Bloom in Bloomington is a youth workforce development program that matches young people aged 16 – 24 with summer internship experiences within the city of Bloomington. The program aims to provide young people with opportunities to explore career paths from a wide variety of employers, build valuable work experience, and develop leadership skills. Early work experience, especially in workforce preparedness programs, can lead to higher future wages and better academic performance. The program matches interns with both city employers and external companies and organizations. These interns are placed across a diverse set of employers.

Besides Holly Masek who works with the City of Bloomington, we will hear from Warsan Artan, the Bloom in Bloomington Program Facilitator. Warsan is a dedicated advocate for community development, youth empowerment and equitable policy change. She has her Masters of Public Policy at UC San Diego’s School of Global Policy and Strategy. She was a member of Interact in high school and a member of Rotaract at San Diego State.

We will also meet Isela Mendiola who was an intern with the City of Bloomington through the Bloom in Bloomington program and now works as an Office Support Specialist in the Office of Racial Equity Inclusion and Belonging at the City. Isela was born and raised here in Bloomington.