New Life Village – Program Evaluation & Youth Engagement Intern

Employer

University of South Florida (USF) - Mellon Humanities Internship Program

Mellon Humanities Internship Program
Title: New Life Village – Program Evaluation & Youth Engagement Intern
Internship Site: Tampa, FL 
Field: Social Services
Total Internship Hours: 100
Location: Onsite – Tampa, FL

MHI Compensation: This position is eligible for the MHI $1000 Scholarship. Students who receive an offer for this position will be required to enroll in the Mellon Humanities Internship course to receive the $1000 scholarship disbursement. As referenced in the Student Interest Form that you filled out to sign up for participation in MHI, this scholarship can impact, or be impacted by, other financial aid you receive. 

If an internship requires out of pocket costs, students may apply for reimbursement for expenses including background checks, qualifying travel, or equipment. All applications will be reviewed and processed for eligibility. Please contact your departments internship coordinator for more details.

The $1000 scholarship offered for this position is intended to provide financial assistance for the pursuit of your education; it is not compensation for the performance of any services and does not create an employment relationship between the you and the Site.

This position is an experiential learning opportunity and receipt of the scholarship is tied to an academic course (IDS 3947). If you do not complete your registration for the course in a timely manner, your internship offer may be withdrawn, and your department’s Internship Coordinator may notify the host organization that the position has reopened.

Job Description:                                                                                                      

New Life Village provides a residential community where families seeking permanency for children impacted by foster care or trauma can seek healing in a safe and stable intergenerational Village. 

The Program Evaluation & Youth Engagement Intern will support New Life Village in strengthening its ability to listen to youth and caregivers, evaluate recurring programs, and use data to improve program quality and outcomes. The intern will have ownership of a semester-long project focused on developing practical systems for collecting, organizing, analyzing, and acting on participant feedback and program data.

Key responsibilities and work activities will include:

- Youth engagement and feedback: Develop and facilitate informal “pop-up” activities with Village youth designed to increase participation in program surveys and create additional opportunities for youth to share their experiences, interests, and needs.

- Survey administration and analysis: Support completion of existing youth program surveys, enter and organize survey data, identify trends and themes, and summarize findings in a format accessible to program staff.

- Program evaluation: Develop and implement a simple evaluation process for recurring programs.

- Program partner and caregiver touchpoints: Establish consistent follow-up processes with program participants to gather observations and identify areas of opportunity.

- Data management: Create and maintain organized tracking systems for program participation, survey responses, tutor feedback, caregiver follow-up, and other relevant information while maintaining appropriate confidentiality.

- Qualitative analysis: Review open-ended survey responses and feedback from youth, caregivers, and tutors to identify recurring themes, strengths, challenges, and opportunities for program improvement.

- Program improvement recommendations: Use the data collected to identify actionable opportunities to strengthen programs and improve the experience and outcomes of Village youth.

- Feedback loop: Help develop a process for communicating findings back to youth and demonstrating how their feedback informs program decisions.

Expected Deliverables:

By the end of the internship, the student will complete:

1. A structured and sustainable system for collecting and organizing youth program feedback and participation data.

2. A semester summary of youth survey results, including key themes, trends, and areas of opportunity.

3. A pilot evaluation and tracking system for sub programs (i.e. tutoring).

4. A set of actionable program improvement recommendations based on youth, caregiver, tutor, and program data.

5. A recommended process for continuing youth feedback and program evaluation after the internship concludes.

The student will work closely with New Life Village staff and will have meaningful ownership of the evaluation process, from engaging participants and collecting information through analysis, interpretation, and recommendations for program improvement.

Qualifications:

We are looking for someone who is more interested in asking good questions and learning from people than simply crunching numbers.

- Strong interpersonal and communication skills, particularly the ability to build trust and rapport with children, youth, caregivers, volunteers, and community members.

- Genuine interest in working with youth and learning from their experiences and perspectives.

- Strong listening and qualitative research skills; able to identify themes, patterns, and insights from conversations and open-ended feedback.

- Comfortable working with spreadsheets, databases, surveys, and basic data entry/analysis.

- Strong attention to detail and ability to maintain accurate, organized records.

- Ability to translate data and participant feedback into clear, practical recommendations.

- Strong writing skills and ability to communicate findings clearly to both staff and community audiences.

- Creative and engaging approach to facilitating activities and encouraging youth participation.

- Self-directed and able to take ownership of a project while also collaborating effectively with staff.

- Reliable follow-through with recurring responsibilities such as tutor and caregiver outreach, data tracking, and follow-up.

- Ability to handle confidential information with professionalism, discretion, and appropriate boundaries.

- Commitment to trauma-informed, strengths-based, and culturally responsive engagement with youth and families.

- Must have reliable transportation