UpTurnships

What UpTurnships does

UpTurnships is a nonprofit career-development program that delivers paid internships and project-based work experiences to high-potential college students from low-income backgrounds. The program operates two structured pathways — 12-week summer internships at employer companies and 10-week semester projects of up to 40 hours — paired with one-on-one professional coaching and work-readiness instruction. Target participants are sophomores, juniors, and seniors enrolled in accredited institutions who demonstrate high potential but face economic barriers to professional experience. Recruitment runs through the Wallin Education Partners Scholar Portal and twice-monthly virtual information sessions, with a regional focus on the Twin Cities Metro Area and broader Midwest.

As of July 1, 2023, UpTurnships officially merged into Wallin Education Partners, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit headquartered at 451 Lexington Pkwy N, Suite 100, St. Paul, Minnesota, which has been operating since 1992 and serves 1,700+ current scholars with 6,000+ alumni. The integration combined UpTurnships' college-to-career programming with Wallin's scholarship and advising ecosystem, and moved former UpTurnships Executive Director La Tasha Shevlin into the Director of Career Development role on Wallin's senior team. The combined entity leverages Wallin's network of 70+ partner high schools and 13+ partner community colleges for scholar recruitment and works with employer partners to place participants in paid roles year-round.

The program is grant- and donor-funded rather than revenue-generating, and financials are not publicly disclosed. It employs approximately 20 staff and, per program disclosures, has served hundreds of scholars over roughly a decade of independent operation prior to the 2023 merger. The operating model is equity-minded and culturally responsive, with explicit focus on building inclusive employer workplaces alongside scholar outcomes. There is no proprietary technology platform, no AI/ML component, and no published API or SDK; the Scholar Portal and information-session workflow constitute the primary digital infrastructure.

Name

UpTurnships

Legal name

Wallin Education Partners

Website

https://upturnships.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2013

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

UpTurnships is a nonprofit career-development program that places high-potential college students from low-income backgrounds into paid 12-week summer internships or 10-week semester projects, paired with one-on-one professional coaching, and now operates as a program under Wallin Education Partners in the Twin Cities/Midwest.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Workforce Development Services

NAICS

Educational Services (61), Professional and Management Development Training (611430), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)

akta.pro primary industry

Internships, Externships & Work-Based Learning Placement (EDAMAKAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Portfolio, Capstone & Project-Based Program Support (EDAMAKAD), Onboarding & New-Hire Training Programs (BPACANAF)

Keywords

• Paid internship programs
• Career development services
• College-to-career programs
• Workforce readiness training
• Professional coaching services

Headquarters

HQ city

St. Paul

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

UpTurnships is a college-to-career program that provides paid internships (12-week summer placements) and paid project work (10-week semester assignments up to 40 hours) to high-potential college students from low-income backgrounds. Each participant receives one-on-one professional coaching and career development instruction, creating a 360-degree approach to workforce readiness. As of July 1, 2023, the program operates as part of Wallin Education Partners.

Product overview

UpTurnships is a single, unified career development program that provides paid internships and project-based work experiences to high-potential college students from low-income backgrounds. The program offers two pathways: Internships (12-week summer positions) and Projects (10-week semester work). Each participant receives professional coaching and career development support. As of July 2023, UpTurnships joined Wallin Education Partners, integrating with their broader scholarship and advising ecosystem to provide comprehensive college-to-career support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Paid Internships Pathway
• Paid Projects Pathway

Quantifiable outcome

• The 360-degree approach ensures stronger and more sustainable workforce outcomes for participating students

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Wallin Education PartnerscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 July 2023UpTurnships officially joined Wallin Education Partners on July 1, 2023. This strategic initiative accelerates the reach and impact of both organizations, combining UpTurnships' college-to-career programming with Wallin's comprehensive scholarship and advising support. La Tasha Shevlin, former Executive Director of UpTurnships, joined Wallin's senior team as Director of Career Development. Liwanag Ojala, Chief Transformation Officer of American Public Media Group and UpTurnships board chair, joined Wallin's board of trustees.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Year Up: Year Up is a national nonprofit that provides paid training, internships, and college credits to young adults from low-income backgrounds — directly comparable to UpTurnships' model of pairing paid work experiences with professional coaching for underserved students.
• INROADS: INROADS develops and places high-performing students from underrepresented backgrounds into paid internships at major employers, with structured career development support — directly comparable to UpTurnships' internship-plus-coaching approach.
• Sponsors for Educational Opportunity (SEO): SEO provides mentorship, training, and internship access to high-achieving students from underrepresented communities — directly analogous to UpTurnships' mission of opening paid career opportunities to high-potential low-income college students.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line provides one-on-one coaching and career support to low-income college students to help them graduate and access meaningful careers — closely paralleling UpTurnships' emphasis on professional coaching paired with paid work experiences.
• America Needs You (ANY): ANY runs intensive mentorship and career development programs pairing low-income college students with professionals and paid internship opportunities — a near-direct functional analog to UpTurnships' coaching-plus-paid-internship model.
• Braven: Braven is a national career accelerator that works with low-income college students to help them secure strong first jobs through coaching, professional skills training, and employer connections — closely mirroring UpTurnships' college-to-career support model.
• Genesys Works: Genesys Works provides skills training and paid corporate internships to high school and college students from under-resourced communities, with pathways to career-track employment — directly comparable in mission and delivery model to UpTurnships.
• College Possible: College Possible coaches low-income high school and college students toward college completion and career readiness; UpTurnships' Director of Career Development previously led College Success there, and the missions around low-income student support overlap directly.

Broad incumbents

• Strada Education Network: Strada is a large national nonprofit focused on connecting education to workforce outcomes through research, philanthropy, and program support — a broader incumbent working in the same college-to-career space where UpTurnships operates.

Emerging players

• https://www.wallinpartners.org/dev/color: /dev/color supports Black and Latinx students and early-career professionals into tech careers through mentorship and community — overlapping with UpTurnships' career-development-for-underrepresented-students mission but focused specifically on the tech sector.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/wallinpartners
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/upturnships
• Instagraminstagram.com/wallinpartners

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about UpTurnships