Lincoln Park Zoo

The Lincoln Park Zoo will expand the scope and scale of its paid internship program to increase participation of young adults from lower-income backgrounds. The project will support fair compensation to all participants, increase professional development opportunities and workforce readiness training for interns, and creating a zoo-wide application and accountability process for staff intern oversight. Staff will engage with community partners and institutions of higher learning to recruit and select 27 interns over three years. The students participating in the program will take their training and lessons with them into their careers, and the zoo staff will have developed a program that builds knowledge and skills to empower the next generation, while supporting its new strategic plan, calling for equitably serving as leaders in conservation, science, and animal welfare.