History

Mystified by the tragic aftermath of the 1992 Rodney King trial in Los Angeles, Thomas C. Hullverson wanted to create an organization designed to give new hope and direction to the inner city youth living in St. Louis.

The organization is called the St. Louis Internship Program. Before long, he garnered the support of a number of law firms in the metropolitan area, who not only created the initial internships, but also provided much-needed funds to purchase uniforms for all the program participants.

Professional organizations and community groups, such as the Mathews-Dickey Boys & Girls Club and the Bar Association of St. Louis, came on board to support and build on Hullverson’s efforts.

Since then, the organization known as SLIP has helped over 3,100 high school students receive job training and internship placement, giving these young women and men the knowledge, experience and confidence that enables them to experience new worlds of opportunities.

Overview

In terms of the students who participate in SLIP, our organization looks for young women and men in their sophomore or junior year of high school who exhibit the following skills and traits of character:

            • willingness to learn
            • adaptability to changing business practices
            • presentation of communication skills
            • exhibition of initiative
            • understanding of business etiquette

Potential SLIP participants go through rigorous prerequisites including an interviewing process and the completion of ten Saturday training and development sessions.

As a valuable resource within the St. Louis business community, SLIP has many components, all of which are based on the strategic initiatives that have resultedn success for not only interns and alumni, but also employers.

• Employment Opportunities – Supervised readiness training,
  monitored summer employment and career institutes.
• Educational Opportunities – Speakers, field experiences, educational institutes and other academic-related endeavors.
• Post-Secondary Planning Assistance – Alumni support, ACT prep, scholarships, and mentor recruitment.