Intern - Evaluation and Learning

The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation (“MCHF”) provides grants to improve the health and wellbeing of vulnerable New Yorkers, bolster the health outcomes of diverse communities, eliminate barriers to care, and bridge gaps in health services. We are motivated by the example of Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini, who worked tirelessly toward social justice and dedicated her life in service to the poor. Consistent with the ethical principles, tenets, and teachings of the Roman Catholic faith, our Foundation supports initiatives that enhance access to affordable quality healthcare and healthcare-related services and address unmet healthcare and healthcare-related needs of communities across New York State. This includes addressing the social determinants of health. Our goal is to build a brighter future for generations of New Yorkers regardless of faith. 

We offer paid, entry-level summer internships for college students or recent graduates. These internships provide motivated and ambitious individuals with challenging tasks and exposure to the day-to-day operations of a professional foundation.

Evaluation and Learning Department

The Evaluation and Learning Department (“E&L”) builds, curates, and applies evidence to guide the Foundation’s grantmaking to advance the health and well-being of the most vulnerable New Yorkers. Our work helps the foundation: understand issues and strategies related to healthcare and social determinants of health; assess the expected impact, pros, cons, costs, and ROI of different strategies; monitor and evaluate the progress and success of grants; and use evidence to guide strategic decisions on whether to start, continue, exit, course correct, or expand grantmaking investments. 

E&L works closely with the Programs and Grants team and External Engagement team in support of 4 program areas: (1) Access to Healthcare; (2) Basic Needs [which includes Food and Nutrition, Access to Benefits and Social Services, Housing, and Economic Security & Mobility]; (3) Healthcare Workforce; and (4) Mental and Behavioral Health. For more information on each of these program areas, see: Grants & Programs - Mother Cabrini Health Foundation. 

Responsibilities

Reporting to the Research, Evaluation, and Learning Officer, the Intern will support the E&L team by helping research priority issues, learning about effective strategies, and assisting with evaluating the impact of the Foundation’s grants. The position’s responsibilities encompass synthesizing knowledge and crafting high-quality knowledge products (which may include issue briefs, summary reviews, presentations and/or data visualization). Deliverables may be tailored to the intern’s skillset and interests.

Examples of tasks that the intern may support include the following:

• Conduct literature reviews on issues related to healthcare and the social determinants of health for ongoing landscape assessments on MCHF.
• Identify best practices and effective or innovative strategies in a specific field.
• Identify and monitor key indicators and relevant policies in different areas of MCHF grantmaking.
• Build a library of key reports and studies on specific topics.
• Develop and implement a learning agenda and monitoring and evaluation plan for grant portfolios to help E&L understand program implementation challenges, programmatic approaches, key outputs and outcomes, potential for deeper investment, and how grant strategies fit into the current state of knowledge and practice within the field.
• Support engagement with topic experts:
  • Identify and engage topic experts on issues of interest to the Foundation.
  • Contribute to the development of questions for engagement with topic experts.
  • Contribute to thematic analysis of knowledge provided by topic experts through interviews, studies, and reports.
  • Contribute to reports summarizing findings and recommendations for MCHF strategy based on engagement with experts.

• Graduate student in good academic standing. Should be currently enrolled in a master's level program in areas related to the Foundation’s mission, such as, but not limited to, public health/healthcare, social work/social welfare, public policy/public administration/social policy, nonprofit management, etc.
• An interest in gaining experience in research and program evaluation to guide strategy.
• Some coursework and/or prior experience in research and program evaluation is required. Basic conceptual understanding of quantitative and qualitative methods is required.
• Some prior knowledge and strong interest in one or more of the 4 Program Areas:
  (1) Access to Healthcare; (2) Basic Needs [which includes Food and Nutrition, Access to benefits and Social Services, Housing, and Economic Security & Mobility]; (3) Healthcare Workforce; and (4) Mental and Behavioral Health.
• Ability to prioritize assignments, work both collaboratively and independently, and proactively identify challenges. 
• Excellent writing and communication skills.
• Must have great interpersonal skills and bring in a collaborative spirit, being comfortable with iterations and the evolving nature of the work.

Conditions and Requirements

MCHF will provide reasonable accommodation required to perform essential duties of this role.

• Candidates must be able to work legally in the US (e.g., US citizen, permanent resident, or with a valid work visa.

• Prolonged periods of working on a computer in a high-rise office building.
• Vaccinated against COVID-19.
• Clear background check.

Compensation and Schedule

This is an intern position of up to 129 hours per month during the Summer of 2026. *Note that the start/end date and the distribution of weekly hours can be flexible to accommodate intern’s needs and academic commitments.  

The Intern will receive compensation at the rate of $25/hour, paid by direct deposit on a biweekly basis.  

The mode of work for this position will be hybrid. MCHF currently expects interns to be on site in its NYC high-rise office three days/week.  Interns will have an opportunity to meet the Foundation staff and attend group meetings of interest as an opportunity to increase their exposure and familiarity with the Learning and Evaluation function within a philanthropic setting. According to the intern’s interests, the development or improvement of specific skills (public speaking, synthesizing and presenting information, data visualization, etc.) will be emphasized and supported by the Preceptor.  

Housing

When needed and available, the foundation will provide housing in midtown Manhattan to ensure that the most motivated and qualified interns can benefit from the internship, regardless of their location. Unless an exception applies, the full value of the housing is considered additional taxable compensation to the intern.

How to Apply

To apply, please submit your résumé along with a separate document containing a brief cover letter (1–2 paragraphs) explaining how your skills and interests are a good fit for this role to:

Applicants should indicate whether they are interested in a specific Program area(s) or are willing to work in any of the Program areas: (1) Access to Healthcare; (2) Basic Needs [which includes Food and Nutrition, Access to Benefits and Social Services, Housing, and Economic Security & Mobility]; (3) Healthcare Workforce; and (4) Mental and Behavioral Health.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis (early applications encouraged).  

Salary : $25