As part of my series about young people who are making an important social impact, I had the pleasure of interviewing Ellie Zimmerman. Ellie Zimmerman is the Founder and CEO of Interns 4-Good.org a social enterprise that provides over 15,000 digitally-savvy high school and college students with virtual, technology-based internships with over 350 nonprofit organizations.
In this episode, I am joined by my wonderful friend, Ellie Zimmerman. At just 19 years old, Ellie is the founder and CEO of Interns 4 Good, a national non-profit that has been featured in Forbes Magazine… how amazing is that!! While backpacking the Owyhee Mountains, Ellie got her big idea: she decided to start a non-profit that connects teenagers with unique internships and service opportunities. Three years later, Ellie has been able to scale her organization to over 16,000 teen volunteers from all over the U.S. In this episode, Ellie shares her personal journey with bringing Interns 4 Good to life. I hope that Ellie’s story ignites your inner flame and inspires you to take action in pursuit of fulfilling your unique purpose too.
Ellie Zimmerman is helping pave the road for young people to connect and receive hands-on volunteer experience with nonprofits, demonstrating it is never too early to follow your passion. Now a senior in high school, Ellie started her booming nonprofit Interns 4-Good at age 16 out of her own frustration not being able to secure an internship realistic for a high school schedule.
Ellie grew up in Purchase, New York with an admiration for photography and interest in learning graphic design. But putting her skills to use outside of school was a challenge. After freshman year, she applied for internships at local nonprofits. “I spent hours sifting through a maze of online marketplaces, with nothing surfacing,” she says. Ellie also reached out to local businesses, all who required prior work experience and at least one year of college. She knew she was up against obstacles having little to do with her capabilities or eagerness to work. The Boys & Girls Club of America offered her a position, but she had to turn it down because her parents were unable to drive her each day.
That year, Ellie attended a backpacking program in the Owyhee Mountains with 25 students from across the country. In speaking to fellow peers about her difficulties securing an internship, she discovered she was not alone. “Grace, an aspiring filmmaker from Atlanta, and Troy, a talented illustrator from California, both struggled to find the experience they needed to build portfolios. Others shared their frustration trying to find volunteer opportunities that accommodated their high school schedules. Almost every member of the group chimed in with similar anecdotes.”
Ellie had a lightbulb moment and was determined to find a solution. She interviewed several local charities to understand their technological needs. “In each case, digital projects had been piling up due to a lack of adequate resources. From maintaining social media accounts to organizing photo libraries and updating websites, these common needs were ideal projects for tech-savvy teen volunteers.”
Ellie’s mission was to fix this gap by building a platform connecting nonprofits and purpose-driven companies with high school interns. For several months, she worked on plans to get Interns 4-Good off the ground. The $400 this resourceful teen won from a social entrepreneurship pitch competition covered the cost of filing for nonprofit status and she was on her way.
Ellie allocates an annual $120,000 Google awarded advertising grant to cover web server costs and online marketing. After running “Virtual Internships for Teens” and “Volunteer Website Designer” ad spots, traffic to the website soared.
“Students typically find our website through Google or word of mouth. To become a volunteer, they fill out a Google form listing their skills/interests, completing two essays, and supplying a copy of their student ID, which we use to verify their age. Responses are tagged by skill and uploaded onto a master spreadsheet. Once accepted, each volunteer joins our Slack channel where they can access volunteer opportunities.”
Nonprofits may list positions on Interns 4-Good’s website or by emailing one of their volunteer nonprofit coordinators. “Our volunteers support a variety of causes with national and local organizations including the Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation, Learning Ally, and Points of Light, She’s My Daughter, ENGin, and Volunteer New York. Most importantly, we work with dozens of student-led organizations that depend on our volunteers, helping young changemakers turn their dreams into reality.”
What started as an idea two years ago has surpassed Ellie’s expectations. Today, Interns 4-Good reaches 8,000 talented high school volunteers internationally and 180 nonprofit partners. “We receive around 100 new volunteer applications each day. By providing service options that are virtual, flexible, and offer real-world experience, volunteerism takes on a new meaning.”
Being one of the few virtual volunteer platforms, Interns 4-Good saw a surge in applications when COVID-19 hit. Homebound high schoolers missing extra-curricular activities and in-person social interaction created a sense of urgency for the nonprofit. Ellie was doing everything solo and knew she needed help. Luckily, the platform she created gave her access to already approved volunteers. Through a mass call to action email, she hired 18 teens to volunteer for the company. With this additional support, Ellie quickly expanded services to help the many children, parents, and teachers struggling with the transition to remote learning. During these trying times, she was amazed to watch the community she built rise to the challenge.
