Interns 4 Good

Internships for teens, any time or any place

Background Information

Ellie Zimmerman, a high school junior from New York, spent several summers studying graphic design, yet, when she tried to get a job that would allow her to use her skills, she was either too young or did not have the right experience. Ellie’s friends all had the same problem… talented video producers, photographers, and website builders all looking for a way to build a portfolio. In the Spring of 2019, Ellie came up with a solution. While attending Alzar School, Ellie developed Interns 4 Good (http://interns4good.org/) as a part of her Culminating Leadership Project. Interns 4 Good places ambitious teens into exciting virtual internships. As a highschooler herself, Ellie understood that a lack of transportation and busy schedules can often get in the way of teens giving back. So, she created internships that are virtual, volunteer any time, from any place. And what’s more? Interns will be giving back to a worthy cause while also building their resumes and fulfilling community service hours.

Implementation of Project

While beginning her CLP, Ellie found it difficult to figure out where to start.   She began by reaching out to non-profits over email. Almost all of the initial nonprofits she reached out to didn’t seem eager to collaborate, either because her website seemed illegitimate (which was in its infancy), or because they did not offer virtual opportunities or had age requirements.  This was a difficult journey at first and coordinating internships with nonprofits before Ellie had any interns was hard.  Shortly afterward, she recruited her first interns from her friend group.

Using her friends as the guinea pigs for her first few internships, she streamlined the processes of communication a bit more.  She worked on the website all summer and fall and once it was organized, Ellie was able to send it out to nonprofits in her emails to them and it made the  idea seem more concrete.  She began calling organizations instead of emailing because she realized it was a lot more effective.  Her team applied to the government for 501-3c status, and after the status was granted, she applied to Google for SEO search keywords and they provided Interns 4 Good a monthly spending balance of $15,000 on Google AdWords.  Infused with this resource, many more interns joined and Ellie started pairing interns with gigs that matched their skills and passions more closely.

“It was hard following up with some interns who did not perform well in their internships but I learned that the effort they put into their initial intern applications often reflects the effort they will put into their gig. Most of my interns have put forth superb work that showcases the amazing work that high schoolers can do.” – Ellie Zimmerman

 

Results of Project

Ellie is continuing with her project into the future because it has become something she is very passionate about.  She spent about five-ten hours a week on the project throughout the summer and have spent between two and five hours a week on the project throughout the first six month.  She received help from around twenty employees at different non-profits when reaching out to them seeking internships, and approximately fifteen of peers helped oversee the overall process.  Her website has around one hundred prospective interns and twenty five nonprofit partners.

What’s Next

Ellie is going to further her project into the next year and beyond, planning to grow Interns 4 Good to be as big as possible, hopefully with high schoolers across the world in leadership positions and overseeing the process along with her.  She wants to showcase interns that have particularly demonstrated leadership and their gigs on the website and give them titles and more responsibility in the process.  She hopes to reach out to around twenty nonprofits a month and work on her website for five hours a week for the remainder of the school year.  This summer, Ellie plans to collaborate with Volunteer New York for a few weeks to get their feedback and learn from their process and implement their tips into Interns 4 Good.  She hopes to continue to grow the job database so that they can match interns with skill and interest based gigs as much a possible.

“With my leadership skills, I am going to expand Interns 4 Good so that it can benefit as many people as possible.” – Ellie Zimmerman