On May 4, 2023, three Enterprise youth will take the stage at our annual dinner, Heroes at Work, to share their personal stories of growth and transformation. Enterprise for Youth connects young people to career pathways while building their interpersonal and technical skills to help them succeed in the workplace and also in their personal lives. Each speaker has benefited from the opportunities provided by Enterprise for Youth in their own way. Liberty, Ma’Sherrod, and Andrea are taking the brave step to share their story with the Enterprise community which supports them every step of the way.
Liberty La
“I admire this program for trusting in youth, really believing in young people, and giving us an opportunity to show ourselves as well.”
Liberty joined Enterprise for Youth in the spring of 2021 as a high school sophomore. After her first summer working with our National Park Services crew at Fort Mason, she has continued to be involved in Enterprise for Youth. As a Youth Council member, Liberty worked on recruitment at her school and helped lead virtual events for other interns. Last summer Liberty interned with Helix Medical Program, learning and participating in observations at Kaiser Permanente across departments.
Liberty will be graduating from Raoul Wallenberg High School this spring and will attend the University of Puget Sound in the fall as a Posse scholar. She will be an intern at City Hall through our Career Experience Internship program this summer.
Ma’Sherrod Swinson
“With Enterprise I found out that I’m actually interested in gardening so that made me think… Ok, well, what else am I interested in?”
Ma’Sherrod began his journey at Enterprise for Youth in June 2020 as a high school junior. His first internship in SF parks as part of Climate Career Corps sparked a new found interest in gardening for Ma’Sherrod. This discovery opened up his eyes to new possibilities and opportunities. In the following two summers, Ma’Sherrod returned as a Program Assistant and then a Park Lead working with SF Rec & Parks. Ma’Sherrod participated in Enterprise’s year-long leadership program Youth Council during his senior year and interned at San Francisco SPCA in the fall of 2022.
Ma’Sherrod is completing his third year studying Theatre Arts at San Francisco State. He will be interning at the African American Shakespeare Company this summer.
Andrea Lopez
“My internship experiences gave me a vision of my future and how I can be better as a person – I couldn’t have done it without Enterprise for Youth and their support.”
Andrea joined Enterprise for Youth during her junior year of high school. After moving back to California from El Salvador in early 2020, Andrea was looking for ways to increase her career skills as well as meet new people – not an easy thing to do during the pandemic. Starting in our virtual Job Readiness and Career Exploration programs, Andrea soon began to take advantage of all of the opportunities that were coming her way. Participating in internships with SFUSD and a SPUR and using our Job Bank has led her to a job and an office administration internship at a construction company. During her time at Enterprise, Andrea is most proud of her work as a Program Assistant supporting newcomer interns as they begin the same journey she started in 2021.
Andrea is completing her first year at San Francisco City College. She will be working as a Program Assistant in our Career Experience Internship program.
For tickets and more information about Heroes at Work, visit our website enterpriseforyouth.org/events