Creating lesson plans for teachers struggling to engage their students online was the first job Ellie and her team tackled. Within three weeks, the Interns 4-Good YouTube channel offered over 150 videos on topics ranging from space to model UN to the stock market. “Our volunteers now offer free virtual homework help to lower and middle school students, and technology support for parents and teachers struggling to navigate unfamiliar platforms such as Zoom and Google Classroom.”
While many high school seniors are planning celebratory vacations before their first year of college, Ellie is planning for Interns 4-Good’s expansion. Her strategy includes volunteers carrying the organization into their college communities as they have done within their respective high schools. “As our partnerships continue to grow, we will soon be able to provide interns not only with volunteer internship opportunities, but with paid internships with businesses that have social missions. Within the next year, I hope to transform our platform into an app that will ease the onboarding process for volunteers and organizations alike. The app will also serve as an online community for young volunteers to share information about their experiences and to spread the spirit of volunteerism among their peers.”
Alzar School was founded upon the belief that young people, all on their own, can spark real change and make a positive impact on the world. Institutional procedures, rules and social perceptions of teens as immature mischief-makers often inhibit youth from stepping into leadership positions. Many young people are left feeling like they require guidance or permission in order to act upon issues. Not so at Alzar School! Instilling the confidence and skills to act is central to Alzar School’s Capstone Leadership Course and Culminating Leadership Projects. There is no better example of a young leader than Ellie Zimmerman, Spring 2019 alumna and founder of the 501(c}3 nonprofit, Interns 4-Good.
Interns 4-Good is an online platform that provides high school students with virtual, skills-based internships at nonprofit organizations. Through the Interns 4-Good website, Ellie and her team connect youth with partner nonprofits offering short term internships that draw upon real-life business skills such as Photoshop, web design and film making. The benefits are twofold. Teen volunteers are able to build their resumes, develop professional skills, and complete their service hours and nonprofits gain much-needed support and a way to engage with a younger demographic…
Dr. Sharon Ufberg interviews the founder of Interns 4-Good, Ellie Zimmerman, who will be a high-school senior, in Westchester County, New York. Zimmerman’s non-profit provides high school students an opportunity to offer digital support to nonprofits through virtual, skill-based internships. And when the COVID-19 crisis hit, and students and teachers took to virtual learning, interest in virtual help with homework and tech support took off. Zimmerman tells Ufberg what inspired her to start Interns 4-Good.
It isn’t often that one meets someone who is kind, and thoughtful, and innovative all at once, but Ellie Zimmerman is one of those uniquely wonderful people. Most teens aren’t CEO of their own company by senior year of high school, but then Ellie isn’t most teens. She’s passionate about the environment and approves wholeheartedly of service learning. In fact, it was on a semester school trip to Chile that she was inspired to start her nonprofit organization: Interns 4-Good. Ellie is easy to talk to, and I’m chatting with her after one of the regular Interns 4-Good leadership team meetings. She’s a good leader: someone who is easy to look up to and admire. She’s firm in a friendly way and makes good executive decisions. Ellie says she started Interns 4-Good because she knows how hard it can be for high school students to find opportunities to help with different things they are passionate about, but also because there are many nonprofits out there who need support from interns. Her organization helps with both needs. They provide high school students with opportunities to assist nonprofits; these projects are called 4-G Gigs. Ellie’s idea (originally dreamed up as she backpacked across Patagonia National Park) has come a long way. It wasn’t always easy, she admits, but her family and friends from her semester school gave her full support. She has both a mentor and role model in her mother, a hardworking businesswoman.
During these unprecedented times, eager high school student volunteers are ready to help non profit organizations by providing technical support and other skilled based services. Some even are available for homework help and to teach classes via Zoom.
These teens are part of Interns4Good.org, a 501 c-3 non profit, led by CEO and founder, Ellie Zimmerman of Purchase. Going into her senior year at Rye Country Day School, she spends at least 5 hours a day on this endeavor, reaching out to her 18 member leadership team.
Zimmerman envisioned the idea for Interns4Good, 18 months ago, while she was hiking on a school trip. She reached out to everyone she knew to find participants for the program. Then, last summer she received a grant from Google, applied for non profit status and searched for companies that would need teens for online internships.
“When our program was created, I got a bunch of internships lined up and wanted to assure the credibility. I rely on my leadership team, kids from all over the country. There’s no overlap in territory and they reach out to their own communities. That’s what makes the leadership team so cool,” she explains.
“I have weekly meetings with the leadership team. They are all so hard working and help me. Through our site, we have signed up about one thousand students. Some tutor students in K-12 grades and others are working for non profits as volunteers in internship programs. In addition, there are other volunteers that help parents with technology,” she says…
