Youth Leadership Program

Get ready for an exciting, hands-on eight-week experience! We are recruiting for a Youth Leadership Program centered around Rethinking I-94.

This program is perfect for high school students in grades 10-11 who are ready to explore leadership, research, community engagement, and career and job opportunities in the transportation field.

If you live or go to school near the Rethinking I-94 corridor (between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul), this is your chance to dive into the real world of transportation planning, environmental review, design and engineering, highway construction and maintenance, and community engagement. Whether you intend to go into the skilled trades, to college, or are simply interested in these topics, we encourage you to apply.

Through this program, you’ll receive:

• An inside scoop on the I-94 corridor and MnDOT’s Rethinking I-94 process
• Insights into what careers in transportation look like
• Presentations from experts in the field
• Potential field trip/tour
• Experience completing a self-selected independent project
• The opportunity to present your independent project to MnDOT leadership
• Reimbursement for your time and participation, up to $18.75 an hour up (not to exceed $600)
• A great experience to add to your resume or college application

Sessions will tentatively be held Tuesdays from 4 - 6 p.m. from February to March 2025. Meetings will be hosted at locations that are easily accessible by transit.

Program expectations

If you are selected, you will be responsible for:

• Your participation in all eight sessions
• Completion of assignments in between sessions
• Selection and completion of an independent project
• Transportation to and from sessions

Applications

Applications were due Tue, Dec. 31, 2024. If you applied, we will contact you in mid-January if you are selected to participate in the program.

Contact

For more information and questions call, text or email:

Renee Raduenz
651-666-7229
Renee.Raduenz@state.mn.us