The LEAD Internship Program
Investing early. Leading with love. Building what’s next.
Where Leadership Takes Root
The LEAD Internship Program offers college students a paid, 10-week summer experience in philanthropy and social impact.
Interns work up to 40 hours a week at foundations, nonprofits, and mission-driven companies across Chicago. Each student is hired and supported by a participating host organization, gaining real-world experience in purpose-driven environments.
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A program of The CAFE Group, LEAD is a catalyst for purpose, leadership skills, and network development. In addition to their daily roles, interns participate in a weekly CAFE-led learning series that sparks reflection, builds community, and deepens understanding of leadership, purpose, and the systems that shape our world.
LEAD expands who sees philanthropy as a career path, who gets welcomed into the field, and who helps shape its future.
We support students where they are, meeting them with care and centering them in community, while offering host organizations a high-quality structure for mentoring rising talent.
Why LEAD
Matters
Philanthropy is meant to be love in action—a way of resourcing the people, ideas, and communities that carry us forward.
But access to leadership, opportunity, and influence still flows through long-established networks. That flow is structural, not incidental.
Even with the best of intentions, the sector often reinforces the same relationships, assumptions, and channels of financial and social capital.
LEAD is the future of philanthropy in practice.
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We start early, connecting students to meaningful work, to each other, and to a citywide network of leaders. LEAD is where they explore the values they already carry, and to name how those values shape the way they lead, wherever their path takes them.
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LEAD's purpose is not to turn students into grantmakers. It's about living into the loving definition of philanthropy. It shows up in how time is spent, relationships are formed, ideas are shared, and care is extended. It lives in how we show up for our communities, and what we choose to build and protect.
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LEAD alumni go on to pursue all kinds of professional paths. What matters most is that they finish their summer with:
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A clearer understanding of how power moves
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A sense of responsibility to community
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And a growing network they can draw from and pour back into.
Whether they work in philanthropy or beyond it, LEAD alumni lead with intention.
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That's the long game.
And that's the future we're building together.
What Makes a LEAD Summer Different
LEAD interns spend 10 weeks working inside foundations, nonprofits, and mission-driven companies across Chicago. But this isn’t your typical internship.
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In addition to their day-to-day roles, interns come together weekly for learning sessions on leadership, identity, and equity in practice. They explore the values that guide their decisions and the systems that shape opportunity.
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They connect with a citywide network of peers, mentors, and sector leaders. They ask hard questions. They gain tools, language, and relationships they’ll carry into whatever comes next.
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At the end of the summer, LEAD interns leave with:
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Real-world experience in social impact settings
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A deeper understanding of how power and purpose connect
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Confidence navigating professional spaces
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And a network to grow with professionally and personally
Funders: Step In. LEAD Forward.
LEAD exists because funders believed in its promise. It grows because people continue to invest in what works.
If you’re ready to help build a more equitable and imaginative philanthropic sector, your partnership can move that vision forward.
Your support funds student stipends, underwrites program costs, and helps us scale what’s possible for students and mission-driven organizations alike.
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Get in touch with us at development@thecafegroup.org today.
