Mayor de Blasio and Senior Advisor Gabrielle Fialkoff Launch Ad Campaign Encouraging Employers to Hire Summer Interns

March 13, 2017

Pro-bono partnerships between the Mayor’s Fund to Advance NYC, Discovery Communications, Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Clear Channel Outdoor, OUTFRONT Media, JCDecaux and iHeart Media lead call to action for employers

NEW YORK–– Mayor Bill de Blasio and Gabrielle Fialkoff, Senior Advisor and Director of the Mayor’s Office of Strategic Partnerships, today unveiled a broad multi-media advertising campaign calling on New York City’s employers to hire interns this coming summer. The first-of-its-kind campaign is designed to expand the nationally recognized Ladders for Leaders program, and serves as a call to action for employers across the city to hire local homegrown talent. Ladders for Leaders, part of the city’s Department of Youth and Community Development Summer Youth Employment Program, is a competitive summer internship program that connects businesses of all sizes to local, high-achieving high school and college students.

Mayor de Blasio has made increasing access to good jobs a priority of his administration and these summer internships serve as a pipeline into NYC’s best companies. Since 2014, the program has grown from 475 to 1,538 interns, and from 92 to 475 participating employers. Using this five borough ad campaign as a recruitment tool, the city looks to build on this success by increasing the number of employers offering internships to hundreds more local students. Thirty-four percent of last summer’s interns received full-time job offers, setting hundreds of students on a successful career path and providing homegrown talent for local companies. 

“With over one million students in our public schools alone, NYC is home to some of the best and brightest young minds,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Our Ladders to Leaders program helps students get experience and connects companies with potential employees. We’ve already seen these internships become full-time jobs at graduation, I hope by bringing more companies into the program, the trend will continue.”

“This campaign is an important step in engaging NYC’s companies in the work of preparing the next generation for success in the workplace.  We are thankful to our creative partners, Discovery Communications and Y&R, as well as all of the many companies who contributed their resources to make the campaign possible” said Gabrielle Fialkoff, Senior Advisor to the Mayor and Director of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, “Our message is clear; New York City possesses the best and the brightest young talent and Ladders for Leaders is the way to find your next employee.” 

The print and broadcast ad campaign – the first of its kind geared toward employers – was driven by pro-bono public-private partnerships with Discovery Communications as part of its annual “Creating Change” pro-bono initiative, Young & Rubicam (Y&R), Clear Channel Outdoor, OUTRFRONT Media, JCDecaux and iHeart Media. It features two 30-second public service announcements and a print ad campaign. The PSAs will run across city broadcast channels (NYC Life/NYC Gov) and Taxi TV and feature alumni from Ladders. An accompanying radio spot will play on iHeart Media Online, WNYE 91.6 FM and New York City’s on-hold messaging reel. Original print and digital ads will appear via LinkNYC kiosks; Clear Channel Billboards; OUTFRONT Media Digital Billboards; and in JCDecaux bus shelters across all five boroughs.

The Ladders for Leaders campaign is targeted to companies of all sizes in every borough to either hire students in paid, specialized summer internships or underwrite positions at other organizations. Ladders interns are comprised of NYC’s best and brightest students who have at least a 3.0 grade point average and prior work experience. Candidates are selected after a rigorous application process, receive 30 hours of pre-employment training and are guaranteed a minimum of 25 hours of work each week throughout the summer.

Growth in Ladders for Leaders was driven by The Center for Youth Employment (CYE), which was launched in May 2015 by Mayor de Blasio, to expand, improve and coordinate publicly funded programs that help prepare New York City’s young adults for steady work and career success. In spring 2016, the Center for Youth Employment launched “Industry Partnerships ” targeting businesses in five sectors: Fashion and Retail; Real Estate; Media; Hospitality and Tourism, and Business and Professional Services. Industry Partnerships are designed to bring together the public and private sectors to create meaningful pipelines into NYC’s growing industries by offering both workplace exposure, experience and training for our young adults.

In 2016, paid interns were supported in part by founding partners of the Industry Fund, including: Time Warner, Hearst, Discovery Communications, Pearson, CBS Corporation, Citi Foundation, JPMorgan Chase, Deloitte, RBC Capital Markets, Guardian, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY), the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), NYC & Company Foundation, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Mayor’s Office of Media and Entertainment (MOME).
For more information on Ladders for Leaders, visit www.laddersforleaders.org.

“Internships are a critical tool for helping young people launch a successful career in the industry of their dreams. I am proud that the Ladders for Leaders program has made that opportunity possible for significantly more young New Yorkers under the leadership of Mayor Bill de Blasio and hope to add new employers who recognize that the future leaders, innovators and executives of their companies are right here in the five boroughs," said Deputy Mayor for Strategic Policy Initiatives Richard Buery.

