Community Based Internship Program

The Community Based Internship Program (CBI) is a credit-bearing learning experience coordinated by the Catholic Institute for Lasallian Social Action (CILSA) in collaboration with community partners. CBI is a mutually beneficial program for both students and community partners.

In CBI, students are interns (8-10 hours/week for one semester) at Bay Area nonprofits, community organizations in the public service sector, and on campus departments that promote social justice efforts. The internship also includes an academic component during which students explore theories of change, organizational theory, vocational exploration, and topics related to each student's field of study.

Our aim is for students to contribute to serving low income and marginalized communities and/or to promote efforts of social justice and sustainability through direct service or capacity building while engaging in personal and professional development.

Student Benefits

Join community-based organizations engaged in critical social justice work
Connect with mentors who are experts in their field
Engage in dialogue and study with a community of students
Explore career pathways and vocation
Receive $2,000 Educational Leadership Study Grant upon completion

Student Learning Outcomes

Through ongoing critical reflection, reading, writing, internship responsibilities, and seminar activities, students fully engaged in this course will:

Describe and apply theories of change to the specific work of their community partner organization.
Recognize and describe their growing sense of vocation and purpose related to public service.
Utilize discipline-based knowledge to explore the social justice issues evident in the community partner organization’s work.
Identify the personal and professional skills developed through the internship experience.
Express their understanding of the interconnections between their experience and their responsibilities as members of social or professional communities.

The Components of CBI

Interactive Seminar – This 90-minute bi-weekly interactive seminar is facilitated by Adeline Diaz, MA, CILSA Assistant Director for Community Engaged Leadership. The seminar focuses theories of change, organizational theory, and vocational exploration. Assignments and course activities specifically link students’ internship experience with course content.
Engagement at Community Partner Site – The community partner site supervisor will provide direction, supervision, and mentoring to the CBI student. They will offer mid-term and final evaluations of students’ performance.

Contact Adeline Diaz <apd4@robynmcvey.com> for more information.