Internships are an invaluable tool for both students and businesses. The young adult gets hands-on, real-world work experience and the organization gets new energy and perspective, skills and visibility in the community. Not all organizations have the means to pay for a student intern. A new grant is available to subsidize student pay for a limited number of nonprofit organizations and businesses owned by women, veterans, and members of BIPOC and/or LGBTQ+ communities that would like to host a WSU Vancouver Future Leaders Project student intern this summer.
Online applications are due by 5 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 17, 2023, and can be accessed at https://workforcesw.org/flp-business-application-2023.
The Future Leaders Project (FLP) is an initiative of Workforce Southwest Washington (WSW), Columbia River Economic Development Council (CREDC) and Washington State University Vancouver (WSU Vancouver) that aims to help cultivate diverse leaders for our community. FLP places WSU Vancouver students from historically underrepresented communities and first-generation college students into employer-sponsored summer internships, providing growth and professional development opportunities.
To learn about the Future Leaders Project, contact Nolan Yaws-Gonzalez, Senior Project Manager with Workforce Southwest Washington, at nyaws-gonzalez@workforcesw.org or 360-567-1066.
Hosting FLP interns provides companies many benefits, including:
- New ideas and fresh perspective
- Support for projects employees might not have time to complete
- A proven, cost-effective way to recruit and evaluate potential permanent employees
- Opportunities for staff to gain supervisory skills by mentoring and managing interns
- Effective ambassadors for your organization, as interns often help increase the visibility of their host organization with their peers and family members
- Opportunities to promote community involvement and demonstrate your organization’s commitment to workforce development – an excellent public relations tool!
The Community Foundation for Southwest Washington provided a grant to WSU Vancouver to enable the subsidies for organizations that might not otherwise be able to invest in a student intern.
