Academies Intern

The Program: Summer Academy - Residential & Commuter:

Summer Academy has long been the keystone of Thrive Scholars’ Six-Year Program, offering a signature summer experience through intensive college-preparatory courses taught by college instructors. Thrive’s current strategic direction builds on the success of our residential Summer Academy to expand our impact by establishing commuter-based Academies in cities across the United States. We launched our first two commuter programs in Los Angeles and New York City in 2024 and Chicago in 2025, while simultaneously continuing to offer the residential Summer Academies for Scholars who do not have an academy in their community. We expect to continue extending our reach to other cities in the coming years.

The Students:

Our students are high-achieving, including first-generation college-goers from under-resourced communities, with an average high school GPA of 3.9 on a 4.0 scale. They are eager to learn, inquisitive, and highly motivated to succeed. In general, they see themselves as good students who perform well in school and are determined to live up to that expectation. When scholars attend their first summer academy, whether commuter or residential, they are a rising high school senior.

The Opportunity: 

Thrive Scholars seeks interns for the Summer Academy programs. The interns will have the opportunity to develop and leverage skills in project management and leadership. With support from the Program Operations Manager, interns will be responsible for supporting the Academies team with day to day administrative tasks leading up to and during Summer Academy, supporting pre-departure needs of Scholars, and developing communication and informational materials for Scholars, internal and external stakeholders. 

Key Responsibilities: 

• Orientation Support: Assist in building scholar and staff orientations, including documentation and material reviews.
• Communication Management: Oversee the summer academy inbox, respond to Scholar inquiries, manage message platform
• Material Updates: Revise program materials for parents, scholars, and staff.
• Documentation Review: Carefully review scholar documentation for accuracy and lead scholar outreach as needed
• Staffing Processes: Support interviewing and onboarding seasonal staff.
• Logistics: Manage supply purchases, room assignments, and community programming preparation.
• Team Collaboration: Share updates and collaborate with the Summer Academy Team through various communication methods.
• Attendance Management: Support set up and training for attendance platform; Track and organize scholar attendance data
• Other Duties: Handle additional tasks as needed.

Qualifications and Experience:
There are innumerable ways to learn, grow and excel professionally. We respect this when we review applications and take a broad look at the experience of each applicant. The qualifications and experiences listed below are intended as a guide; we do not expect candidates to check every box.  If you believe you can meet the expectations and responsibilities of this position, we want to get to know you and the unique strengths you will bring to the work. 

• Non-profit, education, or business internship experience; preferred
• Passion for working with and/or on behalf of low-income, first-generation students of color
• Detail-oriented with the ability to manage multiple tasks simultaneously.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to collaborate with team members and correspond professionally with participants.
• Comfortable with changing priorities and able to handle unexpected challenges effectively.
• Collaborative attitude with a willingness to support various aspects of the program.
• Project planning experience 

• Strong organizational skills and initiative
• Intellectual curiosity and an interest in learning about non-profit operational management

Compensation and Benefits:

The Academies Intern is a part-time, temporary, non-exempt position, working approximately 20 hours per week. Compensation is $18 per hour, with an additional work-from-home stipend of $17.30 per month. This role provides support across program operations and administrative tasks, offering hands-on experience in a fast-paced educational environment.

Working Environment & Physical Requirements 

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by a seasonal employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this role:

• Frequent sitting, talking and listening and occasional walking, bending, stooping, and pulling
• Handle and operate computers, tools or controls
• Occasionally lift and/or move up to 25 pounds
• See clearly in an indoor and outdoor environment
• Work in an indoor classroom environment that may not have air conditioning in the summer
• Travel off campus (transportation will be provided and advance notice will be given if required)
• Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

Equal Employment Opportunities:

Thrive Scholars provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment and prohibits discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, gender identity, national origin, sexual orientation, age, disability, or veteran status. Knowing their importance to the success of our work, Thrive Scholars is committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and we aspire to build a diverse staff team and community. We strongly encourage people of all backgrounds to apply.

For more information, please visit thrivescholars.org