Kiewit Corporation ended their summer intern program with a Build-A-Bike® charity team building event at Kiewit University in Omaha, Nebraska. Sixty-five interns and managers competed through team challenges and assembled 11 bicycles in under an hour. The bikes went to Completely KIDS, an Omaha organization dedicated to supporting children and families. The interns had spent the summer developing public speaking and presentation skills and were formally evaluated by managers earlier that same day.
Kiewit Corporation is one of the largest construction, engineering, and mining companies in North America. Founded in Omaha in 1884, the company operates across the United States and Canada. Kiewit University, the company’s internal learning and development center, is where intern programs, leadership development, and professional training come together for employees across the organization.
Kiewit Intern Class Celebrates Program Completion with Charity Build-A-Bike® at Kiewit University in Omaha, Nebraska
The Build-A-Bike® event came at the end of a full summer. Kiewit’s intern class had spent months building public speaking and presentation skills. On the final day, they presented in front of their managers and were formally assessed. The team event followed immediately. It was designed to celebrate the work done, not add more of it.
Something changes when managers and interns end up on the same Build-A-Bike® team. The structure of the workday pauses. Everyone is solving the same puzzle under the same clock, chasing the same parts, working toward the same finished product. Interns who lead in that context are seen by their managers in a way that formal settings rarely allow. That carries back into the work.
The group moved fast. Sixty-five participants, 11 teams, one hour. Eleven bikes came together and went to Completely KIDS. The organization works across Omaha to support children and families through youth development, after-school programs, and direct family services.
An intern class that wraps up the summer with 11 bikes going to local kids ends on a note most people remember. The program built skills for their careers. The team event gave them a story that had nothing to do with a spreadsheet or a performance review.
Thank you to Kiewit Corporation and Devon Pohlman for building an intern experience with this in it.
Looking for a charity team building activity to close out an intern program or professional development event in Omaha? A Build-A-Bike® event gives any group a meaningful way to finish the day, and the bikes always go somewhere that matters.