Partner Spotlight: UpTurnships
Partner Spotlight: UpTurnships
Change is in the Community
Renewed calls for diversity, inclusivity and economic equity are sweeping across the U.S. and impacting business for the better. In 2020, many business leaders and companies finally responded to the challenges faced by BIPOC individuals; more companies addressed shortcomings, engaged in overdue conversations, and took greater steps to help close the racial equity gap in the workplace.
While Black and minority-owned businesses experienced a surge in demand and donations for some nonprofits spiked, lasting change must come with consistency at the community level. If we’re going to create a more equitable workplace for the next generation, we’ve got to focus on exactly that: the next generation. One way to do this is to help open professional doors for students and young people from underrepresented communities who wouldn’t otherwise be given a fair shot.
UpTurn in Equity
UpTurnships is contributing to this paradigm shift in the Twin-Cities community. Formed in 2014, under the leadership of founder and former executive director Julie Burrows, UpTurnships was started to ensure that all college students in our community have equal access to paid internships, job training and one-on-one coaching—thus preparing them for meaningful career paths and greater future earning potential. This is an organic and meaningful way to close the hiring gap.
UpTurnships focuses on supporting students who are primarily responsible for their own tuition costs, are from under-represented demographic groups in business-related careers, or perhaps speak English as their second language. The small but mighty UpTurnships team works to connect motivated “UpTurns” to employers around the Twin-Cities, matching UpTurns with high-quality internships that fit their skills and interests—while providing additional support services.
La Tasha Shevlin is the new executive director at UpTurnships, and she is embracing the legacy started by Julie Burrows, leading this successful organization into new and innovative ways to provide career opportunities to UpTurns and foster connections with local employers. La Tasha knows that career development and employment are a necessity for communities and individuals to thrive. To date, UpTurnships has helped over 150 “UpTurns,” 82% of whom landed full-time work after graduation in their chosen field.
“Thank you for all you’re doing for our creative. What gifts of skill and ideas and creativity [Creatis] is bringing to UpTurnships. I cannot thank you enough!” — Julie Burrows, Founder and Board Member
Creatis Cares Program Support
The Creatis Cares program exists to be of service in the community in which we do business. We love to leverage our marketing resources to assist local non-profits, particularly to those like UpTurnships which are working toward workplace equality and providing job opportunities to the next generation.
UpTurnships was selected as the 2020 Creatis Cares Honoree in an open voting process. As part of this program, Creatis is donating 50 hours of in-kind creative services to their organization. We find that many nonprofits need and desire help bolstering their creative and marketing efforts to get more things done — especially with the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic. We’re partnering with UpTurnships to help refresh their website design, utilizing one of the skilled digital designers in our Creatis Studio, Joshua Copeland. Working with UpTurnships has been a rewarding experience for Joshua and the entire Creatis team, and partnering with Anja Silvers, Communications Specialist at UpTurnships, has been seamless. Anja actually went through the program as an UpTurn, before later landing a full-time role on the team and making an immediate impact. That's a fact that really reinforces that the vision of this organization is being carried out in meaningful ways.
“I wanted to express my sincere gratitude to Creatis! We are so honored to be the recipient of such a meaningful gift of time, resources, and talent! Please know that your gift is greatly appreciated and could not have come at a better time as we look ahead to make continuous improvements.” - La Tasha Shevlin, Executive Director
If you are in need of in-kind creative services, please contact Creatis President/CEO Kathy Hollenhorst at: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
We’d love to connect and start a conversation with your organization.
