Finance Innovation Internship

Finance Innovation Internship – ESG Real Estate Lab
Remote | Part-Time | Summer or Fall 2025 | 3 Tracks

Are you passionate about sustainable finance, investing, or emerging financial institutions? This is not your typical finance internship. The Finance Innovation Team at ESG Real Estate Lab offers a student-led, research-driven opportunity to build tools, insights, and strategies that help smaller financial institutions adapt to the future of ESG.

About Us

We’re a think tank exploring the intersection of real estate, finance, and sustainability. Our work focuses on the underrecognized players reshaping finance—regional banks, small VC funds, early-stage fintechs—and helps them navigate risk, ESG reporting, and strategy. We believe that sustainability should be practical, data-driven, and accessible—not just a buzzword. This internship gives students a chance to contribute directly to national-scale work that blends research, innovation, and impact.

About the Opportunity

This Summer/Fall 2025 internship is structured across three phases—offering different entry points based on your interests and skills.

Track 1: Research & Outreach
Kick off the project by identifying small financial institutions and interviewing them using a survey we’ve developed. You’ll gather insights to help us map gaps in ESG strategy, risk assessment, and reporting infrastructure.
Best for: students interested in finance, research, consulting, or policy.

Track 2: Strategy & Interface Design
Based on research, help us turn raw data into practical toolkits or frameworks—think interactive guides or Excel-based interfaces that simplify decision-making for partners.
Best for: students with strengths in data visualization, design, light programming, or systems thinking.

Track 3: Market Introduction & Client Testing
Once we’ve developed solutions, this team will re-engage our partner organizations and introduce what we’ve built. You'll help test these tools in the real world and gather feedback.
Best for: students excited by business development, storytelling, or go-to-market strategy.

What You’ll Gain

A chance to contribute to national-scale, student-led research and innovation

Exposure to how ESG is evolving in finance, and how smaller players are adapting

Opportunities to develop real tools, briefs, or strategies used by actual firms

Collaboration with interdisciplinary peers across the country

Who Should Apply

We welcome undergraduate and graduate students with backgrounds in:

Business, finance, economics, or entrepreneurship

Sustainability, policy, or environmental studies

Data science, technology, or design

Ideal candidates are:

Curious about the future of finance and sustainability

Eager to build solutions that are practical, not theoretical

Comfortable with independent work and remote collaboration

Details

Duration: Flexible (Summer or Fall 2025)

Format: Remote

Commitment: Part-time

Compensation: Unpaid or stipend-based depending on placement

You’ll be part of a growing network of students working across multiple universities to reimagine how ESG can actually work for finance—not just in theory, but in practice.