Enterprise Places Youth in Paid Summer Internships

Environmental Stewardship interns place mulch in a redwood grove at Stow Lake in Golden Gate Park

Enterprise Places Youth in Paid Summer Internships

The extraordinary circumstances we face due to the COVID-19 pandemic has altered Enterprise for Youth’s ability to provide in-person internships for the majority of the young people we serve. In order to continue our commitment to young people this summer, we’ve had to create new programming and internship models in lieu of the on-site workplace experiences we customarily deliver. 

Our priority is to maintain our promise to 200 youth to provide summer workplace experience through the following programs.

Virtual Internships

We are deeply grateful to the following hosts who are offering their internships online: INTERSTICE Architects, Kaiser Permanente: Allied Health, KIND (Kids in Need of Defense), Office of SF Supervisor Matt Haney, SF Made, Southern Exposure, UCSF ALBA Labs, and VendEx. We’ve augmented our existing employer guidelines for these partners to include recommendations and best practices for hosting virtual internships. Typically, these interns work on tasks such as social media campaigns, research, organizing data, and market research. And, of course, we’re so happy to have interns with us at Enterprise helping us with all aspects of our work!

Environmental Stewardship Internships

We have adjusted the structure of our Environmental Stewardship program delivered in partnership with the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department to comply with the City’s COVID-19 safety guidelines. We placed 67 youth in outdoor internships where cohorts of youth are paired with gardeners to work in parks across the City like Golden Gate Park.

Career Exploration Program

We have also created an internal Career Exploration program that will be offered to youth who we are not able to place in our Environmental Stewardship internships or virtual internships. 

Enterprise’s Career Exploration program will provide a robust, online career exploration curriculum including workshops, readings, lectures, panels, networking, creating presentations, and lots of discussions. The curriculum will explore the following employment sectors: technology, healthcare, art/architecture/design, government and nonprofit, entrepreneurship, and financial and legal services and selected readings on influential leaders such as Former First Lady of the United States Michelle Obama, Sonia Sotomayor, and Marc Benioff.

Program experiences include a cybersecurity workshop delivered by First Republic Bank, professional public speaking instruction by respected storytelling coach Katherine Kennedy, and many professional panels including professionals from many fields.

Technology Program (Partnership with Mission Bit)

Mission Bit is a nonprofit that works out of the San Francisco Mission District to teach youth technology and design skills. Together we have placed 23 youth into a joint program where they learn career skills in tandem with technology skills. The program includes coding challenges, community builders, tech talks, and other guest speakers. Enterprise provides a Job Coach and career mentorship while Mission Bit teaches them how to design a game or website. The youth will use their public speaking and research skills learned at Enterprise to present their project at the end of the program. 

Health Terminology Program

For our health sector this year, we have virtual internships at Kaiser Permanente and UCSF ALBA Labs. This program includes a college-level medical terminology course in partnership with City College of San Francisco. 

In each of the above programs, youth have a dedicated job coach and a set of volunteer mentors from the community who lend them expertise in their respective fields. Youth work on financial literacy, reflection papers, smart goals, resumes, practice public speaking, and informational interviews. On Wednesdays, youth from all programs participate in 2-hour events that focus on career elements such as job carnivals, career development workshops, career panels (i.e. Salesforce), and career discovery workshops.

Interns will be paid $16.50/hour for 75 hours of the Career Exploration curriculum and 50 youth will enroll in the General Work Experience course at San Francisco City College to receive college credits.