Northern Michigan University and InvestUP will launch a new program in January that will empower participating students through professional internships and mentoring, while also focusing on their leadership development and academic success.
By creating a clear pipeline from education to employment, “The Wildcat Collective: Leaders of Honor and Ambition” program is designed to address critical, shared goals such as local talent retention and population growth to benefit NMU and Upper Peninsula communities.
“I think this will be phenomenal because I’ve talked to so many students who would love to stay here if there is a job waiting for them after they graduate,” said NMU Assistant Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion Shawnrece Butler. “Participants not only gain valuable career experience, but also build lasting connections within the community, reinforcing values of ambition, integrity and service. This initiative prepares students for success while fostering a more equitable and inclusive environment that strengthens the local workforce and offers huge economic, cultural and quality of life impacts.”
“A key feature of the program is the integration of paid summer internship opportunities, where students can gain hands-on experience with local businesses and organizations,” said Marty Fittante, CEO of InvestUP. “These internships, paired with summer housing support, remove financial barriers for students, allowing them to fully engage in career-building activities during the summer months. The program’s strong ties to the local community also create a pathway to keep these students here after graduating, helping to build our economy and our community, which is the priority for InvestUP in light of the challenges we face with the loss and aging of our population.”
The four-year program is open to students from all backgrounds, fostering cross-cultural understanding and inclusivity. Ten students will be selected to participate each year. The program’s keys to success are based on eight years of data collected by the Rochester Institute of Technology’s “Men of Color, Honor and Ambition” (MOCHA) mentorship initiative created by Kevin MacDonald and later extended to all students.
“I called Kevin because Top 100 companies were flying him to their headquarters to learn more about his program,” Butler said. “They were hiring young folks who talked about their MOCHA experience and wanted to learn more about it because those employees were outperforming hires from Ivy League institutions. Kevin had gone through Dale Carnegie seminars and other elements himself and offers personal testimony about how impactful his experiences were. After learning about all he’s achieved at universities across the country, I knew this program would be ideally suited to the hard-working students we have at Northern who want to excel and need help closing opportunity gaps that are barriers to success.”
The Wildcat Collective will incorporate the most effective elements from MOCHA: Shaun Harper’s Anti-Deficit Achievement Framework, which draws on students’ strengths while also acknowledging deficit narratives they face at the intrapersonal, interpersonal and systemic levels; mandatory participation in two live, online Dale Carnegie seminars; and the eight essential elements of positive youth development. The program will also focus on all three types of learning: cognitive (how we understand), affective (how we feel and interact), and psychomotor (how we move and do things).
InvestUP has provided the program’s start-up funding. Butler said she is hoping to raise $1.5 million in external funding to keep it sustainable.
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