Project for Pride in Living (PPL), a Minneapolis-based nonprofit known for its career-readiness and education for alternative school students, is taking an innovative approach to youth employment. Through its LEAP (Learn and Earn to Achieve Potential) program, PPL is transforming initial career exposure into fully developed youth apprenticeships with support from CareerWise.

PPL has been part of the national Partnership to Advance Youth Apprenticeship (PAYA) network since the beginning. Over the last two years, CareerWise has partnered with the organization to formalize apprenticeship opportunities for students who might otherwise never encounter them.

“Our goal is to center the work around the students, their interests, their voices, their goals,” said Rachel Werch, Apprenticeship Manager at PPL.

One of the most striking examples of this evolution is PPL’s partnership with the Foci Minnesota Center for Glass Arts. In 2019, the studio wanted to create programming for opportunity youth. PPL worked with them to launch a program that began with introductory exposure, and eventually developed into multi-level training, commissioned projects, and paid apprenticeships.

“It’s a combination of both exposure and apprenticeship,” said Victoria Peña, Transition Age Youth Care Coordinator at PPL. “We put young people at the center of our work. We watch where they’re investing, where they want to grow, and then we build the road to help them get there.”

Students can move from a 12-week Level 1 course to a more advanced Level 2 “creator” cohort, learning the business side of art, fulfilling commissioned work, and building the skills to enter a formal 2,000-hour apprenticeship.

“This program gives students the space to grow not just as artists, but as people,” Peña said. “Every single one of them has found their voice and their agency. They’ve gone from being quiet and insular to thriving, and they’ve been invited to come back and do internships both here and in Italy.”

Opportunities have extended far beyond Minneapolis. In 2023, a group of PPL students participated in the Glass Art Society’s international conference in Detroit, where they connected with professional glassblowers from around the world. That experience led to an invitation for four students to travel to Murano, Italy, one of the global capitals of glass art.

“It’s the capstone of one phase and the launch of another,” said Emily Terrell, Director of Youth Employment Strategies at PPL. “For Ariana, one of the students, the Italy experience was part of her formal apprenticeship. She was being paid and earning related training instruction hours while she was there.”

The Italy trip is just one of several high-impact experiences. Students have attended the Corning Museum of Glass summer camp, earning scholarships to continue their studies, and collaborated with artists in Chicago and New Orleans. Each opportunity strengthens skills, builds confidence, and expands networks.

CareerWise has guided PPL vet and structure these pathways. “We could not have done this without CareerWise’s support,” Terrell said. “They’ve given us the expertise, cadence, and resources to formalize our programming while also understanding our unique population of alternative high school students and tailoring the model to fit them.”

With seven current PPL apprentices working in nonprofit roles and committees of students now helping to vet new apprenticeship opportunities in areas like green energy and sustainability, the future is bright. Lessons learned from the glassblowing program are shaping how PPL designs its next generation of career-connected learning experiences.

“We follow the youth’s lead,” Peña said. “When they tell us what they want to explore, our job is to help them get there.”

Through partnerships like this, CareerWise and PPL are proving that youth apprenticeship can be as creative as it is impactful, whether the setting is a nonprofit office, a sustainability project, or a glass studio in Murano.