Nonprofit Internship

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This is an unpaid, educational internship with two concentrations: Policy or Operations.

• The position does not offer wages, stipends, benefits, or a promise of employment upon completion. However, we are committed to fostering longitudinal & sustainable professional and personal development in our personnel.
• The position is not a conventional volunteer experience; it is an intensive and structured educational program.

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Company Description

Kindfulness is a nonprofit organization based in Columbus, Ohio, dedicated to empowering five core populations: individuals facing unhousing, trafficking survivors, those in reentry, individuals experiencing sexuality and gender-related stressors, and military veterans. Kindfulness prioritizes community involvement, ensuring that individuals with lived experiences influence decision-making at all levels.

Through programs such as smart vending machines, mobile outreach, and 24/7 resource accessibility, the organization aims to overcome barriers to essential resources. Kindfulness also fosters a community-driven network to enhance evidenced-based programs and policies, while providing mind-body interventions and experiential skill-training tailored to the needs of its focus populations.

Role Description

Below is a breakdown of three internship roles: Operations Interns, Community Outreach Interns, Policy Interns. The position is hybrid, i.e., in-person & virtual.

All Interns will work on these tasks:

• Grant writing
• Fundraising
• Direct services to our core communities: the unhoused, trafficked, prisoners, LGBT+, and military veterans
• Network and coordinate collaboration with organizations to optimize collective cost-effectiveness
• Market research & needs/gap analysis
• Take self-directed and creative control over projects, strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation

Operation Interns focus on:

• Business development for the social enterprise aspect of operation, e.g., the Oasis Box, a smart tech-based vending machine network
• Administrative management: human resources, finance & accounting
• Marketing, branding, strategy
• Technological development related to the Oasis Box, Service Navigation, and Digital Vault
• Maintain up-to-date legal & ethical compliance in general and specific to constituents

Community Outreach Interns focus on:

• Provide trauma-informed & culturally-sensitive direct services to constituents, e.g., supervised services coordinated & supervision by partner agencies at their sites, Service Navigation, Digital Vault, ID procurement, benefits enrollment, service linkage
• Collaborate with partner agencies to collect insight on clients’ strengths, wants, needs, preferences, barriers, & feedback regarding effective navigation, access, utilization of resources & services
• Establish, deepen, evaluate partnerships to integrate Kindfulness programs in partners' operations & coordinate collaboration
• Provide constituents-driven insight to shape Kindfulness’ development of programs, strategy, and constituent engagement
• Implement & adapt Kindfulness programs to constituent needs
• Systematically evaluate the effectiveness of Kindfulness programs in achieving client impact and key performance indicators in operation & partnership

Policy Interns focus on:

• Coordinate Kindfulness operation & programs with shifting priorities in public and private policies
• Analyze policy & data to coordinate with policymakers and stakeholders
• Use research & practical evidence to inform Kindfulness’ strategic & programmatic development of internal operation & external collaboration
• The Services-Research-Policy Consortium
• Provide resources & services to engage constituents in policy literacy & oversight
• Co-develop training of lobbyist & advocates of policies impacting constituents
• Conduct content designs for search engine optimization (SEO), answer engine optimization (AEO), generative engine optimization (GEOS)

Minimum Qualifications

• Commitment to at least 13 hours/week until the student-allocated Federal Work Study (FWS) fund is exhausted
• Commitment to at least 13 hours/week until the end of position commitment when the position shifts to UNPAID after the student-allocated FWS fund is exhausted
• Commitment of at least 6 months
• Current enrollment in, or completion of, a post-secondary program, e.g., vocational degrees, associate degrees, or bachelor’s degrees.
• Strong organizational and time management skills to assist in resource coordination and program execution.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a hybrid work environment.
• Familiarity in, or readiness to learn, integrative social justice concepts & strategies in intra-organizational operations, services, and inter-organizational collaboration.
• Willingness to complete background check & drug screening; hiring decisions will not be solely based on the results

Preferred Experiences

• This position has a strong preference for Persons with Lived Experience in our 5 constituent communities: the unhoused, human trafficked, prisoners, LGBT+, military veterans.
• Interest in using technology & mobile outreach to optimize the collaboration of services, research, and policy organizations.
• Direct service delivery in our constituent communities.
• Experience in working or volunteering with nonprofit organizations.
• Knowledge or experience in culturally-sensitive or trauma-informed techniques related to our constituent communities.
• Basic knowledge of inclusive UX and testing.
• Knowledge or experience in community outreach & program implementation.
• Proficiency in, or readiness to learn, management & communication technology in organizational operations and product development, e.g., spreadsheets, tools evaluation, Monday, mobile apps, Google Drive, Slack

Position Benefits

• Intensive professional and educational development
• Opportunities to produce deliverables tailored to your career goals
• Professional networking on the local, state, and national levels
• School credits pending your academic department's approval.