Institute of Politics

Overview of Organization:

A Better Chicago is a nonprofit venture philanthropy devoted to changing how Chicago fights poverty by investing in bold ideas that create opportunity for our youth. A Better Chicago invests in and supports a select portfolio of high-performing nonprofits that are putting low-income youth on a path toward high school, college and career success. We harness best practices from the public and private sectors to provide Chicago’s most effective nonprofits with the financial and intellectual capital to thrive. Through our approach to selecting and supporting outstanding organizations, A Better Chicago seeks to improve opportunities for young people while setting an example of how philanthropy can drive compelling results at scale.

Key elements of A Better Chicago's model include:

• Rigorous due diligence: A Better Chicago carefully screens organizations and only funds those that have strong leadership, a compelling program model and a demonstrated commitment to outcomes measurement
• Adding value: It takes more than just money. A Better Chicago provides strategic support in areas like business planning, executive search and leadership development—all of which are critical to building strong organizations and achieving meaningful outcomes
• Results: A Better Chicago's team works tirelessly so that every dollar raised has the maximum possible impact. The organization openly shares its performance because it believes in accountability. It's part of how A Better Chicago is transforming philanthropy
• 100% impact: A Better Chicago's board of directors and leadership council cover all of our administrative costs, so 100 percent of all donations are supporting our portfolio of outstanding nonprofits

Since launching in 2010, A Better Chicago has made compelling progress:

• Invested over $73M in Chicago’s highest impact nonprofits and programs
• Built a board, leadership council, impact council and high-performing staff
• Reviewed 1,000+ organizations and built a portfolio of 26 high-performing organizations
• Developed partnerships with leading professional services firms to help grantees tackle their most pressing strategic and operational challenges

Internship Summary:

Our interns work closely with the A Better Chicago team to further our mission of creating opportunity for Chicago’s youth. Internship opportunities include a range of projects which may span our grantmaking, external relations (fundraising/marketing), data, and operational activities. Reporting to the Director of Strategic Initiatives, the intern provides cross-functional support to the CEO and Executive Team.

An internship with A Better Chicago is an ideal opportunity for a candidate seeking a hands-on role at an entrepreneurial and innovative nonprofit organization. As part of their experience, interns will build relationships with nonprofit and philanthropic leaders, deepen their understanding of the nonprofit sector and venture philanthropy, and receive mentorship and support from A Better Chicago staff.

At the beginning of the internship, we will work with you to set professional development goals and ensure we are creating opportunities for these to be achieved.

Responsibilities:

Specific responsibilities will vary by week. This internship role will gain unique experience across a range of cross-functional projects. Projects will entail supporting A Better Chicago in areas such as:

• Executing special projects on behalf of the Director of Strategic Initiatives, CEO, and Executive Team
• Conducting timely research projects on behalf of senior leadership to drive innovation in our strategy and grantmaking
• Supporting our Executive Team in their day-to-day work, including drafting donor and external communications, staffing and preparing for external meetings and engagements, and delivering on quarterly objectives and key results
• Collaborating with members of the Investments and Data team on data analysis, data entry in Salesforce, and more (Note: additional preferred data skills listed below)
• Engage in the planning and preparation of quarterly Board of Directors and Leadership Council meetings
• Building your network and understanding of nonprofit management, including joining team meetings and setting up professional development conversations with members of our network

Preferred Qualifications:

• Passion for creating educational and economic advancement opportunities for our city’s Black and Latinx youth
• Ability to handle multiple projects simultaneously
• Enjoys working collaboratively and being a part of a team
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills
• Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail
• Sensitivity to confidential matters
• A strong working proficiency in Microsoft 365 and Google Suite
• Salesforce experience a plus but not required

Additional Data Skills Preferred, but not Required:

Depending on the experience and qualifications of the applicant, A Better Chicago seeks specific data skills to help support the Data & Impact team. Projects could entail supporting A Better Chicago in areas such as:

• Executing special projects for the Director of Data & Impact to foster innovation in our strategy and grantmaking.
• Examining business requirements and converting them into database specifications, utilizing SQL to efficiently organize and store data within a database management system (experience with Snowflake is a plus).
• Developing, implementing, and documenting data model designs, including logical and physical structures, to support business processes and applications.
• Assisting in creating scripts (e.g., Python) to aggregate and analyze data, identifying trends and areas for improvement.
• Supporting in the creation of analytical reports, visualizations (with PowerBI experience being advantageous), and program evaluation tools related to grant processes and their impact.
• Conducting research on qualitative data collection and analysis, including survey design and deployment, and contributing to landscape analysis and other research reports.

About the Supervisor:

Your supervisor will be Allyson Siegel, the Director of Strategic Initiatives. She previously served as the Chief of Staff to David Axelrod at the University of Chicago Institute of Politics (IOP). At the IOP, she worked closely with the leadership team to oversee and implement programming aimed at fostering civic and political engagement. She was also the Executive Producer of CNN’s The Axe Files podcast and managed all media and speaking requests for David Axelrod. Prior to joining the IOP, Allyson worked on Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel’s reelection campaign. Allyson is a Chicago native and graduated from Colorado College with a BA in International Political Economy.

Eligibility

• Graduate students
• Domestic and international students

Location, Modality and Commute:

We have an office in the Loop, steps away from the Washington/Wells CTA stop. Our team works in the office twice a week, with Tuesdays being one of the required days (the other day is up to each individual). Previous interns have used the UChicago Shuttle and/or CTA buses.

Start and End Date:

The Academic Year internships will take place according to the IOP’s timeline, with specific dates and weekly hours to be determined by the employer partner and intern during the interview process:

• Onboarding: November – December 2024
• Intern Work Period: January – May 2025