Urban Alliance believes that all young people -- no matter their race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic background -- deserve equal access to the skills training, paid work experiences, and professional networks needed to achieve economic mobility. In partnership with over 200 employers, we've provided over 6,000 internships to underserved youth since 1996.
CEO Eshauna Smith's statement
Learn how UA reimagined our High School Internship Program to ensure that Black and Brown continue to have access to economic opportunity during COVID-19.
Urban Alliance's new brief explores the economic impact of COVID-19 on youth, the ripple effects of youth employment across communities, and how employers can ensure that today's students can successfully transition into tomorrow's workforce, even during a pandemic that has seen record youth unemployment and disconnection rates.
Hear how Urban Alliance students persevered through a year of disruptions in first-ever interactive, online annual report.
In partnership with over 200 employers, we level the playing field for young people of color by equipping them with the tools to overcome the systemic barriers preventing them from equitably accessing economic opportunity.
Denardo Worthy, DC 2019
“Urban Alliance meant another family for me,” said Denardo. “There’s a lot of people out there that don’t have [any]one to look up to,” Denardo said, but Urban Alliance “gives you a paid internship, it gives you a mentor, someone to look up to, talk to, or just someone there to be there for you … It helps me feel not alone. It helps me feel that that no matter what somebody is always watching me, rooting for me, shouting for me.” Read More
Obama Youth Jobs Corps
A Life-Changing Opportunity
“Part of the goal of this program is to expose you to what’s possible…Everybody here has already shown extraordinary talent and initiative. All of you all are focused in a way that I can’t say I necessarily was when I was your age. So you guys are already ahead of the game…Part of what we want you guys to all feel is the confidence to know that none of this stuff is beyond your capacities. We want you to feel that in your gut, that there is nothing you can’t figure out. And so if this program helped anything, it is for you guys to figure out that.” – President Barack Obama Read More
6,000
Young people placed in paid, professional internships
80%
Urban Alliance alumni connected to economically-mobile pathways
100%
High school graduation rate
25 Years
Connecting underserved youth to economic opportunity
Baltimore
Learn how Urban Alliance partners with Baltimore City Public Schools, banks, energy companies, and beyond to develop Baltimore's youth for the workplace.
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Baltimore
Chicago
Urban Alliance partners with Chicago Public Schools, law firms, financial institutions, tech firms, and more to provide Chicago youth with their first work experience.
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Chicago
Detroit
Urban Alliance (UA) brought our flagship youth employment model – the High School Internship Program – to Detroit in fall 2018.
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Detroit
Greater DC Region
Government agencies, nonprofits, law firms, banks, and more partner with Urban Alliance to develop today's high schoolers into tomorrow's industry leaders.
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Greater DC Region
