Reports to: Director of Mentorship & Coaching 

About Chicago Scholars 

At Chicago Scholars we strive to prepare our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars. Our dual focus on Scholars and the world are both essential to our strategy. The first part of our work supports college acceptance, matriculation, persistence, and career access for our Scholars. The second part allows Scholars to go beyond surviving to thriving, from achieving to excelling, from attending and working to belonging and exceeding. The first part of our work allows entry, the second truly opens up opportunity and redistributes power. To achieve these goals we center diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and racial justice so that we can launch and lift our Scholars and enable them to lead and leverage their power wherever they are on their journeys.

Chicago Scholars is transforming the leadership landscape of our city by resolving the fundamental barriers to success for academically driven, first generation college students from under-resourced communities. Through college counseling, mentoring, and by providing a supportive community to our Scholars through each phase of our program: College Access (Launch), College Persistence (Lift) and College to Careers (Lead), we ensure that they realize their full potential as students and leaders.

78% of Chicago Scholars graduate college within 6 years. Per the University of Chicago Consortium on Chicago School Research, only 49% of their peers earn a degree within 6 years. Upon graduation, our Scholars move into leadership positions across Chicago, helping to drive the economic future of their communities and our thriving city.

READI Commitment

At Chicago Scholars we strive to prepare our Scholars for the world and the world for our Scholars. Our dual focus on Scholars and the world are essential to our strategy. To achieve these goals, we center racial justice, equity, accessibility, diversity, and inclusion (READI) in all that we do.

Chicago Scholars’ commitment to READI encompasses all of our stakeholders—from our staff to our board, from our volunteers to our partnering organizations, and most importantly our Scholars. This holistic approach is necessary for the sustained, long-term, positive impact that we seek for our Scholars, our neighborhoods, our city, and our world.

To learn more about Chicago Scholars commitment to READI, please visit chicagoscholars.org/readi.

At Chicago Scholars, we believe that education is social justice. That's why we're empowering Chicago's best and brightest first-generation college students and students from low-income communities with the mentors, resources, and opportunities to go to our nation's best colleges and universities, graduate on time, and become Chicago's next generation of leaders. Since 1996, we've impacted the lives of more than 5,000 young leaders in Chicago.

Our Values 

These are a set of guiding principles that apply to all stakeholders within the Chicago Scholars ecosystem. We select and retain stakeholders based on these stated expectations for how we achieve our mission and vision. Each are supported with core competencies and narrative for the sake of clarity. 

We Dream Big. We speak up, innovate, push the boundaries and keep the creativity flowing. We don’t accept the status quo because the stakes are too high. We have an incredible belief that growth and change is possible. While we dream big, we are laser focused on our intended goals and outcomes for our Scholars, our city and the world. 

We Show Up. We show up every day; not just physically, but with a positive attitude and willingness to work, connect, challenge, engage, solve problems and have fun. We don’t wait for someone to tell us what to do. We take action and get the job done. If we don’t know how, we figure it out through our knowledge, exploration or our network. 

We Embrace Our Differences. We represent a multicultural nation and our collective backgrounds, experiences, styles, values, perspectives and beliefs are an asset to the world. We recognize that together we achieve better outcomes more quickly. Justice and equity starts with us using our collective voice. 

We Model the Way. We exhibit the behavior that we want to see in others and in the world. Titles are granted, but our behavior is what earns us respect. In order to model the way, we must be clear about our guiding principles, celebrate our accomplishments and learn from our challenges and failures. 

We Care For Each Other Along the Way. We adapt to the needs of the person in front of us. We pause, reflect and listen. We do our best work when we are in good relationship together. We care personally and challenge directly. 

We Keep Our Word. When we commit, we are all in. Whether for events, a Scholar, a peer or ourselves. Our words are as powerful as our actions and are the building block of trust, respect, self-worth and integrity. 

Position Summary: 

The Mentorship Intern has the primary responsibility of supporting the day-to-day activities of Year 1 and Year 2 of the Chicago Scholars Mentorship Program. This includes regular collaboration with the College Access (Team Launch) and College Success (Team Lift) Teams who are integral to the Mentorship Program. The ideal candidate is creative, has excellent writing skills and feels comfortable with communicating with our Mentors.  

This role is a part-time & hourly position without benefits. The rate per hour is $16/hour, and the number of hours that you will be permitted to work each week is 15-20 hours on average. The number of hours per week can be flexible to accommodate school schedules and heavy project periods. 

Key Responsibilities: 

Chicago Scholars Mobile App 

• Create and post daily content in Year 1 & Year 2 Mentor Communities and Programs 
• Address Mentor questions, comments, and inquiries in the Mentor Communities and Programs within 24 hours 

Mentorship Engagement Tracking and Follow-up 

• Responsible for emails, texts, and phone calls to Mentors that have not completed monthly notes in Cohort Engagement Tracker and CS Connect 

Event Attendance Tracking and Follow-up 

• Responsible for tracking Mentor attendance at required and optional events (Mentor Trainings, Launch & Lift Workshops) 
• Outreach to Mentors via email, text, and phone calls about events 

Mentor Recruitment Tracking and Follow-up 

• Responsible for emails, texts, and phone calls to Mentor candidates to ensure they successfully move through the application pipeline.  

Mentor Communications

• Support the design and distribution of regular communications to Mentors. 

Mentorship Events and Programming 

• Assist with events and programming (ideas, implementation, and execution) 

Additional Responsibilities: 

• This role will occasionally work on nights and weekends for Mentorship events and programming. 
• Other duties, as assigned. 

Requirements: 

• Collegiate Chicago Scholar 
• Education: High school diploma, some college 
• Has excellent interpersonal, telephone, writing, and overall communication skills 
• Can work between 15-20 hours per week 

Preferred Requirements: 

• Experience: 1-2 years of work experience 
• Lives in the Chicagoland area and is able to work in the office as needed 

Technical Knowledge  

• Proficient in Word, Excel, PowerPoint 
• Knowledge of Canva, Pardot, Outlook, Salesforce, Microsoft Teams (preferred) 

Core Competencies: 

• Collaboration and Teamwork: Demonstrated ability to cultivate and sustain relationships with diverse audiences. 
• Problem Solving: Ability to plan and organize tasks and work responsibilities to achieve objectives; allocate and use resources well.
• Accountability: Ability to handle sensitive and confidential information with discretion.
• Communication: Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills.
• Initiative: Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a team environment.
• Adaptability: Ability to operate effectively flexibly in changing contexts and operating environments.  

Hourly Salary: $16/hour 

COVID-19 Vaccination Policy: Effective January 1, 2022, all Chicago Scholars employees will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19. Exceptions may be made for religious and medical accommodations. Unvaccinated employees who receive a religious or medical accommodation must submit a weekly negative COVID-19 test result. Employees hired after January 1, 2022 are required to be fully vaccinated by their first day of work or submit a negative test result dated no more than three days prior to their first day of work.  

If you have questions regarding this policy, or any of Chicago Scholars employment policies, please reach out to the Human Resources team at jobs@chicagoscholars.org with the subject line: Policy Question. 

To Apply 

Please click 'Apply' to submit your application which should include a resume and cover letter. In your cover letter, please address how your experience aligns with the listed qualifications, and what it means to be a Chicago Scholar.