs, the "social capital" required to navigate corporate America remains locked away from those who need it most.

4. A Call for Re-Engagement

The success of Step Up in its early years was driven by the "tremendous cheerleading" of leaders like Rybak and Davis. The current decline suggests a need for a new generation of corporate champions to advocate for the program. As Tammy Dickinson noted, the goal is for more healthcare and corporate employers to realize that an internship is not an act of charity—it is a strategic investment.

For Jordan Dotson, the value of the program is summed up in the advice her parents gave her, which Step Up allowed her to put into practice: "Do what you need to do, including homework, in order to do what you want to do later."

If the Twin Cities business community doesn’t provide the "later," the "now" for thousands of Minneapolis teens looks increasingly bleak.