Detroit Program Undergraduate Intern

About The Kresge Foundation

The Kresge Foundation is one of the top 20 private philanthropic foundations in the United States and the only one focused exclusively on expanding equity and opportunity in America’s cities. With an endowment of approximately $4 billion and a staff of over 100 employees, the foundation deploys grants and social investments across arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services and community development nationally and in Detroit, Memphis, New Orleans and Fresno. The foundation’s state-of-the-art headquarters in Troy, MI, maintains an array of energy-efficient, water-conserving and health-promoting systems. The foundation also operates an office in Detroit’s Midtown district.

About the Detroit Program

The Detroit Program stands as the Kresge Foundation’s flagship place-based program, strategically advancing economic equity, climate resilience, and community quality of life through collaborative partnerships with resident leaders, nonprofit organizations, businesses, and multi-level government entities.

We believe centering people, racial equity and place is crucial to the broad, equitable development needed across neighborhoods of the iconic city that is our hometown. This is an evolution of Kresge’s Reimagining Detroit 2020 framework, now anchored by the framework’s neighborhood module. To that end, we work toward leadership and community development that supports and improves quality of life for all Detroiters, beginning with our next generation of young leaders and enriched through the power of the city’s arts and culture ecosystem. In this matrix of relationships, we place our highest priority on neighborhood-based organizations that authentically represent community priorities, recognizing their critical role in dismantling the long-standing impacts of structural inequity and preventing historical biases from determining Detroit’s future trajectory. This leads the Detroit Program to a posture of listening to people and community; being humble, respectful and inclusive; challenging power narratives, our own included; and acting with intention.

About the Position

The Detroit Program Undergraduate Intern will support the Detroit Program in advancing equity and opportunity through a program strategy that seeks to strengthen the social, economic, cultural, and physical fabric of one of America’s most iconic cities and create opportunities for shared learning with the national urban development community. The Detroit Program is the center for Kresge’s place-based work nationally. 

This position will be a member of the foundation’s Detroit Team, a dynamic, multi-disciplinary team working proactively to advance equitable progress in Detroit’s resurgence and revitalization through a multi-faceted investment framework, entitled Reimagining Detroit. This framework is rooted in expanding socioeconomic mobility and addressing the systemic inequities that prevent tangible, balanced, long-term results in the city’s neighborhoods while strengthening the citywide systems that ensure opportunity and quality of life. Interns will receive practical skills in addressing the nexus between sustainable urban development, inclusive growth, racial justice, and economic opportunity. 

Primary Responsibilities Include: 

Program Strategy Execution: Contribute to the implementation of the team’s overall strategy and program priorities. Support the planning and implementation of internal and external meetings with team members, stakeholders and other partners to design and implement collective efforts. 

Portfolio Management and Reviews: Writes memos, less complex strategy papers and grant write-ups. 

Research, Evaluation and Learning: Contribute to the team’s efforts to evaluate the effectiveness of the program portfolio and participate in the evaluation of the results. Develop and complete a capstone project that contributes to the field of urban development. Participate in team site visits and take part in professional development opportunities to keep abreast of new developments in the field. Work collaboratively, actively supporting and encouraging all members within the team and across teams. 

Qualifications

• Current undergraduate student majoring in a field relevant to community development, social policy, public policy, sustainable development, public health, or economic opportunity and mobility. 
• Strong analytical, writing, verbal, and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to manage a heavy workload and flexibility with shifting priorities. 
• A self-starter who can multi-task in a fast-paced hybrid environment. 
• Strong organizational skills and attention to detail. 
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office applications, including Outlook, Word, PowerPoint and Excel. 
• This position requires local and domestic travel for internal and external meetings; some travel is directly related to grantmaking, but also to attend team conferences, retreats, and meetings. 

What we offer our Interns

• A pay rate of $25/hour for undergraduate students
• Housing stipend of $350 per month
• Volunteer opportunity or group activity
• Breakfast, lunch, and snacks daily for a minimal charge from our Troy office cafeteria   

The Foundation highly encourages applications from local university students and students who will be local to the metro-Detroit area over the summer.                        

The application deadline for this position is Midnight EST on January 5, 2025.

This position is located in Detroit, Michigan and currently has a hybrid schedule. Tuesday and Wednesday are the standard in-office days, however, there may be times when you will have to adjust the days based on work needs. 

Kresge is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer and strongly encourages applications from people of color, persons with disabilities, women, and LGBTQ+ applicants. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

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