The Intern Foundry (IF) program is a partnership between the Foundry and the University Honors Program to pair high-achieving students with project-based internships addressing key areas of community need. The spring term IF program launched in 2022 with 9 students and then grew to 20 students in 2023 and 30 students in 2024.
Nonprofit organizations, purpose-driven businesses, and government agencies provide an ideal learning laboratory for students like you, who care about the community and want to do meaningful work. In the IF program, you will be matched with an organization and project based on your skills and interests. IF projects support the organization’s mission and most urgent needs. IF organizations have a lean staff and view interns as critical members of their teams.
In summer 2024, the IF program will offer its first 5 summer term internships, in health-related fields. Participating organizations include Celerion, Huvepharma, Lincoln Lancaster County Health Department, National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) Nebraska, and the Nebraska Department of Education.
Opportunities and Benefits
The cohort-based Intern Foundry (IF) program offers you the following opportunities and benefits.
Make Money + an Impact
Help meet pressing community needs by undertaking a project that the partner organization otherwise may not be able to complete. You will earn $15/hour, paid through the University Honors Program with the support of external funding. Without the IF program, many of these internship would not exist, or would be unpaid.
Access Networking & Mentorship
You will have networking opportunities with several purpose-driven organizations, meeting local leaders and learning about their experiences and organizations. Your nonprofit director and staff will be wonderful mentors and supervisors. The professional staff at the Foundry will provide additional guidance and IF student coordinators will serve as peer coaches.
Develop Transferable Skills
Whether this is your first internship or your fifth internship, you will gain a better sense of your professional identity. Learn skills that will easily transfer to your future career, such as project management, communication, grant writing, fundraising, marketing, research, website development, advocacy, time management, and problem solving.
Enjoy Flexible Scheduling
The IF internship will be a total of 120 hours in the spring or 200 hours in the summer. You and your supervisor may set a schedule that works best for you and the flow of the project. You might work remotely, in-person at the organization’s office, in the co-working space at the Foundry, off-site at events, or at a combination of locations.
Earn Honors Hours
All students in the IF program will take two Honors courses related to the internship experience:
- UHON 401H: Purpose-Driven Project Management (Spring only): Take a 1-credit course with your fellow interns to discover best methods for project management, fundamentals of purpose-driven businesses, and the “why” behind your assigned project. The course begins online and ends in-person at the Foundry, where you will touch base with your internship supervisor as you develop your project plan.
- UHON 99H: Internships (Spring & Summer): Throughout the term, take an asynchronous, zero-credit (tuition-free) Honors Experiences course. Through guided critical reflection and intentionally crafted assignments, you’ll draw connections between your internship and what you're learning in the classroom. Upon successful completion of the course, you will earn 3 Honors hours.
Summer 2024 IF Projects
“The IF program has given our team the opportunity to work with highly skilled and capable students at the University of Nebraska. As a small nonprofit organization, the IF students add critical capacity and provide valuable support on some of our most pressing projects. The IF students get real-world, impact-oriented, project management experience and our organization benefits from their high caliber capabilities. We are grateful to the Foundry and UNL Honors Program for making these internship opportunities possible.”
The IF program has exposed me to skills and community members that I could not have developed otherwise. The welcoming culture of The Foundry, as well as the staff's dedication to student growth and learning has allowed me to blossom as a professional as well as an individual.
Apply
Students: Applications for health-related internships in summer 2024 are due on Sunday, February 25 at 11:59 pm. Applications for spring 2025 will open in fall 2024.
Organizations: Please email hello@thefoundry.co to inquire about hosting an intern.