School-Based Mentoring Internship

(Mid-August, 2013 – June, 2014)

Do you believe in the power of transformative relationships for girls? Are you ready to impact the Greater Boston community one girl at a time? If you answered yes, and the idea of being part of a collaborative, performance-driven, focused team excites you then join us! At Big Sister Association of Greater Boston we have been helping girls reach their full potential through positive mentoring relationships with women since 1951. We are the largest mentoring organization in Greater Boston exclusively serving girls.

Big Sister Association of Greater Boston is looking for an intern for our School Based Mentoring (SBM) Department. This is an excellent opportunity for a graduate student interested in human services, gender-specific programming, case management and/or mentoring. This is an unpaid internship.

About School Based Mentoring:

The School Based Mentoring program (SBM) is designed to provide elementary school aged girls with healthy and supportive relationships with caring adult women to help them maximize their full potential. The program is a one-to-one mentoring program. Big and Little Sister matches meet once a week at the girl's school during her lunch period or after-school program. Matches spend time together doing a variety of activities that help enhance girls' confidence, competence and caring, while building a relationship.

Responsibilities of the SBM intern consist of conducting assessments of potential Big Sisters (1.5 hour interviews), brief assessments of potential Little Sisters, making match recommendations and facilitating match meetings. The intern may also provide case management and match support to already existing matches or newly made matches.

Depending upon schedule and interests, the SBM intern could contribute to the success of either of two specialized programs with the SBM department: our Workplace Mentoring Program, or our Boston College/Franklin Field Program.

• Workplace Mentoring: Matches in this program meet twice a month at the Big Sisters' office, during the school day. Intern responsibilities for this program would include case management, assessment and general on site program coordination.
• Boston College/Franklin Field: This program is a partnership between Boston College, Big Brothers Big Sisters of Massachusetts Bay, and Big Sister Association of Greater Boston to serve children living in the Franklin Field Housing Development. Little Sisters are matched to Boston College students and the matches meet every other Saturday at Boston College during the academic year. Matches participate in a group activity facilitated by BC student leaders and our staff and meet one-to-one on campus. Intern responsibilities for this program would include case management, assessment and general on site program coordination.

Interns who are looking for an opportunity to gain a range of experiences working with girls and women from multicultural populations and who have the desire to work from a strengths perspective will do well on the SBM team.

Skills and competencies required: excellent strong communication and organizational skills; comfort interacting with multicultural populations; detail-oriented; proficiency using Microsoft Office Programs (Word and Excel); openness to learning, ability to prioritize and handle multiple tasks; and the ability to work independently. Travel to and from sites is required. A car is not necessary but very helpful.

Criteria:

• Undergraduate or graduate student in social services, human services or related fields
• Passion for and commitment to gender-specific mission
• Exemplary interpersonal skills in multicultural environments
• Excellent attention to detail, problem solving skills and critical thinking skills focused on customer service, child safety and goodness of fit for enduring match relationships.
• Car or access to a car is preferred
• Highly organized and flexible