Employers know internships are more than a filler on a résumé. They are a way to try out prospective employees, build capacity on their teams and pass along knowledge and experience to the next generation of workers.
That’s why the Chamber has taken the lead on the Denver Opportunity Youth Initiative, focused on connecting businesses with opportunity youth. These are youth aged 16 to 24 who are disconnected from education or work—and there are nearly 10,000 of these youth in Denver alone. That’s 13 percent of this age group, and with projections of 74 percent of Colorado jobs requiring some sort of education after high school, the Chamber and its partner organizations agreed that these youth are an important part of the region’s talent pipeline development.
The Chamber is partnering with local businesses to give opportunity youth an inside look at in-demand careers. Its first business partner, Rassman Design, worked with an opportunity youth on a logo for the initiative. The student entered a contest held by the Chamber to create the brand with Rassman for this initiative.
We sat down with John Rassman, creative director at Rassman Design, and Nohemi Acosta, the winning student who is enrolled at Vista Academy, to learn about the impact this internship had on each of them.
Taking Care of Business: How has the internship gone?
Nohemi Acosta: At first it was mind boggling. It was frustrating because I haven’t done anything like this before and I really didn’t like trying new things, but it changed with the days. I started to get more of the hang of it using all of the tools, and becoming more comfortable with the [design] programs.
John Rassman: I think you forget sometimes when you are working with a student, who is so much younger, how much opportunity there is. You do this for a number of years and you start getting jaded with the repetitiveness of it and forget what it was like to be in it. I think that is what is nice about working with a student, it reminds you of that.
TCB: Nohemi, why did you choose the puzzle design for the Denver Opportunity Youth logo?
Acosta: A puzzle represents the pieces brought together to make oneself, such as the choices. For those needing additional help, DOYII will help find the missing pieces to help complete their puzzle, or be where they want to be. Life is many times a puzzle, but you don’t always know how to complete it. Education is a big part of it to succeed, and to have a life with a good job.
TCB: What about opportunity stood out to you as you were creating the logo?
Acosta: I found that as the key piece for this whole program. You are giving someone a second chance to make themselves better, improve on their skills, help them with their education and better jobs and I wanted to show that in the logo.
TCB: John, how have you seen Nohemi’s skills evolve since she started interning with your team just a few weeks ago?
Rassman: I think at first there is a little level of fear walking into this environment. There is the question of ‘What is this?’ and then once that goes away it is, ‘How can I do this?’ Once you get the baseline level of skills then it is “How can I make it better?’ Those three steps I definitely see happening with her. You can be less fearful once you know more about it.
TCB: Speaking of skills, why do you think it’s important for youth to experience hands-on learning like this?
Rassman: It’s definitely great to have as much education as possible. But I think sometimes people over emphasize that you got to go to school for this and spend this much time learning something and then you get out and it’s ‘What do I do with this?’ I feel like sometimes we forget that some of our jobs are technical jobs and less esoteric and sometimes it is good just to have those technical skills.
I think that there is a huge barrier where the kids don’t have the opportunity to see what it is like behind a business door … It just feels like there are multiple paths to this and I just wanted someone like Nohemi to realize that it doesn’t have to be about this huge financial commitment to get to where you want to be.
TCB: What have you enjoyed most about working at a business like Rassman?
Acosta: I am really comfortable here. I get a lot of help from them and they help me out with my questions. I have enjoyed how free it can be. You can do all of these different things. It’s not ‘oh you must do this and that,’ but you can put your own style on it.
TCB: John, what’s your advice to other businesses, especially small businesses, who want to offer real-world learning opportunities for youth?
Rassman: It takes a fair amount of commitment in terms of someone being able to give it the time. That’s the thing for us that is a little bit difficult because there are only five of us and someone has got to block out that time … But then she said to me, do you mind if I take this home to work on it? That sort of question to me is what makes this great.
To learn more about the Denver Opportunity Youth Investment Initiative or find out how your business can get involved, email Lorena Marquez Zimmer.
Interview conducted and condensed by Laura James, communications and marketing coordinator for the Denver Chamber of Commerce.