Curated News
By: NewsRamp Editorial Staff
October 16, 2025

Santa Cruz Partnership Creates Paid Internships for Underserved Youth

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Original Source

TLDR

  • Santa Cruz Works and Digital NEST's AHSC internship program provides businesses with up to $10,000 funding to hire skilled interns, reducing hiring costs while accessing emerging talent.
  • The AHSC-funded program partners Santa Cruz Works for company recruitment and Digital NEST for intern training, offering six-month paid internships across ten local businesses with structured mentorship.
  • This initiative creates equitable career pathways for underserved youth while building community resilience through local employment opportunities that reduce commute distances and strengthen the regional economy.
  • Ten Santa Cruz companies from Climatize to Mission Hill Creamery are hosting paid interns like Julian Guerrero and Yuliana Morales-Galvan through this innovative community partnership.

Impact - Why it Matters

This initiative addresses systemic employment barriers while building a more resilient local economy. By providing paid internships to underserved youth, it creates equitable pathways to wealth-building careers and reduces economic disparities. The program simultaneously supports small businesses through financial subsidies, fostering mentorship opportunities that might otherwise be financially prohibitive. This model demonstrates how targeted workforce development can strengthen community ties, reduce commute-related emissions, and create a more diverse talent pipeline—benefits that extend beyond individual participants to transform the entire regional economy.

Summary

Santa Cruz Works and Digital NEST are expanding their partnership through the AHSC 2025–26 Internship Opportunity Program, creating transformative workforce development opportunities for underserved youth in Santa Cruz County. The program, funded by the City of Santa Cruz via the California Affordable Housing and Sustainable Communities grant, provides paid six-month internships at ten local businesses while addressing California's broader goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and building healthier communities. Each participating company receives up to $10,000 in grant funding to compensate their interns, removing financial barriers for small businesses and startups while ensuring young adults receive valuable paid experience.

The collaboration leverages the unique strengths of both organizations: Santa Cruz Works recruits participating companies, while Digital NEST handles intern recruiting, training, and case management. Many interns come from bizzNEST, Digital NEST's youth-powered creative agency where participants gain real-world experience through client projects in digital marketing, software development, and design. Key figures driving this initiative include Bonnie Lipscomb, Director of Economic Development and Housing for the City of Santa Cruz, who calls the grant a "game-changer for our community," Cathy Wright, VP of Partnerships & Innovation at Digital NEST, who emphasizes the proven "earn-and-learn model," and Malina Long, Business Development and Programs Manager at Santa Cruz Works, who notes the interns' significant community impact.

Ten local businesses are currently hosting interns across diverse roles, including Climatize (Julian Guerrero, Video Production Intern), Nurbli (Yuliana Morales-Galvan, Software & Development Intern), X Academy (Fernanda Jordan, Marketing Intern), Mission Hill Creamery (Julian Cabadas, Marketing Intern), Siena House (Elsa Tamayo, Marketing Intern), Go Ask Alice (Melanie Kate, Social Media Marketing Intern), Santa Cruz Children's Museum of Discovery (Edgar Robledo-Salgado, Video/Digital Storytelling Intern), Innovation Within (Jared Esquivel, UX Contractor), Clean Oceans International (Emily Ramirez, Social Media & Outreach Intern), and Senior Legal Services (Katherine Sarna, Communications Intern). This partnership represents a powerful model for community-driven workforce development that strengthens local companies, diversifies the talent pipeline, and enables the next generation to build meaningful careers in their own community.

Source Statement

This curated news summary relied on content disributed by Newsworthy.ai. Read the original source here, Santa Cruz Partnership Creates Paid Internships for Underserved Youth

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