Building the Future Workforce: WPTI Helps Launch NYC’s Industry Champions

By Andrea Vaghy Benyola and Justin Collins

This July marks the 63rd anniversary of New York City’s Summer Youth Employment Program (SYEP), one of the nation’s largest youth employment initiatives. Each year, SYEP provides more than 100,000 young New Yorkers between the ages of 14 and 24 with six-week paid internships that help them gain workplace experience, build professional skills, and explore future careers.

This year, the program enters an exciting new phase.

New York City Public Schools (NYCPS) and the Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) are launching Industry Champions, a collaboration designed to expand high-quality, sector-based summer internships for students participating in CareerReady SYEP, which integrates career-connected learning into the high school experience.

The collaborative program focuses on three high-growth industries — healthcare, business/finance, and technology — and seeks to ensure that internships provide meaningful career exploration while meeting employers’ workforce needs. 

WPTI is proud to serve as the City’s capacity-building partner for the healthcare and business/finance sectors. In partnership with the 1199SEIU Training & Employment Fund (1199TEF) and Year Up United, a national workforce development nonprofit, WPTI will work closely with NYCPS and DYCD over the next two years to develop the tools, resources, and training that will help schools, workforce providers, and employers successfully implement sector-focused internships. 

Build a Foundation for Success

Creating high-quality internships requires more than simply placing students in workplaces. Employers need practical guidance and workforce providers need sector expertise, ensuring everyone involved benefits from shared expectations and consistent tools. 

To kick off the first year of the initiative, WPTI developed comprehensive internship frameworks for employers in the healthcare and business/finance sectors. These frameworks provide practical guidance on every stage of the internship experience, including 

• Understanding SYEP and the skills high school interns bring to the workplace

• Developing strong job descriptions and onboarding plans

• Supervising interns and providing meaningful feedback

• Incorporating career exploration activities such as job shadowing and capstone projects

• Structuring internship schedules and week-by-week learning experiences 

The frameworks are designed to help employers create internships that not only support their organizations but also provide young people with meaningful opportunities to build skills, explore careers, and develop professional confidence. 

Building Capacity Across the System

In addition to developing employer resources, WPTI has provided training and technical assistance to both workforce providers and employers.

Our training for the SYEP provider organizations included sector overviews for healthcare and business/finance, along with intensive 16-hour, in-person Learning Labs. Fourteen organizations participated in these cohort-based learning communities, learning about industry trends, occupations, employer needs, and effective employer engagement strategies.

For employers, WPTI partnered with Year Up United to deliver virtual training sessions designed to prepare workplaces for successful internships. Together, these trainings help ensure that both program providers and employers are equipped to create high-quality experiences that benefit students and organizations alike.

Looking Ahead 

As internships get underway this summer, WPTI will continue supporting providers and employers through technical assistance, coaching, office hours, and site visits. These activities will help identify best practices, document lessons learned, and inform strategies to expand employer participation and strengthen sector-focused internships opportunities in the years ahead. 

Industry Champions represents an important investment in New York City’s next generation of talent. By helping employers create meaningful work-based learning experiences and supporting workforce organizations with the tools and training they need to succeed, WPTI is helping to build strong pathways from high school to meaningful careers. 

We look forward to sharing more updates as this exciting effort continues to grow. 

Get Involved

If you are interested in hosting interns, please contact DYCD at EmployerPartnerships@dycd.nyc.gov.  

To learn more about WPTI’s capacity building services, please contact Dina Marie Zagari-LiMandri, WPTI’s VP of Training and Consulting, at  dmzagari-limandri@wpti.org 

Andrea Vaghy Benyola is WPTI’s Chief Program Officer and Justin Collins is Senior Director, Programs.