The Akamai Workforce Initiative (AWI) is a program that seeks to develop a skilled local STEM workforce to meet the needs of Hawai'i's growing high-tech industry. Launched as an internship program in 2002, AWI is the result of a long-term collaboration among the University of California Santa Cruz's Institute for Scientist and Engineer Educators (ISEE), the University of Hawai'i, local Hawaiian high-tech businesses, observatories, U.S. Air Force facilities, and other higher education institutions. AWI provides courses, mentors, and field-based project opportunities to help local Hawaiian college students advance their high-tech careers. This combination of a professional development program for early career scientists and engineers with a local workforce development initiative for undergraduates is a unique design that brings benefits to both groups. This brief presents an external perspective on the Akamai Workforce Initiative. It describes the rationale, history, and key design features, as well as the details of the Akamai Internship Program. It also discusses the particular collaborative partnerships and the mutually beneficial roles that make the program valuable to interns, to early career scientists and engineers, and to the local high-tech industry. Finally, it distills broader design lessons that may be of interest to other STEM workforce development initiatives. [This brief complements two related briefs: (1) "Contributions of the Akamai Workforce Initiative" (ED558168); and (2) "The USCS Institute for Scientist & Engineer Educators: Supporting Multi-Level STEM Workforce Development" (ED558170).]