Build Up High School Internship Expands to Boost Diversity in Construction

Seattle, October 13, 2025

News Summary

DPR Construction’s Build Up program is growing, offering paid, eight-week internships that give high school juniors and seniors hands-on exposure to construction management, technology and business skills. Accessible to low-income and first-generation students, the program pairs interns with professionals on active job sites and trains them on industry tools like BIM 360 and Primavera. Build Up emphasizes mentorship, public speaking and career pathways, with cohorts that reflect greater gender and socioeconomic diversity than the industry norm. The program aims to prepare students for college and careers while making the construction workforce more inclusive.

Build Up High School Internship, Nuance Labs funding, and a major signing for the local pro soccer club

The biggest local stories today include a long‑running paid high school internship that keeps growing, a small Seattle startup that just raised a sizable seed round, and a major player signing that reshuffles a professional soccer roster.

Build Up High School Internship expands, pushing diversity and career exposure

The program is called the Build Up High School Internship program and is run by DPR Construction. The eight‑week internship is a paid internship designed for high school juniors and seniors. Build Up offers teens hands‑on exposure to the construction industry, and interns work alongside professionals on significant projects.

Build Up launched in 2017 and since inception has introduced more than 160 students to the construction industry. In 2025, the program welcomed 31 interns across the company. Interns work full‑time during the internship and earn competitive hourly wages.

The program is accessible to students whose family income meets HUD low‑income standards and accessible to students who may be the first in their families to attend college. Seventy‑five percent of Build Up interns plan to be first‑generation college students and almost half are young women, a notable point given that the construction industry has historically underrepresented women.

The internship immerses students in the realities of construction management. Interns learn about project planning, construction technology, and the wide variety of roles available in the construction field. Participants are exposed to every facet of the jobsite, from safety procedures to the latest construction software and technology.

The program also goes beyond technical training to teach essential business skills including communication, time management and navigating a professional environment. Interns complete a final presentation at the end of their internship, which gives interns experience in public speaking and project management.

DPR treats high‑school interns with the same respect as college‑aged interns. Many interns gain experience with industry‑standard tools. Named industry tools interns gain experience with include BIM 360, CMIC, HammerTech, and Primavera. Experience with those tools gives interns a head start in college and future careers.

The program goal is to provide meaningful skills exposure and mentorship to students who might not otherwise consider a career in construction. Build Up is described as a model for how construction firms can invest in the next generation and make the industry more inclusive. The program is described as more than just a summer job — it’s a launchpad for a future in the construction industry.

DPR’s Community Initiatives Leader is Diane Shelton. Diane Shelton emphasizes the program’s commitment to broadening possibilities for talented high school students who might not otherwise have access to professional internships and says participant cohorts are more diverse than the industry as a whole and can help the construction workforce of the future look more like the communities DPR serves.

A local example of program impact is Seattle participant Selome Muruts. Selome Muruts first joined Build Up as a high school intern in 2023. Muruts was initially unsure what to expect from the construction industry but was eager to learn. Muruts’s interest was sparked by walking past the Seattle Convention Center Expansion project every day on her way to class and by involvement in the ACE mentorship program, which led to learning about DPR’s Build Up internship.

Muruts initiated conversations with DPR project engineers, superintendents, and safety managers and received encouraging mentorship from DPR employees. After completing a second high‑school internship with DPR, Muruts returned as a college intern and worked with DPR’s Preconstruction and Virtual Design and Construction teams. Muruts is pursuing a degree in civil engineering at the University of Washington.

Ashley Durbin serves as an Estimator for DPR Construction’s Pacific Northwest region and chairs the Community Initiative Committee in Seattle. DPR continues to expand Build Up and says commitment to inclusion and education remains a central focus. The program’s success is measured in student stories as well as numbers, and each cohort is described as helping to build a more diverse, skilled, and confident workforce that reflects the communities where DPR builds.

Small Seattle startup raises $10 million to build emotional AI

A four‑person startup called Nuance recently raised $10 million in a round led by Accel with participation from Lightspeed and South Park Commons. Nuance was founded earlier this year and chose to build in Seattle rather than relocate to San Francisco.

Nuance is developing an AI system capable of understanding and expressing emotion in real‑time across multiple modalities. The company’s stated belief is that existing AI tools and experiences lack the ability to generate and understand genuine emotional presence, especially in real time. Nuance’s approach is to model tiny slices of human behavior, such as slight pauses in speech or subtle shifts in facial expression, using auto‑regressive transformers to mimic human behavior one frame or token at a time.

