Host an Intern
Interested in hosting a SHECP Intern at your organization?
Every summer, SHECP partners with community organizations to provide full-time, hands-on internships at agencies engaged in anti-poverty work. This year, our internship program will run from June 9 to July 31, 2025. Are you interested in joining SHECP’s network of community partners, inspiring the next generation of change-makers by hosting summer interns? Read more below to determine whether your site would be a good fit for the 2025 program!
To submit an internship listing, agencies will need to complete a form with their agency’s information and basic details about their internship position. Click the button below to submit an internship listing for Summer 2025. If you are new to SHECP, or it has been a while since you hosted an intern, please start by reaching out to us at info@shepherdconsortium.org to learn more about our guidelines and structure.
Overview of SHECP Summer Internship Program:
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The SHECP Summer internship matches students with an academic background in poverty studies with organizations engaged in hands-on, community-facing, anti-poverty work for a transformational internship experience.
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For 8 weeks, interns provide substantive support to community partners while deepening their understanding of poverty by working directly with communities and individuals experiencing poverty.
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SHECP provides trainings and resources to prepare students to enter their internships and support students throughout their summer.
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Interns participate in supplemental SHECP programming, both virtual and in-person, to strengthen their connection with the local community, deepen their understanding of anti-poverty work, reflect on their experience, and network with the larger SHECP community.
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Through this internship, SHECP aims to develop student civic responsibility, promote respect for diverse communities, and facilitate poverty awareness that inspires students to intentionally integrate anti-poverty action in their post-graduate vocations and personal lives.
Structure & Guidelines:
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The SHECP Summer Internship is a 9-week program, with one week of virtual training, 8 weeks on-site with a community partner, and concludes with the SHECP Annual Conference. During their 8-week placement, interns are required to work in-person and full-time, 35 hours per week. Many of our students are required to work a minimum number of hours to qualify for course credit or supplemental funding from their school.
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All internship positions MUST be community-facing and include significant interaction with individuals experiencing poverty. Interactions can be in-person, over-the-phone, or through other available technology.
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SHECP provides interns with a modest living stipend and housing during their time on-site. Students live in housing with other SHECP interns, providing space for deep connection and reflection with peers working with across a range of sectors and services. There is no cost to community partners.
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Students are selected by their schools and matched by SHECP. SHECP works to balance the student’s skills and interests, the community partner’s needs and work, and other logistics such as housing and transportation. Partners meet with their selected intern before confirming the match with SHECP.
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Community partners complete an internship listing for each of their opportunities. Detailed submissions help SHECP create strong matches. This form is your chance to list requirements for the position, identify desired skills and interests, and provide additional information about the emotional intensity of position. Selected interns will have access to the position description and requirements when they rank their preferred placements.
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Selected interns will work with their supervisor to develop a Community Learning Agreement before they start, and we ask community partners to support and mentor their interns throughout the summer.
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Any substantial change to the intern’s work schedule must be pre-approved by SHECP before they seek approval from their site supervisor. This includes but is not limited to: modifying start and end dates, planned multiple day absences, and changes to their scope of work after their CLA has been approved.
Transformational Placements
Relationships between community partners and students power the SHECP Summer Internship, and the intentionality of this connection is a hallmark of the program.
When an intern from SHECP walks into our doors, they are better prepared to partner with us and, more importantly, partner with our community during their service. They have spent time grappling with the root causes of poverty, examining their own misconceptions and biases, and their relationship to the communities they want to serve.
Lindsey Pérez
Rockbridge Area Relief Association, Executive Director