Position Details

Position Type: Internship (Stipend)
Reports To: Director of Strategy Development
Work Location: Virtual
Level of Travel Required: 25%
Duration: 9 Weeks (May 31, 2024-August 1, 2024)

Application Deadline:  April 1, 2024

ICB Overview

The Institute for Capacity Building was launched by UNCF President and CEO Dr. Michael Lomax in 2006 to provide targeted capacity-building resources to help UNCF’s member institutions improve admission, retention, and graduation rates. Historically, ICB offered discrete technical assistance in Enrollment Management, Institutional Advancement, Executive Leadership, Facilities & Infrastructure Enhancement, Institutional Effective, and Fiscal and Strategic Technical Assistance. While the provided technical assistance was helpful, ICB leaders recognized a need to shift our methodology from discrete technical assistance to a more holistic approach. Read more about UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building on our new website www.uncficb.org and follow us on our social media pages on Twitter (@uncficb), LinkedIn (UNCF Institute for Capacity Building. 

Core to all change initiatives is identifying core capacities – people, processes, and technologies – needed to execute and sustain efforts in the short- and long-term. Capacity building also includes strengthening, replacing, and sharing institutional resources. 

ICB uses a resiliency-focused approach that seeks to grow HBCU impact while deepening HBCU connections and influence. We define resiliency as the institutional ability to achieve success today while future-proofing its operations for tomorrow. Resiliency is driven in our view by three factors:

• Effectiveness, or the institutional ability to recruit, enroll, retain, and graduate students while delivering a 21st century-ready educational experience.
• Competitiveness, or the institutional ability to distinguish itself through its academic program, institutional experience, and student outcomes; and
• Viability, or the institutional ability to leverage and/or secure institutional resources to deliver against its mission and purpose.

Read more about UNCF’s Institute for Capacity Building on our new website www.uncficb.org and check out Twitter and Social Media pages @uncficb. 

Job Overview

UNCF – Institute for Capacity Building (ICB) is seeking a strategy development intern to support the Institute for Capacity Building’s strategic priorities in conjunction with UNCF and ICB leadership. The UNCF ICB Strategy Development team’s mission is to cultivate the mission and vision of the UNCF Institute for Capacity Building. We are looking for a proactive, highly motivated intern to support strategy, fundraising, communications, and other emerging projects to support the transformation of Historically Black Colleges and Universities. Experience in education, political science, sociology, media, or communications is preferred. We are currently seeking enthusiastic interns who can work full-time (35 hours per week) between May 2023 and August 2023.

Duties and Responsibilities

Proposed Details and Responsibilities will be finalized to align with candidate’s areas of strength. Internship areas of may include

• Supporting new programs and concepts that build HBCUs’ capacity as an institution to thrive.
• Conducting background research on topics related to education, history, sociology, and leadership.
• Drafting memoranda, policy briefs, and research for internal and external audiences.
• Working with ICB team to brainstorm and investigate new initiatives to advance the quality of education at HBCUs.
• Supporting strategic communications efforts, including advancement of social media, traditional media, marketing, and other strategic communications priorities.
• Activating student communities and other key stakeholder groups to advance the mission of the Institute for Capacity Building.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills/ Qualifications/ Experience

• Applicants must be currently enrolled in an accredited baccalaureate degree program
• Excellent problem solving, critical thinking, and communication skills
• Comfort with concurrently managing multiple ongoing projects in different phases
• Strong interpersonal skills and an interest in working collaboratively in a team environment 
• Entrepreneurial, self-starting mindset when accomplishing assignments and tasks 
• Demonstrated interest in tackling the challenge of delivering high quality higher education academic experiences to student and learner communities who are often marginalized by society (including students experiencing poverty, first-generation students, students from urban and rural settings, students with disAbilities, and students of color)

Application must include the following

• Current Resume
• 2.5 GPA requirement
• Unofficial transcript from an undergraduate program 
• List of three professional/academic references
• Writing sample (Why do you want to be a Strategy Development Intern? 500–750-word count)

Please submit application materials to icb@uncf.org or kristie.roberts-lewis@uncf.org
Subject Line: 2024 ICB Strategy Development Internship