Eshauna Smith's guest appearances

Eshauna Smith

Our Town with host Andy Ockershausen - Homegrown History

Power Station

Elon Musk

Ron Paul

Jeff Bezos

Doug Duncan

Nathaniel Smith

Tom Quinn

Brian Kelly

Mark Russell

Elizabeth Lindsey

Celinda Lake

George Jones

Ric Edelman

Ryan Seacrest

Caroline Carter

Jackie Robinson

OwlTail

Eshauna Smith knows first-hand what it takes to break through barriers and achieve success. The eldest child in a family struggling with poverty, she forged a different future. This experience informs her leadership of Urban Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young people from challenging backgrounds attain economic success. As Eshauna learned, having adults stand up for her was transformation. Their support, from helping with Girl Scout camp applications, to summer jobs and internships, propelled her through degrees from UC Berkeley and UT Austin. Now Eshauna is persuading a new set of adults, in high schools and corporations, to stand up for the young people Urban Alliance serves. She does this by engaging them in a model that prepares high school students for higher education and successful employment. Urban Alliance partners with high schools to place motivated seniors into 9-month paid internships with corporations seeking good employees. Front line staff provide students with soft skills training and are available 24 hours a day to corporate supervisors. The model is working. Urban Alliance is celebrating the graduation of 500 high school seniors from these internships and expanding to new cities and industries.

Eshauna Smith knows first-hand what it takes to break through barriers and achieve success. The eldest child in a family struggling with poverty, she forged a different future. This experience informs her leadership of Urban Alliance, a nonprofit dedicated to helping young people from challenging backgrounds attain economic success. As Eshauna learned, having adults stand up for her was transformation. Their support, from helping with Girl Scout camp applications, to summer jobs and internships, propelled her through degrees from UC Berkeley and UT Austin. Now Eshauna is persuading a new set of adults, in high schools and corporations, to stand up for the young people Urban Alliance serves. She does this by engaging them in a model that prepares high school students for higher education and successful employment. Urban Alliance partners with high schools to place motivated seniors into 9-month paid internships with corporations seeking good employees. Front line staff provide students with soft skills training and are available 24 hours a day to corporate supervisors. The model is working. Urban Alliance is celebrating the graduation of 500 high school seniors from these internships and expanding to new cities and industries.

#75 Eshauna Smith, Urban Alliance

Eshauna Smith on how it is that Urban Alliance students are able to compete in the workforce~When they take on the Urban Alliance internship, they are working nine months of their senior year. It is 600 hours of work. It is every day after school. They're going three hours a day during the school year, and then in the summer it becomes a full-time job.  They do this during their senior year where there are many other obligations and things, everything from college applications to prom to all kinds of senior dues. They make a huge commitment, and they follow through with it.Eshauna Smith - CEO of Urban Alliance in-studio interviewAndy Ockershausen:	This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. Speaking to an absolutely gorgeous young lady who has one of the high profile jobs, to me, in Our Town, and that's Eshauna Smith, the head, the CEO of Urban Alliance, or The Urban Alliance, I think is the correct pronunciation. Is that right, Eshauna?  Eshauna Smith:	It's Urban Alliance.  Andy Ockershausen:	I don't want to say the?  Eshauna Smith:	You don't want to say the.  Andy Ockershausen:	Okay.Eshauna Smith:	Our website is www.theurbanalliance.org, but the organization is Urban Alliance.Andy Ockershausen:	Well, it was a new word to me and I learned it through the Washington Board of Trade's publications that I read religiously, because it's about Our Town. And what you're doing is so great for Our Town, what the Urban Alliance is doing. How old is the Urban Alliance?  Eshauna Smith:	Urban Alliance is 22 years old. We began here-  Andy Ockershausen:	About your age.  Eshauna Smith:	Well, double. I am 43.  Andy Ockershausen:	No way.  Urban Alliance - When and How it Was Started  Eshauna Smith:	To make it official, yes, I am. But Urban Alliance was born 22 years ago in Washington DC in 1996. And it was born at the hands of a young person, or several young people who spoke about the need for jobs in the city, and to have jobs while in high school, and to have jobs that helped them to connect what they were learning in the classroom to the real world.	And one of those young people happened to say, "What I really need to make my experience better is a real job." And we were lucky that one of our founders said, "Great. I am gonna help you to find that job."   Andy Ockershausen:	Who might that be?    Eshauna Smith:	Well, that maybe-    Andy Ockershausen:	A banker?    Eshauna Smith:	He is now a banker, but at the time, he was a young attorney with the Department of Justice who had been at an event around stemming youth violence, that was pretty rampant in 1996. And not that the youth were doing that, but just the city was having a lot of challenges where young people were being victims of violence and lots of things going on to that extent.	And he happened to be a young attorney at this event where youth were speaking up about what would make this better. And so Andrew Plepler is our founder. He is today a banker, but at that time, he just wanted to help. And when this one young woman said, "What I really need is a job," and when he said, "I will get that for you," she then responded and said, "And I have five additional friends who need jobs."  Andy Ockershausen:	Wow. That's a landslide for jobs. It's always been about jobs. And what the Urban Alliance seized upon something, or did seize upon something, is we have a connection problem, I think, in Our Town. I think there are jobs, but we've gotta put the people with the jobs. And I hope that's what the Alliance is focused on. We go way back to summer jobs for needy youths. And Marion Barry started in the early 70s. We were involved with him and with George Allen and the Redskins, and it was a great thing to see for Our Town.	But that was just summer. What you've done now is expanded, and you need a job, not just in the summer.    Urban Alliance - Focuses on First Time Job Experiences and Support    Eshauna Smith:	That's right.

