Internship Opportunities
We welcome students in many fields of study from local colleges and universities to intern with SHIELD Mentor Program. Interns are vital to us and we greatly value their contributions. We offer a variety of opportunities for internship placement. Internships are individually tailored to meet each intern’s needs, talents, and interests.
Administrative Interns
Administrative Interns will have an opportunity to learn non-profit management principles and will work directly with the executive director. Duties may include work with human resource needs, strategic planning process, research and planning for Board of Director retreats and meetings as well as other management issues. Preferred intern candidates will be in the Human Resource, MPA and/or MBA programs. Interns must be organized, self-starting and computer literate in MS Office.
Leadership Team Interns
Leadership Team Interns takes a lead role in exploring community collaborations and planning
and implementing community-based outreach activities for the
SHIELD program. These Leadership Team Coordinator Interns are responsible for a
group of approximately 12 to 16 students and coordinate monthly group
mentoring sessions. By becoming part of the social network of
community role models and supporters who care about the youth, the
Leadership Team can help youth develop and reach positive personal
goals. Other job responsibilities and duties include:
- Be
able to commit to attending monthly group mentoring workshops for the
academic year once a month with approximately 12-16 mentees (2 hours)
- Using SHIELD curriculum, plan monthly mentor group discussions
- With other leadership team volunteers lead/facilitate discussion during mentor group meetings
- Facilitate cooperation between all participants in a group setting
- Supervise middle and high school youth participating in SHIELD program
- Check-in with the Director once per month to discuss planned activities (1 hour)
- Conduct interactive exercises with mentees in the SHIELD program
- Engage youth in positive activities and conversations
- Work
with volunteers and program coordinator to create positive learning
opportunities for youth and to meet the needs of the program
- Serve as a positive role model by modeling desirable behaviors--e.g. patience, tolerance, and reflective listening
- Be encouraging and supportive of the mentees to draw out positive feedback during interactions
- Strive for mutual respect
- Build self-esteem and motivation
- Help set goals and work toward accomplishing them
- Attend on-going trainings when needed or requested
- Complete evaluation surveys as requested
- Recognize role as a mandated reporter and report any problematic issues.
- Attend monthly volunteer staff meeting and SHIELD's general meetings
- Represents SHIELD in the community
Marketing Interns
The Marketing Intern will create and execute a marketing plan to inform and educate the community about the SHIELD Mentor Program. Interning in the marketing area would support the development of marketing and promotional materials for the SHIELD Mentor Program. Interns might work with the marketing committee, research pricing for materials, organize past and current marketing materials to archive, work with a graphic designer when relevant, assist with program brochure design, and research marketing opportunities. Interns in this area need to be self-motivated and have good computer, writing and editing skills. Familiarity with Power Point, Adobe Creative Suite, or Publisher is a plus. Other job responsibilities and duties include:
- Prepares fliers for all SHIELD Mentor Program events, meetings, workshops
- Keeps a detailed record of the projects you are doing and how you are publicizing events
- Creates presentations for various community groups
- Develops marketing materials, advertising placement, website development and maintenance
- Website maintainence.
- Updates the activities calendar
- Coordinates with staff, volunteers and participants to help with flier creation and distribution
- Develops the marketing plans of the various areas of SHIELD
- Attends monthly staff meeting and SHIELD's general meetings
- Represents SHIELD in the community
Public Relations Intern
The Public Relations Intern will work in cooperation with the executive director to determine the communication and PR needs of the organization. Other job responsibilities and duties include:
Publication and distribution of the quarterly newsletter.
Establishes a public relations activities calendar
Writes and distributes all articles and/or press releases for SHIELD events
Connects with community radio stations and local media to publicize events, if necessary
Contacts television and radio stations regarding publicity opportunities
newsletter maintenance
Coordinates/writes articles for publication in local newspapers
- Attend monthly volunteer staff meeting and SHIELD's general meetings
- Represents SHIELD in the community
Events Coordinator Intern
The Events Coordinator Intern will secure event sponsorships, table sponsors, venue, menu, invitations, seating arrangements, decor, and entertainment. Other job responsibilities and duties include:
Fundraising Interns
An intern in this area would work as an assistant to our development director and might assist in assessing data, making pie charts and graphs, preparing fundraising materials, working on donor campaigns, or working on grant requests, timelines, and report criteria. An intern in this area needs to know MS Office, especially Excel, and would need to be organized and detail-oriented. Writing skills are a plus.
Recruitment Intern
SHIELD is a heavily volunteer-driven agency. Recruitment, retention, and recognition of volunteers are very important to the successful daily operation of the SHIELD Mentor Program. An intern in this area would assist the volunteer coordinator in such duties as responding to inquiries by potential volunteers, confirming volunteer schedules, assembling volunteer orientation packets, answering phones, and processing volunteer data.
The Recruitment Coordinator will also be involved in the program's
mentoring activities, including program activities with youth and their
mentors. Responsibilities will include making presentations to
community groups, as well as maintaining various ongoing recruitment
efforts to attract mentees. A student working in this area must be well organized and able to multi-task. The intern must have the ability to work independently. Other job responsibilities and duties include:
- Identifies, implements and coordinates a variety of recruitment methods to increase the number of participants
- Recruits volunteers from the community to work with the youth that are referred
- Communicates with community personnel, families, referral agencies
and other organizations on behalf of SHIELD to recruit mentees
-
Ensures that all volunteers are approved for the program screening,
interviewing, and reference checking all volunteers
- Creates
and maintains a training plan, coordinates training logistics and
ensures that appropriate training is undertaken and recorded
- Plans and participates in new mentor/mentee training sessions
- Maintains CONFIDENTIAL files on all participants.
- Maintains ongoing communication about our services to agencies who refer youth to our program
- Designs and implements strategies to recruit diverse volunteers and youth
- Creates and implements a volunteer recognition program
- Attends monthly volunteer staff meeting and SHIELD's general meetings
- Represents SHIELD in the community
How do I apply to intern at SHIELD?
Students interested in interning at the SHIELD Mentor Program should request an internship application by contacting us at (336) 337-2771, or by email at mckoyp@shieldyouth.com. This should be done as soon as you know the requirements for your internship. Once we have reviewed your application and we know if we have a place for you, you will be contacted to come for an interview. At that time we will work out the specifics of your internship with you.