Butte College LAEP Program Proves a Two-Way Success
Instant-impact interns don’t just fall from the sky.
Still, when Heather Cardwell and Kristina Rodriguez showed up to coordinate the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program for Community Action Agency of Butte County – at no cost to the agency – it must have felt like a bit of a cosmic event. Likewise, when Darian Scott arrived at Chico Montessori Children’s House ready for whatever preschoolers could literally throw at her, Director Sarah Livingston was thanking her lucky stars.
“She’s [so] confident in talking with the children and parents [and] has made so much improvement since beginning here in August,” says Livingston.
Thanks to the Learning Aligned Employment Program (LAEP), which launched at Butte College in June 2023, good help is becoming easier to find. The unique initiative, which provides paid internships for underserved college students with zero cost to participating employers, has already moved the needle for Butte County businesses. In less than a year, the local version of the program has placed 85 student interns, many of them working on-site with local businesses and government agencies.
“The LAEP program acts as a catalyst to propel employer engagement and partnership to a new level,” says Butte College Director of Employer Partnerships Wendy Porter. “Being able to have financial support for an internship program is a big incentive to work closely with Butte College.”
The constellations aligned for agencies like VITA, a locally implemented government program offering tax assistance to low-income families, as Butte College interns stepped in to assume immediate starring roles. As Program Specialists, Cardwell and Rodriguez handled virtually every aspect of the community service program, from coordinating volunteers to setting up live tax assistance sites.
For participating community members, the opportunity to access free tax services was a time- and money-saver. For Cardwell and Rodriguez, it was a game-changer.
“Not only is this internship building me as an active member of society,” says Rodriguez. “It is also granting me a sense of purpose to put my energy where it matters most – within the community.”
In addition to on-site experience ranging from management to marketing, Cardwell and Rodriguez received valuable advice from Community Action Agency mentors like Stefan Spirk and Stephanie Koslofsky.
“The mentorship I have received has been outstanding,” says Cardwell.” From management and supervision, there have been many people who have been here to guide and support us.”
Supported by $500 million in state funds, LAEP offers full funding for training and compensation of participating interns, giving local businesses a bold incentive to connect with, mentor, and potentially even hire prospects from Butte College and beyond.
The local program is already among the most successful of its kind in the state, having received commitments from 17 businesses to work with LAEP interns over the next three years. And while she doesn’t deny the hard work involved in Butte College’s successful launch, Porter admits that participation is, ultimately, an easy sell.
“Many of our employers want to support our students [but] they are small businesses who don’t have a lot of cash flow to pay for interns, nor enough staff to train and mentor interns,” says Porter. “The LAEP funding helps us alleviate this strain on our businesses in a significant way.”
Offered predominantly to low-income, first-generation, or otherwise underserved students, LAEP internships pay an average of $18.35 per hour. At the same time, they offer an unprecedented opportunity for prospects to hit the ground running in a degree-relevant field, connecting with employers like Atlas Consulting Services, Chico Chamber of Commerce, Stonewall Alliance Center, Chico Montessori Children’s House and more.
“I’ve always learned best by being a ‘do-er’,” says Phim Thao, whose experience as a Marketing Intern with the Chico Chamber of Commerce galvanized her career ambitions. “Being able to be hands-on during my internship cleared my head about doubts I had in my field.”
The “win-win” appeal of initiatives like LAEP bolsters Strong Workforce Program goals to expand employer engagement and build sturdier bridges between educators and employers. And while organizers still envision LAEP as a long-term investment, they’re more than pleased with the immediate results.
“The LAEP program catapulted this employer engagement and gave us a ready-made paid intern program to initiate these new relationships,” says Porter. “Our employers have loved the program so much they are continuing to reach out to connect with more student talent.”
Beyond the “instant ROI” of the internships themselves, LAEP benefits employers by expanding their future access to custom-trained talent. In some cases, like City and County accounting positions, students will have trained specifically for the position before hire. The program also reinforces efforts like last spring’s “Re-Imagined Hiring Event,” which harnessed the “power of connections” to match job-seekers with local agencies like Butte County, the City of Chico, Northern CA Regional Land Trust and ChicoStart.
“Because of this program and our stronger employer partnerships, we have been able to innovate new hiring events that focus on skills and areas of study targeting specific job openings,” says Porter.
For those in Butte College’s Career Center, initiatives like LAEP from the front line of a larger effort to integrate career readiness into the student experience.
“We recognize the significance of employer engagement,” says Butte College Director of Career Services Brian Donnelly. “We facilitate meaningful experiences, mentoring connections, and industry knowledge sharing between students, employers, and faculty.”
Entering LAEP’s second full year of deployment in June, employers and organizers alike hope to build on the momentum of the program’s early success.
“LAEP is a 10 out of 10,” says Livingston. “I look forward to working with the program again in the future.”
May 2024
