Committee advances pilot to expand ambassador internships to opportunity youth

The San Antonio Governance Committee on April 15 voted to advance a pilot to allow at-risk and justice-involved youth to participate in the city’s ambassador summer internship program.

Melody Woosley, Human Services director, told the committee the ambassador program is an eight-week, paid career experience that typically enrolls about 200 interns and pays the city's minimum hourly rate of $18 (allowing participants to earn up to roughly $4,300 over the summer). Current eligibility requires a high school diploma, two semesters of college, a minimum 2.5 grade-point average, authorization to work in the U.S., and a city background and drug screening. Woosley said staff recommend referring the CCR (council consideration request) for deeper review and best-practice research to the Educational Opportunities Committee.

Advocates urged expansion. “My name is Angelica Cervantes. I’m the chief operating officer for YWCA San Antonio, and we support the expansion of the ambassador program to include opportunity youth,” Angelica Cervantes said, adding that YWCA and partner United Way have apprenticeship funds and experience to support longer on-the-job training. Juan Ramos, executive director of r3 Student Outreach, told the committee San Antonio faces “over 36,000 disconnected youth” in Bexar County and argued the ambassador program’s current college-enrollment requirement excludes those who most need paid pathways into employment: “We aren’t just offering a summer job. We are providing the occupational skills and supportive systems that are proven to reduce recidivism,” Ramos said.

Committee discussion focused on which committee should conduct follow-up work and how to design a successful pilot. Councilmember Villagran questioned sending the item to Educational Opportunities rather than the Economic and Workforce Development Committee, saying the pilot needs a workforce focus for youth who are not college-bound. Other council members urged clear success metrics, budget estimates, and staff coordination with departments that would host interns. Staff noted the FY26 budget includes $838,000 to operate the ambassador program and said the pilot would require a deeper dive into best practices, age and hiring limits, and potential costs.

A motion to approve staff recommendations for Item 2 carried. Staff were directed to develop models and cost estimates and return with recommendations to the Educational Opportunities Committee for further review.

Next steps: staff will prepare detailed options, cost estimates and proposed success measures for committee review and return to council as directed.