The Cleveland Foundation Summer Internship Program gives local college students and recent grads an opportunity to work with Greater Cleveland nonprofit and public sector organizations during an 11-week paid summer internship. 

All internships are full-time experiences, paid at a rate of $13 per hour.  

The Cleveland Foundation is working closely with internship host sites to conduct internships safely during the COVID-19 pandemic. In line with the ongoing guidance of public health officials, a variety of internship formats will be available, including virtual and hybrid.  

All majors and fields of study are welcome to apply. Host organizations and projects can benefit from the experiences of students across diverse areas of interest, including (but not limited to) the arts, community and economic development, environmental studies, creative writing, the humanities, nonprofit management, and many more. 

We are pleased to introduce the organizations that will be hosting interns this summer and announce that the deadline to apply for the program has been extended until March 1. Apply now! 

2021 summer interns will be placed at:  

• Alliance for Climate Education (ACE) – ACE seeks to educate young people on the science of climate change and empower them to take action. An intern will support ACE’s Ohio Youth Organizer and program staff with a focus on digital organizing and the launch of a new decentralized organizing program. 
• City of Euclid – The City of Euclid is a regional leader in multiple planning and economic development initiatives including expanding public access to Lake Erie and transforming blighted, underutilized legacy sites into productive, revenue-generating properties. An intern’s workload will focus on economic and community development projects within the Department of Planning and Development. 
• Cleveland Botanical Garden – People for Trees is a public relations campaign that will empower members, businesses and the community to plant 15,000 native trees by 2025. An intern will work in close collaboration with members of the development team to establish and direct the People for Trees campaign with Holden Forests & Gardens members, donors and corporate partners. 
• Cleveland Documenters – Cleveland Documenters, in partnership with Chicago-based civic journalism lab City Bureau, recruits, trains and pays Greater Clevelanders to document official committee meetings of the Cuyahoga County and City of Cleveland governments and contribute to a communal pool of public knowledge. An intern will make Cleveland Documenters social media richer by producing stories and other content based on the documentation done by documenters. There will also be opportunities for an intern to learn community building practices. 
• Cleveland Sight Center (CSC) – CSC was established in 1906 to support individuals who are blind or have visual impairments; the agency’s mission is to empower people with vision loss to realize their full potential and to shape the community’s vision of that potential. As part of the Leisure and Lifestyle Services Department (L&LS), an intern will coordinate, facilitate, and evaluate both virtual and in-person recreation activities for the agency’s adult and youth clients. 
• Collaborative to End Human Trafficking – Established in 2007, the Collaborative to End Human Trafficking was built on the understanding that a complex social issue like human trafficking cannot be solved by one organization or system alone. An intern will join the development team to research and design a Corporate Sponsorship Program. 
• College Now Greater Cleveland – College Now helps students as early as middle and high school as well as adult learners achieve their dreams of going to and succeeding in certificate, two-year and four-year degree programs. An intern will work on supporting the upgrading, digital review, and additional content creation for virtual, hybrid, and in-person advising. An intern will also support a review of the content and messaging of College Now’s pilot Gap Year Initiative. 
• Community Partnership on Aging (CPA) – A unique collaboration between six cities, CPA improves the lives of older adults through programs and services that support independence, community involvement and well-being. An intern will join the CPAConnects team and serve as a coach and trainer to a cohort of older adults interested in learning how to access technology to increase socialization and reduce isolation.
• Deepwood Foundation – Deepwood Foundation is a social service, giving organization established in 1992 to assist individuals with developmental disabilities; most recently, this has included COVID-19 relief efforts to help meet basic needs and assist families in providing the best quality of care. An intern will evaluate and enhance marketing and community awareness, research and assist with the development of an annual pledge campaign, develop models for specialized funds, and assist with Gala preparation. 
• Equality Ohio – Equality Ohio is the statewide LGBTQ+ education and advocacy organization working to change hearts, minds, and laws. The intern will work alongside the Northeast Ohio Regional Organizer and Statewide Civic Engagement Director to educate about policy impacting the LGBTQ+ community. 
• Fairmount Center for the Arts – The mission of Fairmount Center for the Arts is to enrich lives through the arts with classes and private instruction in dance, music, theatre, visual arts and fitness. In 2021, the nonprofit arts organization will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. An intern will be involved in finalizing and executing plans for key aspects of programming for the 45th Annual Juried Art Exhibition, which will be a core centerpiece event of the anniversary celebrations. 
• Greater Cleveland Neighborhood Centers Association (NCA) – NCA’s mission is to support and strengthen education for children, families and seniors and to advocate for the social, economic and political well-being of Greater Clevelanders. An intern will work directly with NCA’s Directors of the P4SS and IConnect programs to expand and strengthen digital tech education systems. 
• Hebrew Free Loan Association (HFLA) – HFLA of Northeast Ohio provides interest-free loans to address the financial challenges of residents who lack access to traditional lending sources. In 2020, this included the implementation of a COVID-19 Emergency Loan Fund. An intern will assist with the programmatic aspects of processing interest-free loans and work with the development team on event and fundraising activities. 
• Little Lumpy’s Center for Educational Initiatives – Little Lumpy’s Center: Learning, Literacy & Technology serves youth and adults of color in the Cleveland area and beyond. Through three ongoing projects – the Annual Great Lakes African American Writers Conference, the Literacy Readiness Program, and an Animation Workforce Program – the organization seeks to increase literacy through educational initiatives and professional development opportunities. An intern will work closely with the Director to support all three of these priorities. 
• PCs for People – As part of PCs for People’s mission and commitment to work toward digital equity in unserved and underserved neighborhoods, a new Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP) initiative has launched to offer broadband connectivity at an extremely low price to individuals and families with limited financial resources. An intern will focus on core projects related to this initiative. 
• Social Venture Partners (SVP) Cleveland – SVP Cleveland is a local affiliate of an international network that brings together like-minded, engaged philanthropists to collectively give and support their nonprofit communities. An intern’s projects will support the organization’s nonprofit engagement and organizational partnership efforts. 
• SPACES – SPACES is the resource and public forum for artists who explore and experiment. An intern will support the development, production, and public presentation of a new artistic commission, Artist-in-Residence Nastassja Swift’s (Virginia Beach, VA) To and From the Elysian Plain (TFEP). 
• Youth Opportunities Unlimited (Y.O.U.) – Y.O.U. is a nonprofit workforce development organization that serves teens and young adults ages 14-24 living in economically distressed areas in Northeast Ohio through job readiness training, career exploration activities, coaching and mentoring from a caring adult, and paid work experiences. An intern will support several initiatives and aspects of program management, including the co-creation of a long-term evaluation agenda; gathering stakeholder feedback; Salesforce implementation; and strategic planning, culture agenda, and learning agenda work.  

The deadline to apply for the 2021 Cleveland Foundation Summer Internship Program is March 1. Learn more about the program and how to apply. And check out our blog to follow some of our former summer interns.