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Black Professionals Association tells Cuyahoga County committee its paid internships and scholarships are boosting retention and job outcomes
Summary
BPACF told the Health & Human Services and Aging Committee its ARPA-supported Career Connect stipends helped place 10 students in internships, produced 2,100 service hours, a 100% school retention rate for 2023–24 and several job conversions.
Michelle Scott Taylor, board president of the Black Professionals Association Community Foundation, and Executive Director Laurie Murphy told the Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services and Aging Committee on June 4 that the group’s youth programs connect emerging professionals with internships, mentors and scholarship support.
Murphy said the organization, founded as a branch of the Black Professional Association in 1985, focuses on intergenerational connections and supports young people primarily ages 17 to 24. She told the committee that ARPA funding for 2022–24 helped expand the Career Connect program by providing stipends and structured internship placements.
Murphy said the ARPA-backed stipend work placed 10 students in community and for-profit host sites, producing about 2,100 hours of service. She said 70 percent of those placements were male—an atypical distribution for the program—placements covered four Northeast Ohio colleges and the median household ZIP-code income among participants was about $37,600.
Murphy described host-site activities as mentoring, resume and LinkedIn coaching and hands-on work tying academic study to career skills. She said program survey results showed 73 percent of participating students would not have pursued the internship without the stipend and reported overall program ratings averaging approximately 4.5 out of 5, with recommendation scores near 4.9.
Council members praised the work and asked for specifics about the curriculum. Murphy and Taylor described a boot camp that emphasizes emotional intelligence, crucial conversations, speed mentoring and employer-facing skills such as professional communication and interview preparation. They said the program also engages parents and leverages technology—including tools to help students prepare resumes and understand applicant-screening software.
Murphy said the foundation is pursuing additional grant and philanthropic support to sustain and expand the work and welcomed staff help connecting to the Family and Children First Council. The committee did not take formal action on the presentation; chair invited BPACF to return with a report next year.
