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Urban Alliance: Hire an Intern, Change a Life

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For more than 25 years, Urban Alliance has been building a diverse next-generation workforce. Its signature High School Internship Program provides job skills training, mentoring and paid internships to underserved high school seniors to prevent disconnection from school and work before it occurs and expand their idea of what’s possible for the future.


EDENS has been partnering with Urban Alliance for eight years beginning in 2015.
Lesly Vasquez, a native of Washington, DC, (Ward 4) and a senior at McKinley Technology High School, joined our team at Union Market District in November 2021, where she has been interning with our property management team. Under the supervision of Jennifer Battle, Lesly has been performing data entry and production tasks in addition to various research projects across different departments.

The environment at EDENS is completely different than my previous job and I think it was a great shift to teach me how the real world works. I’ve learned that teamwork is important, and everybody’s ideas are valuable. This internship has taught me a professional work ethic, understanding workload and time management—which will help me in college.

Lesly Vasquez Senior - McKinley Technology High School

Upon graduation in May 2022, Lesly will continue at EDENS full-time until beginning the next chapter of her life at University of Maryland-College Park—her top choice—to follow her dream of becoming an architect.

Urban Alliance has provided more than 6,000 young people with paid internships across Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit and Greater Washington DC (including Montgomery County and Prince George’s County, MD, and Northern VA). In partnership with over 200 employers, Urban Alliance fights for equity by empowering students to access upwardly mobile careers, while supporting the development of diverse talent pipelines.