Experiential Education Initiative (EEI) Internship Grant

Experiential Education Initiative (EEI) Internship Grant

Status: ACTIVE
Funder: John F Kennedy Center For The Performing Arts
Last Updated: September 20, 2025

Summary

The Experiential Education Initiative (EEI) Internship, established in 2000, offers a semester-long, paid internship for individuals aged 19 to 30 with intellectual disabilities. This program enhances work-readiness skills while providing access to cultural arts experiences at the Kennedy Center. Interns gain valuable professional and social skills through integrated experiences with college students and staff specialists, ensuring a supportive environment for personal growth and career exploration in the performing arts.

Overview

Experiential Education Initiative Internship Established in 2000, the innovative Experiential Education Initiative (EEI) Internship is a semester-long, paid internship for individuals with intellectual disabilities, 19 to 30 years of age. The program also provides access to cultural arts experiences at the Kennedy Center, opportunities for social and personal growth, and develops work-readiness skills for success in transition to the workplace. With meaningful, experiential hands-on opportunities, EEI interns will explore today's varied careers in a performing arts environment. About the Program The EEI Internship program affirms the vital importance of developing professional and social skills through integrated experiences with the Kennedy Center internship cohort of college students and recent graduates. EEI Interns engage in skill development alongside intern peers and Kennedy Center staff specialists in accessibility and employment supporting all members of the internship cohort to develop critical social skills and gain meaningful workforce experience. Meaningful work-readiness experience After an application and interview process, EEI Interns are placed in job sites around the Kennedy Center that align with their interests, skills, and professional goals. Intern placements are in the front-of-house, administrative offices, retail operations, and more. Each semester, supportive work placements are identified, and customized work experiences are developed in collaboration with placement supervisors and social service providers that supports the professional goals of every EEI intern. Professional Development EEI Interns engage in professional development offered to all interns in supportive environments that address their individual professional goals. All curricula is created with differentiation in mind and accommodations are provided when necessary. These opportunities include: Professional Development Workshops address workplace skills, like resume-writing, interviewing, networking, and public speaking. Kennedy Center Look-Ins are seminars that provide a peek behind the scenes into the inner workings of the Kennedy Center and the variety of career pathways available in arts organizations. These are also valuable opportunities to practice social and appropriate meeting behaviors. Performances and other Arts Experiences Nourishing a love of the arts is an important program goal. As such, the EEI internship program offers access to the cultural opportunities onstage at the Kennedy Center. Interns will be provided with tickets to performances of their choosing so that they may more deeply experience the nation’s cultural arts center.

Eligibility

You can learn more about this opportunity by visiting the funder's website. All candidates must: Be between the ages of 19 and 30.Have a documented intellectual disability as their primary diagnosis.Be referred through a service provider (such as a transition coordinator, social service agency, etc.), that will provide a job coach and support as needed throughout the internship.