Life Changing: St. Louis Internship Program

The proof is in the pudding: Shanise Johnson, executive director of St. Louis Internship Program (SLIP), was a product of it herself. Without the program, she says, her life would have been quite different. Johnson remembers with crystalline clarity her first day on the job as an intern at Moser & Marsalek, an erstwhile downtown law firm: It was 1995, and she had just completed her sophomore year at Soldan International Studies High School. “I had my resume with me in a nice portfolio,” she recalls. “I was neat in my SLIP uniform (blue blazer, white Oxford, floppy lady’s tie, khaki skirt), and eager for the challenge ahead.”

SLIP—a year-round internship program designed to help youth from financially disadvantaged backgrounds—trains St. Louis high-schoolers in skills they will need in the marketplace and places them in paid, eight-week internships with local businesses. Since its founding in 1992, nearly 4,000 students have completed the program. Ninety-eight percent have successfully acquired skills, graduated high school and pursued career goals. The interns are recruited from schools all over the city (private, parochial, charter and public). To be eligible, they must maintain at least a 2.0 GPA and qualify for free or reduced lunch. Johnson says the 100 internship spots are in high demand, and she hopes to increase that number in the near future.

Steven Taylor, who grew up in South City and went to Gateway Institute of Technology, also is a product of SLIP, and, perhaps more than anyone, can speak to the ways in which the program steered his life. The commercial real estate company where he worked in the summer of 2005 is where he works today. He says he always had an interest in residential real estate, but was matched by SLIP to a commercial real estate firm, where his interest flourished. At that time, the company (then called Colliers Turley Martin Tucker) was in Clayton. “I wasn’t familiar with Clayton—the people or the place. I was intimidated and naïve,” Taylor remembers. After his initial summer internship, he stayed on at the firm (working part-time during school and full-time during vacations) until he went off to Georgia State University, equipped with the scholarship and the computer the company had given him. “They were very kind to me,” Taylor says. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in business administration in real estate and is now the firm’s transaction manager, based in Atlanta.

The beauty of the program, says Michelle Martin, diversity and professional development manager at participating law firm Thompson Coburn, is that everybody wins: Students are well-prepared for professional careers, and employers benefit from the help of smart, hard-working young people. “I can’t keep them busy enough!” says Martin. “Teenagers these days are so tech-savvy and can figure things out so much faster than anyone else.” She adds that Thompson Coburn has been part of the program since its beginnings 25 years ago.

SLIP celebrates a quarter-century this year at its Gala Ball and Auction, aptly named Infinite Possibilities! on Sept. 29 at The Coronado ballroom. “SLIP looks forward to continued community support in helping impact the lives of our city’s youth,” says Johnson. “The program truly changes the trajectory of people’s lives.”

SLIP is funded entirely through contributions from corporations, individuals, foundations and community organizations.

St. Louis Internship Program celebrates its 25th anniversary on Sept. 29 with a gala ball and auction at Coronado Ballroom. Pictured on the cover: SLIP current interns and graduates Lan Truong (’14), Furat Wdaa (’16), Paul Kelley (’92), Dr. Bruce Green Sr. (’95), Shanise Johnson {’95). For tickets and information, call 314.371.7547 or visit stlouisinternship.org.

Featured image: SLIP graduates Paul Kelley, Lan Truong, Shanise Johnson, Furat Wdaa and Dr. Bruce Green Sr.
Cover design by Julie Streiler | Photos by Colin Miller of Strauss Peyton Photography