The St. Louis Internship Program is building a pipeline of diverse 21st century talent.
This summer, the offices of St. Louis’ best businesses, nonprofits and organizations will be home to more than 100 hardworking and talented high school students. The St. Louis Internship Program (SLIP), a key part of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis, creates valuable summer internships proven to increase work readiness and develop professional skills, all while building a diverse and reliable talent pipeline.
Nation-wide, businesses recognize the importance of actionable social purpose and are working to become socially responsible corporate citizens. SLIP’s unique approach to expanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the workplace is a mutually beneficial partnership with business leaders who inspire these young workers by example. The powerful combination of mentoring and coaching cultivates a generation of diverse future leaders who are fully engaged in creating success for employers and advancement in our community.
With the pandemic came a labor/skills shortage that is disrupting businesses across the globe. Workers are looking for organizations that offer meaningful work and opportunities to make an impact. SLIP offers St. Louis area businesses the opportunity to advance their efforts toward corporate citizenship while benefitting from a trained, cost competitive and well-supported workforce.
SLIP empowers students to take critical steps toward meaningful careers. Key to its success is the careful selection and matching of students and employers so that both can maximize the experience. SLIP not only aims to offer students a wide range of job placements, the 30-year-old program is committed to training students to provide excellent service. To ensure job readiness, the students complete an intense, ten-week training focused on professional etiquette, workplace communication, problem solving, professional conduct, networking, resume writing, interviewing and other soft skills. Interns are then placed with business partners where they perform professional-level work, ranging from clerical tasks to research, greeting clients, covering reception duties, data entry, scanning and organizing documents, client projects and more. Each student/employer is assigned a Summer Career Coach who serves as a team liaison. Career Coaches regularly check in with supervisors to evaluate job performance and determine which skills students can develop in order to be more effective at their jobs.
SLIP’s goal is to provide hope and opportunity to high school students in financial need through paid summer internships, intensive employability training, and year-round college and career planning. In partnership with businesses and organizations, SLIP is building the St. Louis community by developing a motivated, well-trained and talented future workforce.
Here is where you come in. The SLIP team continuously works to recruit new employers, while retaining partners from previous years, to hire our interns for the summer. Leading St. Louis business partners include Emerson, Polsinelli PC, Cushman & Wakefield, Lashly & Baer, RubinBrown, SM Wilson, BAMSL, Unleashing Potential, Armstrong Teasdale and Anders CPA.
To join the innovative, impactful and cost-effective SLIP Summer 2022 intern program, contact Lisa Brunts, Workforce Development Recruiter at lisab@bgcstl.org or Shanise Johnson, Director at shanise@bgcstl.org. For additional information, visit bgcstl.org/slip.
