Program Description
Thank you for your interest. Our application for the Summer 2025 program is now closed. Please look for our Summer 2026 program application on December 1, 2025.
Forest Foundation fosters the next generation of leaders for the Common Good through placing college students in a comprehensive summer experience at a non-profit organization. Paid summer interns are paired with exceptional non-profit agencies in Greater Boston; agencies whose missions align with the intern’s passion, skill sets, and academic path. Forest Foundation also provides extensive parallel programming for professional and leadership development. The Undergraduate Summer Internship Program can be a multi-year experience when combined with our Second Year Internship Program. Interns are accepted regardless of disability, nationality, ethnicity, gender, religion or sexual preference.
Important Dates for 2025 Program
Accepted interns are required to attend all in-person and virtual meetings .
December 1 – Applications Open
February 15 – Applications Due to Forest Foundation
Rolling Acceptances through March – Students Notified of Forest Foundation Acceptances
February-April – Host Agency Placement Process
Thursday May 29 – Virtual Welcome and Introduction Meeting, 10AM (Zoom) *expect 2+ hours
Friday May 30 –Workshop #1 – 9:30AM-3:00PM Orientation (In Person), Non Profit Center 89 South Street, Boston, MA.
Tuesday, June 2 – Most internships begin
Thursday, June 5- Virtual (Zoom) 1PM-2PM, Best Workplace Practices
Thursday, June 12-Virtual (Zoom) 1PM-2PM, Understanding Generative Conflict
Wednesday June 18 –Workshop #2 – 9:30AM-3:00PM, Grant Writing “101”, Non Profit Financials Workshop, and Non Profit Peer Panel (In Person), Non Profit Center 89 South Street, Boston, MA.
Thursday, July 3,Virtual (Zoom) 1PM-2PM, Mid Point Check in with Interns
Wednesday, July 9, Workshop #3, 10AM-2PM, Personal Theory of Change and Job Seeking. (In Person), Non Profit Center 89 South Street, Boston, MA
Thursday, July 17, Virtual (Zoom) 1PM-2PM, Grant Team Breakouts
Wednesday July 23 –Workshop #4 – 10AM-1:30PM, Grant and Presentation Tutorial (In Person), The Link at Kendall Square 255 Main St 8th floor, Cambridge, MA 02142
Wednesday July 30 – Workshop #5 9:30AM-3PM, Board Meeting and Team Presentations. (In Person), Non Profit Center 89 South Street, Boston, MA
Thursday July 31- Wrap Up and Moving Forward -9:30AM-1PM (In Person), Non Profit Center 89 South Street, Boston, MA
Friday, August 8 – Most Internships End
Program Details and Requirements
The Forest Foundation Summer Fellowship Program is comprised of three core programs; a summer long internship, a series of professional and personal workshops, and a team-based grant writing project and presentation to our board on behalf of a local non profit agency. A total of 400 combined hours of work between the agency internship, team grant work, and our development-in person and virtual meetings are expected for the summer.
INTERNSHIP PLACEMENT:
Full time summer internship at a non-profit organization in the greater Boston area starts late May for 10 weeks. Interns must be willing to reside in or within commuting distance of Boston for the duration of the internship and program. Housing is not provided or subsidized.
Interns are paired with a partner non-profit agency whose mission and/or job requirement matches the intern’s skill set and areas of interest.
Interns receives $7,500 compensation for 400 total hours of work (internship plus series of workshops) over the summer, before tax. Forest Foundation grants this money to the host non-profit which in turn pays the intern directly. Interns are considered employees of their host agency and are responsible for reporting any income tax.
Interns will engage in general operations of the host non-profit while completing tasks that help advance the organization’s work and mission in the community.
Within the summer long internship and series of program/workshops, students are, among other things, required to complete a group project as part of the program: The Group Grant-Writing Project. Interns are placed in small teams, receive grant-writing training, and then write a real grant for an actual non-profit organization. Grants are presented to Forest Foundation’s Board of Trustees for review.
PROFESSIONAL AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMMING:
Interns will attend eleven (6 in-person, 5 virtual) professional and leadership development engagements facilitated by Forest Foundation. These draw upon experts in the community to increase understanding of the non-profit sector. Off week “academy sessions” will be held addressing workplace and sector practices, including non-profit financials, diversity and inclusion, and site visits.
Group Grant-Writing Project:
After receiving training, interns are assigned to small teams and, with Forest Foundation support, write a grant proposal for an assigned small non-profit agency. Grant proposals are presented to the Forest Foundation Board of Trustees for evaluation. Teams receive feedback from the Board and each proposal secures between $4000-$8000 funding for their assigned nonprofit.
