For all of the interns who have helped out at the Chamber over the past year, we have two words: THANK YOU.
Almost all professionals at one time or another have held an internship position, an experience that can vary greatly depending on the situation. Here at the Chamber, our interns aren’t fetching coffee or organizing files; they are contributing directly to our success as an organization, and we want to make sure we publicly recognize them for that.
Chamber Foundation Summer Internship Initiative
The Chicagoland Chamber has recently galvanized our emphasis on internships, both here in our office and in the community. Through the Chamber Foundation, we are launching a pilot internship program this summer with our member CompTIA, an IT industry associate that leads the State’s IT STEM Learning Exchange working with Chicago Public Schools. This year, the Foundation will be funding 10 interns, and placing four more, as part of the Early College STEM Schools (ECSS) program aimed at providing graduates with the skills they need in the modern workforce with a focus on information technology.
High school juniors will be placed in positions with some of our Small Business Development Center clients, and two interns will be housed at the Chamber for SBDC clients that do not have an external office. These are paid internships, creating a win/win for our SBDC clients and the students themselves, who are gaining valuable real-world work experience.
Down the road, we plan to develop programming that connects our members to meaningful intern opportunities and students (including those at the college and even vocational level) to meaningful work-based learning experiences.