The startup focuses on efficiency rather than relying on generalized large language models; the model is specialized to learn and predict emotion directly, which the founders say allows more economical training and faster performance. Nuance envisions consumer applications including AI avatars that can see and respond to users and software that analyzes emotions during video calls. The company also plans to provide an API to support use cases such as AI therapists.

Nuance’s co‑founders include Edward Zhang, who earned a PhD in computer graphics from the local university, and Fangchang Ma, who previously earned a PhD in robotics and machine learning. The founders worked at major tech employers before founding Nuance and say they were attracted to Seattle’s talent pool and a more down‑to‑earth startup vibe. Nuance does not have any Seattle investors on its cap table and plans to establish a footprint in the Bay Area once it grows, while also moving into a new office in downtown Seattle.

Seattle pro club adds forward on long‑term deal

The Reign announced the signing of Mia Fishel on a 4.5‑year contract, bringing a 24‑year‑old forward with experience at Chelsea FC and Tigres UANL into a roster that blends veteran leadership with rising domestic talent. The signing adds an attacking talent to the Reign’s core of young players, and the club says Fishel’s game includes hold‑up play, incisive runs, finishing, crossing, heading, and quick shots.

The roster mix already includes veterans and promoted young players. A recent acquisition before the 2025 season was an all‑team leading NWSL scorer and U.S. Women’s National Team star named Lynn Biyendolo. The roster also lists veteran players Lu Barnes, Ji So‑Yun, Jess Fishlock, Phoebe McClernon, and Angharad James‑Turner alongside rising stars. One player, Dahlien, has posted the fifth‑most shots on target in the league with three goals and two assists. Sam Meza has emerged as one of the best two‑way midfielders in the NWSL and received a recent call‑up to the U.S. Women’s National Team. Sally Menti has broken out as a steady, high‑upside midfielder in her rookie season.

Mia Fishel will have the opportunity to link up with young talents Jordyn Bugg and Emeri Adames, both named to the NWSL Best XI for the month of June. Goalkeeper Claudia Dickey anchors the group of rising stars and is described as one of the top goalkeepers in the league and a contender for the starting spot with the U.S. Women’s National Team.

The club returns to action at Lumen Field on Sunday, July 20 in an international friendly against Urawa. Single‑match tickets for the July 20 fixture are available now. The Reign’s annual Pride Match is scheduled for Friday, August 1 against Angel City, and a new Queen’s Match honoring the legendary 1985 national team is set for Monday, August 18 against Chicago Stars FC.

FAQ

Key features at a glance

Note: All facts in this article are drawn from recent program announcements, company statements, and team roster releases.

Deeper Dive: News & Info About This Topic

Additional Resources

• Daily Journal of Commerce: Build Up High School Internship (DPR)
• Wikipedia: DPR Construction
• The Seattle Times: Mayor Harrell proposes limiting a process that delays new construction
• Google Search: Mayor Harrell construction appeals process Seattle
• GeekWire: Ex-Apple PhDs raise $10M to build an AI foundation model that understands emotion (Nuance)
• Google Scholar: emotional AI multimodal emotion recognition
• The New York Times: Seattle skybridge houses ADU
• Encyclopedia Britannica: Accessory dwelling unit
• Reign FC: Reign FC continues to build young core with addition of Fishel
• Google News: Mia Fishel Reign

Author: Construction FL News

FLORIDA STAFF WRITER The FLORIDA STAFF WRITER represents the experienced team at constructionflnews.com, your go-to source for actionable local news and information in Florida and beyond. Specializing in "news you can use," we cover essential topics like product reviews for personal and business needs, local business directories, politics, real estate trends, neighborhood insights, and state news affecting the area—with deep expertise drawn from years of dedicated reporting and strong community input, including local press releases and business updates. We deliver top reporting on high-value events such as the Florida Build Expo, major infrastructure projects, and advancements in construction technology showcases. Our coverage extends to key organizations like the Associated Builders and Contractors of Florida and the Florida Home Builders Association, plus leading businesses in construction and legal services that power the local economy such as CMiC Global and Shutts & Bowen LLP. As part of the broader network, including constructioncanews.com, constructionnynews.com, and constructiontxnews.com, we provide comprehensive, credible insights into the dynamic construction landscape across multiple states.