American Cities Program Summer Graduate 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 American Cities Program

The American Cities Program team seeks to expand equity and opportunity by promoting effective and inclusive community development practice in cities across the country. The program holds a vision for the future where previously under-resourced places are resilient; offer a high quality of life; provide easy-to-access pathways to wealth and economic mobility; celebrate unique cultures; and reflect the power, priorities, and preferences of their residents. The team’s work is informed by the Foundation’s long-standing efforts in cities, its Place-Based work in Detroit, the approaches of Kresge’s discipline-based programs, and the insights of community partners.

The team has three grantmaking areas:

• Catalyze more equitable community and economic development in cities through long-term commitments to focus communities (Memphis, New Orleans, and Fresno) and strategic investments in other places;
• Support multi-city initiatives accelerating equitable community and economic development; and 
• Engage the national community and economic development ecosystem to be more responsive to needs and priorities of communities.

Within cities, the Program seeks to:

• Take a Place-Based approach, endeavoring to deeply understand local context, form candid relationships with local leaders and partners, and build on existing initiatives and momentum.
• Execute aligned, cross-disciplinary mutually reinforcing strategies at the neighborhood, city, county/region, state, and national levels.
• Promote long-term change including shifts in community power structures, ways of working, and the centering of racial equity and inclusion.
• Invest in cross-sector planning and collaboration, community development organizations’ capacity, housing and corridor development, public spaces, placemaking, community organizing, and advocacy.
• Provide national resources, including the research and thought leadership of Kresge’s national grantees, connections to national funders, and connections to peers in other cities.

About the Position

The American Cities Program is seeking a dynamic Summer Intern to support its Place-Based and national grant investments by contributing to strategy development, research, and implementation. The internship duration will run from June 10 – August 15, 2025.

Previous interns have played a critical role in articulating the Program’s overarching strategy and have been involved in the planning, management, and execution of the program’s key initiatives.  Examples of their engagements include:

• Researched and analyzed participatory grantmaking best practices to inform the team’s approach to centering community voice in its investments; 
• Researched and provided recommendations to inform the program’s small business strategy in New Orleans, Memphis, and Fresno; and
• Developed a framework to determine the program’s geographies of focus.

Primary Responsibilities Include: 

• Strategy & Implementation: Lead a special project (to be determined based on the American Cities team and fellow’s mutual interest) of strategic importance to the team’s efforts to strengthen communities.
• Research & Learning: Conduct research on Place-Based and national community development practices to inform the program’s field building and investment strategy.
• Internal Engagement, Research, & Content Creation: With guidance from Kresge American Cities and Communications teams, conduct qualitative research for future strategic communications intended to influence the field of community and economic development and/or provide technical assistance to specific communities (e.g. blog posts, webinars, etc.). 
• Grantmaking Support: Assist program officers with national and local grantmaking, including grant write-ups and grant reporting reviews. 

Qualifications

• Current graduate student majoring in one of the following or a related field: Public Policy, Public Administration, Political Science, Business, General or Nonprofit Management, Urban Planning and Design
• Minimum GPA of 3.0 preferred
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite and experience with spreadsheets, data management tools, PowerPoint Presentations, etc. 
• Passion for equity and justice. 

What we offer our Interns

• A pay rate of $30/hour for Graduate 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.

The Kresge Foundation participates in E-Verify to confirm authorization to work in the United States. For more information on E-Verify and to know your rights please click here.