Sales Strategy Intern at Substantial
Undeclared frosh and sophomores can apply for a BEAM Fellows stipend here:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeRlJKWp0jjExzrSuiD3Pk0HKCW6dUCzj5xeSXrrpd7anlJUQ/viewform
Can you remember your best substitute teacher experience? How about your worst?
The average US student spends a year of their K-12 education with substitute teachers, and most educators say that feels like lost time. We’re betting as a recent K-12 student, you’d probably say the same. But it doesn’t have to be that way! At Substantial we are on a mission to ensure every day a student spends with a substitute teacher is a quality learning experience.
If you’re motivated and interested to help us improve the substitute teaching experience for everyone, and have skills that you can lend to sales, research, and marketing, then we want to get you on board!
Our small team brings a depth of knowledge and experience working in K-12 education: from the classroom to the district office, edtech startups to established nonprofits, and we are a great place to learn what it’s like to work in a lean, startup environment that’s also extremely mission driven. And with a small team, you’ll also get the chance to make a large impact.
As an intern with Substantial you’ll get the opportunity for practical application and skills development in a dynamic and collaborative team environment. You’ll also gain valuable applied experience, make valuable connections in various professional fields, and gain a solid foundation toward your career path.
Who We Are
Substantial is a new nonprofit working to help schools and districts improve the substitute teaching experience for everyone. Students deserve more than a warm body and a worksheet, and we know that we can’t get there without investing in our substitute teachers; we’re committed to changing the way substitute teachers are recruited, trained and supported.
Substantial’s founder, Jill Vialet, is also the CEO and founder of Playworks, a national nonprofit bringing safe, healthy, and meaningful play to students across the country, and the founder of Museum of Children’s Arts: MOCHA. Currently Substantial is a fiscally sponsored project of Playworks.
About the Internship
As an intern with Substantial, you’ll be applying your expertise and learned theories to support Substantial as we design a sales campaign to support our newest program offerings. You’ll be working closely with Substantial’s Managing Director, Cristin Quealy, who has been leading the team in market research, sales strategy, and outreach.
Think that nonprofits don’t “sell” anything? Think again! Every nonprofit has to recruit partners and sell their vision to get buy-in and participation. Additionally, not every service offered to partners is free (but they should all be high value and lead to measurable impact). Substantial embraces a hybrid model that relies on both earned revenue from direct to client sales andphilanthropic investment.
In your role as an intern, you’ll be expected to achieve the following outcomes:
- Complete school and district level research to identify strong markets and potential partners -- you’ll get to know the K-12 education landscape in depth.
- Identify market segments and audiences to target sales strategy more effectively -- you’ll learn about roles, structures and decision making in K-12 education.
- Design an outreach campaign for at least one partner audience -- you’ll learn about communication methods and models for outreach with the opportunity to meet and interview sales and marketing experts beyond Substantial as well.
- Write email templates for outreach campaigns, both your own, and others -- you’ll get a chance to put your academic writing into real use with lots of coaching and feedback.
- Research and evaluate marketing channels and suggest strategies for leveraging social media -- you’ll get to jump inside the world of K-12 communications and even take over the helm of our social media engine for a few weeks to run experiments.
- You’ll also have the opportunity to participate in early conversations with schools and districts who express interest in working with Substantial -- experiencing first hand how nonprofits position themselves relative to partner interests.
This is a great opportunity to put your classroom learning into practice, and we want to make sure you’ll be successful. To support you and maximize your valuable time with us, as well as help you reach your full potential this summer, we’ll help create a supportive environment with:
- Useful trainings and information on the K-12 education landscape, sales strategy, and prospecting/research tactics.
- Complete access to the entire Substantial team via email, real-time chat, video conferences and in person opportunities.
- Supportive check-ins with your supervisor, the Managing Director.
- A wide network of experts across organizations, who regularly support Substantial’s work, and who can serve as additional resources and guides beyond our own small team.
- Access to the broader Playworks community and office, if you choose to work on-site.
About You
We are an organization grounded in “doing” and believe the best way to learn something is to try it! And we’re looking for someone who’s excited to jump in and try to figure things out on their own, asking questions when you need help, rather than getting all the answers up front. Because we are working in an area of K-12 education that doesn’t get much love (and as a result of much air time), a lot of what we all do at Substantial relies on hunting down information and opportunities. So we’re looking for someone who’s got a lot of creativity and drive around research -- and who really enjoys it!
You don’t need to be a business or education major, but you should have a strong interest in public service and nonprofit management with particular excitement around K-12 education. There are lots of ways to contribute in education, in addition to being a teacher, and we are excited to help you learn about those opportunities!
Details and Logistics
Work from Anywhere. We are a mostly remote team -- and you can be too! We meet at the Playworks Office in Jack London Square on Tuesdays, and it would be great if you could join in person every other week. Or if we could spend one or two solid days working together. But we’re also ok working together entirely over video conference too. If you’d like to work out of an office regularly, we can definitely arrange a place for you in Oakland.
Flexible Schedule. This internship allows you a great deal of flexibility. We ask that you spend about 20 hours a week for 8-10 weeks, between June 1st and August 30th, but you can decide when, where, and how that happens.
Unpaid. This is an unpaid internship with the opportunity to shape what you learn based on your interests, as we’re a lean organization we have lots of flexibility and room to be creative.
To Apply: Please submit your resume and (thoughtful) cover letter on our website: https://www.playworks.org/about/careers/internships/openings/job/982028/
This position is open until filled.
DURATION
Temporary / Seasonal
JOB FUNCTIONS
Administration, Advertising, Media & PR, Marketing - General, Research, Sales, Writing / Editing
BEAM FELLOWS
BEAM Fellows is a partnership between alumni and BEAM, Stanford Career Education, to connect undeclared students to alumni with non-technical summer internships. Alumni from diverse industries seek interns for a variety of substantive and engaging work. Past industries have included jewelry, entertainment, food & beverage, and wealth management among others; previous intern roles have focused on marketing, business, journalism, strategic planning, and more. Beginning in Winter Quarter, BEAM Fellows will post internship opportunities on Handshake for students to explore and pursue. Undeclared frosh and sophomores hired by alumni can apply for a stipend of up to $5,000 to help cover the cost of travel and living expenses during their summer internship. The stipend process is completed by BEAM, and all interviewing and hiring is at the discretion of the participating employers. Students may submit a stipend application at the link below when they apply to a position. Applications are accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis. BEAM, Stanford Career Education will make its best effort to review and reply within 10 days of receiving your application. You will receive an email sharing how much you would be awarded if you are hired by the employer. You do not have to have an offer to apply. However, you will only receive the stipend (processed to your student account) if you accept an offer from the BEAM Fellows employer. Complete your stipend application here: https://goo.gl/forms/JhFSpClPVhTfHzO03