“A paid internship is often the first step on a young person’s path to starting a successful career,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams. “I applaud Mayor de Blasio for expanding our citywide effort that encourages employers to hire our most valuable resource, our educated, ambitious young people who are ready to lead the next generation of our workforce.”

“Internships can start brilliant careers – there’s even a commissioner or two who got their start interning for me,” said Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer. “I hope this campaign spurs more employers to do the right thing: bring young people into their businesses, involve them, and give them meaningful experiences that will help them build bright futures.”
“Summer employment for youth is one of the most promising programs the City is providing young people today,” said Councilmember Julissa Ferreras-Copeland. The New York City Council has advocated to expand slots tremendously, and I am pleased to see this administration pushing to grow its employer base to meet the demand and expand opportunities for our young people. I look forward to working with Mayor de Blasio to ensure that every young person who wants an SYEP job can have the opportunity to work.

“As the Chairman of the Youth Services Committee, I believe this initiative is an important aspect of connecting our students with new opportunities that can put them on the path to success. It is imperative that we do everything in our power to support the ambitions of our young men and women entering the workforce, and this represents a necessary part of that process,” said Councilmember Mathieu Eugene.

“Ladders for Leaders provides the next generation of business leaders with invaluable professional experience and exposure to New York City’s diverse range of careers and industries. We are proud to partner with Ladders for Leaders and to help promote its mission through the creation of this PSA,” said President and Chief Executive of Discovery Communications David Zaslav.

"I began my business career as a summer intern, working for NY Telephone. It went well, so well, that when I graduated the following year, they asked their ad agency, Y&R to hire me into their training program to work on their account. I was fortunate to have great mentors, people who not only taught me, but wanted to hear my opinions, too. Internships can be transformative, and that’s why we have been working with New York City’s Ladder for Leaders program for more than 10 years. Every year, they send us bright, motivated, enthusiastic, entrepreneurial kids. This year, we wanted to do more and are giving back in the way we know best. We have created a campaign that we hope will convince even more business leaders to tap into this next generation of talent,” said CEO of Y&R David Sable.

“DYCD is proud to work with the Mayor’s Fund to ensure our Ladders for Leaders program participants get unique job opportunities to help them build the necessary skills to succeed and advance in any career path,” said Department of Youth and Community Development Commissioner Bill Chong. “This campaign will further enhance our efforts to provide our young people with first-hand, real world job experience with the most dynamic companies in the City as they prepare to become our next generation of influencers and make meaningful contributions to our global economy.”

“OUTFRONT is thrilled to support this new campaign, which will positively impact local, high-achieving students in achieving their career goals, and our business community. Ladders for Leaders helps create our future workforce and OUTFRONT Media is pleased to be able to play a part in this invaluable initiative,” said Chairman and CEO of OUTFRONT Media Jeremy Male.

“Discovery is proud to partner with Ladders for Leaders to support the development and growth of the next generation of great leaders and change-makers,” said Chief Human Resources and Global Diversity Officer of Discovery Communications Adria Alpert Romm. “Discovery created this PSA for Ladders for Leaders in an effort to further the great work and mission of the organization and to impress upon other NYC companies what we have time and again seen proven true: by introducing students to the working world and offering them substantial and impactful work, we are building a pool of exceptional young talent whose fresh perspectives and innovative spirits will continue to drive the success of our company and the industry for years to come.”

“We believe in using our resources to inspire action in the thousands of neighborhoods in which we have a presence, and we believe that summer jobs and internships are a key building block in the foundation for community success,” said President and General Manager of Clear Channel Outdoor Americas – New York Harry Coghlan. “We’re proud to join with the Mayor to promote summer internship opportunities for young New Yorkers.”

“We know that when employers provide early work experiences to young adults it’s a true win-win for our local businesses, and our City. Students gain important industry knowledge, skills and experience; and employers cultivate a pipeline of local talent to serve their short and longer term hiring needs. We were thrilled to have helped bring together this great group of public and private partners committed to supporting New York City’s young adults and business community,” said Darren Bloch, Executive Director of the Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, which oversees the Center for Youth Employment.

“Since launching the Center for Youth Employment in 2015, we have worked with a committed set of partners in the private sector, government and philanthropy to dramatically expand opportunities for young New Yorkers to gain skills and explore potential careers through internships,” said Executive Director of the Center for Youth Employment David Fischer. “We’re thrilled that this campaign will help us create even more win-win matches for interns and New York City employers.”