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Tenth Institute Internship Program seeks to increase employment prospects by providing internship opportunities

June 22, 2021—The City of New Orleans, JOB1 Office of Workforce Development and Corporate Internship Leadership Institute (CILI) are proud to announce its first cohort of college students who will be a part of the Tenth Institute Internship Program. The partnership between the City and CILI will provide minority college students with internship opportunities that will help them gain valuable and needed work experience to ensure better career outcomes post-graduation. 

“We were noticing that an alarming number of minority students were graduating from college but did not have prospective jobs already lined up,” said Perry Sholes, Founder and CEO of Corporate Internship Leadership Institute. “While most colleges offer career counseling, securing the job and/or internship opportunity can be difficult for students who are competing with so many others for very few positions.”

Among minority groups, the Economic Policy Institute study found that Black workers with a college degree are more likely to be unemployed than similarly educated white workers (3.5% vs. 2.2%). The challenge for most minority college graduates is they do not have enough experience to get a job postgraduation.

The Tenth Institute seeks to remove barriers by utilizing public-private partnerships connecting college juniors and seniors with paid internship opportunities. During the internships, employers provide relevant work experience to students to jump start their careers. The program also includes self-awareness coaching, leadership development, professional branding, and financial wellness training. Students submitted applications in spring 2021 and were selected to be a part of the program. Participants are currently enrolled in four-year college programs and will begin their internships with respective employers as early as June 7, 2021.

“We must continue to seek and implement new ways to not only engage our youth and young adults, but we must also invest our time and human resources to ensure that they can live up to their full potential,” said Sunae Villavaso, Director of the Office of Workforce Development for the City of New Orleans. “We are committed to supplementing the career counseling services that are available on their college campuses, but we are also committing to work with our private sector to find those jobs in the areas where students are studying so that they can have the greatest chance for success.” 

For additional information on the program, visit www.internshiptalent.org

Media Contact:
Bright Moments, LLC
Geriease Hawkins
gshawkins1@gmail.com