Youth Leadership Program

A image of 5 students sitting around a table and discussing.

April 2025 update

The Rethinking I-94 Youth Leadership Program recently celebrated the completion of an exciting eight-week hands-on journey in transportation! From February to March 2025, 20 high school students participated in the Youth Leadership Program centered around Rethinking I-94.

During the program high school students in grades 10-11 explored leadership, research, community engagement, and career and job opportunities in the transportation field.

Students that live or go to school near the Rethinking I-94 corridor (between the downtowns of Minneapolis and St. Paul), were able to dive into the real world of transportation planning, environmental review, design and engineering, highway construction and maintenance, and community engagement.

Through this program students received:

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
Experience participating in hands-on activities focused on transportation planning, engineering and community engagement
A field trip/tour of a MnDOT maintenance and truck facility
Experience completing a self-selected independent research project
An opportunity to present their independent projects to MnDOT leadership, family and friends
Reimbursement for their time and participation
A great experience to add to their resume or college application

The Youth Leadership Program pilot was very successful and we hope to hold another round of the program in the upcoming year. Sign up for Rethinking I-94 email updates to learn about future opportunities.

Contact

For more information and questions call, text or email:

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