Summer Community Engagement Project Internship

Family Futures•Grand Rapids, MI

14d•Onsite

About The Position

Family Futures’ mission is to shape a community in which all children are supported to reach their full potential. Our geographic focus is primarily Kent County with some services extending into other communities. We help children ages 0 through 5 by supporting parents, providing connections to resources and programs, and offering ways to monitor and enhance early childhood development. We believe in supporting our employees, volunteers, and interns to be successful as well. Family Futures offers a strength-based, learning-driven, quality improvement-based culture that celebrates equity and diversity and an opportunity to grow while making an impact in your community. Family Futures values a diverse workplace and strongly encourages individuals with diverse backgrounds and lived experiences to apply. Community Engagement Project interns gain practical, hands-on experience in a nonprofit setting. This is a unique internship for those seeking experience with community engagement strategies, partner relations, and project management. The Community Engagement Project intern will be part of a larger team that provides support to other areas of the organization as needed. This internship position is unpaid, but interns will receive a $500 stipend to help cover costs related to the internship (food, housing, transportation), and college credit can be earned. This internship is to be completed in person, not virtually. Furthermore, this internship position will require the intern to attend some events occurring on weekends and weeknights; however, those event attendance hours will count towards the total hours needed for the internship. Required event attendance will accommodate the intern’s schedule as much as possible, but flexibility in the intern’s schedule is preferred. This internship will run from May 11th through August 28th, 2026, and will have a mandatory orientation on May 7th, 2026 from 9:00 am-2:00 pm at the Family Futures’ office. This internship can also be extended into multiple internship periods ending in either August 2026 or January 2027. If interested in a longer internship period, please reach out to the hiring manager. Family Futures employees, volunteers, and interns serve as spokespersons and champions of Family Futures in the communities we serve. A position at Family Futures may entail the following: the use of a personal vehicle, lifting of boxes (roughly 25 lbs.), as well as attendance of community events outside of regularly scheduled hours. For any adaptations or accommodations for the above information, please reach out to the hiring manager.

Requirements

Current college student or recent graduate
Ability to work independently and as part of a team
Strong written and verbal communications skills, including public speaking
Detail-oriented
Effective time management and organization
Ability to maintain confidentiality
Ability to work at least 15 hours per week
Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with diverse groups of people

Nice To Haves

Able to meet deadlines
Strong organizational and planning skills
Creative, innovative, and adaptable
Interests in community outreach

Responsibilities

Gaining knowledge of the general principles of community engagement
Project management
Creating and modifying documents using Microsoft Office
Inputting and analyzing data in various online platforms and spreadsheets
Program support
Event and Tabling attendance
Assisting with email management
Assisting with procedures for events, specifically the Joslyn Ward Nurture Nook: Changing and Nursing Station
Attending and supporting different community coalitions and workgroup efforts
Assisting Community Engagement Team with tasks
“We are not in the community; we are a part of the community”