With employers’ self-reported inability to systematically “find diverse talent,” we launched the Featherstone Corporate Internship Program to create economic opportunities for traditionally underrepresented communities to receive paid, professional internships to mitigate student-reported choices between unpaid, fieldwork or paid positions without professional gains.
Apply Now: We invite employers who are interested in hosting our interns to complete this online form.
About the program:
The Featherstone Corporate Internship Fellows pays employers to host students for a period of 16-weeks. Our employer partners have included organizations such as Maryland Public Television, the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA), Southeast CDC, and B-360.
Employers selected to participate in the program must:
- Sign the employer agreement form
- participate in a kick-off orientation and the mid year program check in meeting with the Featherstone Foundation team and the other partner organizations
- Use the Featherstone Foundation funding to pay the student intern salary
We placed our 2020-2021 cohort with four phenomenal organizations:
- Maryland Public Television
- Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs (MIMA)
- B-360 Baltimore with OSI Baltimore Community Fellow Brittany Young (2018)
- Southeast Community Development Corporation (Southeast CDC)
During the 16 weeks, students are based at the employer’s site to gain relevant work experience. As a result of our program, students bolstered their resumes, and attended monthly professional development workshops organized as part of our Featherstone College Speakers’ Series, open to undergraduate and graduate students in the Baltimore City area. Students learn about financial literacy, managing their career virtually, using social media to build their personal brand, tackling imposter syndrome, and entrepreneurship.
Intern Spotlight: Cesia Calero met Mayor Brandon Scott during her internship with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs when she accompanied MIMA and CASA de Maryland volunteers to provide information to the community about vaccinations. MIMA prominently featured and highlighted their Featherstone Fellow, Cesia Calero, in their most e-newsletter. Cesia led a MIMA webinar in Spanish for high school students and young adults about the COVID-19 vaccine. At the conclusion of her Featherstone Internship on May 31, 2021, MIMA raised funds to extend her internship for ten additional weeks and nearly doubled her pay.
Apply Now: We invite employers who are interested in hosting our interns to complete this online form.
Here are the ways that employers partner with us:
- Hire our multilingual candidates as a pipeline to top talent
- Host an Intern
- Provide educational training workshops to communities from diverse backgrounds
- Speak at our events with community leaders, influencers, and government officials
- Promote job opportunities through our network and bolster recruitment and outreach to underrepresented communities
- Join our Employer Network for training on hiring, recruiting, and retaining diverse talent
