Oct 28, 2016 05:59 AM EDT By Beth Golden, UniversityHerald Reporter

New York City's Department of Youth and Community Development (DYCD) reported that 1,538 students were able to get paid private sector internship through the Ladders for Leaders program from last summer.

The Ladders for Leaders program provides high school and college students opportunities to participate in summer internship programs with the many prestigious and dynamic businesses in NYC. Participants, youth aged 16-21 need to apply to the program.

Applicants are evaluated based on their resume, academic performance and an essay question. After participants have been selected they then have to go through 30 hours of pre-employment training which is designed to give them essential workplace skills as well as basic business etiquette. The participants are then interviewed by partner community-based organizations (CBO) from different industries and the hiring decision is made by partnering employers. The internship runs for 6 weeks.

The number of participants have grown significantly from a few hundreds back in 2014 to 1,035 interns in 2015.

The number of companies that offered paid internships have also grown to 475 this year from 191 last year. The city hopes to get a larger number of partner companies for 2017. Partner companies include Citi, AOL, KPMG, Deloitte and JPMorgan Chase.

The program is funded by the Mayor's Fund to Advance New York City and is supported by NYC's Center for Youth Employment - a public-private initiative dedicated to preparing the city's youth for the job market by creating career opportunities for young people.

Apart from being a summer activity for young people, the program aims to prepare them for their careers and success in the future by providing these kids with a meaningful work experience. It is also meant to inspire kids to cultivate their dreams and pursue them.

An event have been organized in the Gracie Mansion to celebrate this summer's success together with New York City's Mayor Bill De Blasio, business partners, city educators and former Ladders to Leaders interns.

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