Eshauna Smith on how it is that Urban Alliance students are able to compete in the workforce~ When they take on the Urban Alliance internship, they are working nine months of their senior year. It is 600 hours of work. It is every day after school. They're going three hours a day during the school year, and then in the summer it becomes a full-time job. They do this during their senior year where there are many other obligations and things, everything from college applications to prom to all kinds of senior dues. They make a huge commitment, and they follow through with it. Eshauna Smith - CEO of Urban Alliance in-studio interview Andy Ockershausen:	This is Andy Ockershausen. This is Our Town. Speaking to an absolutely gorgeous young lady who has one of the high profile jobs, to me, in Our Town, and that's Eshauna Smith, the head, the CEO of Urban Alliance, or The Urban Alliance, I think is the correct pronunciation. Is that right, Eshauna? Eshauna Smith:	It's Urban Alliance. Andy Ockershausen:	I don't want to say the? Eshauna Smith:	You don't want to say the. Andy Ockershausen:	Okay. Eshauna Smith:	Our website is <a href="http://www.theurbanalliance.org" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">www.theurbanalliance.org</a>, but the organization is Urban Alliance. Andy Ockershausen:	Well, it was a new word to me and I learned it through the Washington Board of Trade's publications that I read religiously, because it's about Our Town. And what you're doing is so great for Our Town, what the Urban Alliance is doing. How old is the Urban Alliance? Eshauna Smith:	Urban Alliance is 22 years old. We began here- Andy Ockershausen:	About your age. Eshauna Smith:	Well, double. I am 43. Andy Ockershausen:	No way. Urban Alliance - When and How it Was Started Eshauna Smith:	To make it official, yes, I am. But Urban Alliance was born 22 years ago in Washington DC in 1996. And it was born at the hands of a young person, or several young people who spoke about the need for jobs in the city, and to have jobs while in high school, and to have jobs that helped them to connect what they were learning in the classroom to the real world. 	And one of those young people happened to say, "What I really need to make my experience better is a real job." And we were lucky that one of our founders said, "Great. I am gonna help you to find that job." Andy Ockershausen:	Who might that be? Eshauna Smith:	Well, that maybe- Andy Ockershausen:	A banker? Eshauna Smith:	He is now a banker, but at the time, he was a young attorney with the Department of Justice who had been at an event around stemming youth violence, that was pretty rampant in 1996. And not that the youth were doing that, but just the city was having a lot of challenges where young people were being victims of violence and lots of things going on to that extent. 	And he happened to be a young attorney at this event where youth were speaking up about what would make this better. And so Andrew Plepler is our founder. He is today a banker, but at that time, he just wanted to help. And when this one young woman said, "What I really need is a job," and when he said, "I will get that for you," she then responded and said, "And I have five additional friends who need jobs." Andy Ockershausen:	Wow. That's a landslide for jobs. It's always been about jobs. And what the Urban Alliance seized upon something, or did seize upon something, is we have a connection problem, I think, in Our Town. I think there are jobs, but we've gotta put the people with the jobs. And I hope that's what the Alliance is focused on. We go way back to summer jobs for needy youths. And Marion Barry started in the early 70s. We were involved with him and with George Allen and the Redskins, and it was a great thing to see for Our Town. 	But that was just summer. What you've done now is expanded, and you need a job, not just in the summer. Urban Alliance - Focuses on First Time Job Experiences and Support Eshauna Smith:	That's right.

Eshauna Smith – CEO, Urban Alliance