Family Services & Business Development Intern

Purpose of the Role

The Family Services & Business Development Intern supports the growth of a family crisis advisory practice by generating consistent business-development activity, cultivating community and referral relationships, developing streamlined operating systems, and documenting repeatable processes that position the practice to scale. This internship offers hands-on experience in how a consulting and advisory practice is built and expanded, with meaningful exposure to opportunity identification, relationship development, outreach systems, and the practical application of AI tools to improve efficiency.

About the Role

This is a hands-on, build-from-the-ground-up internship, not a seat in a large, established organization with a full client roster. You'll help shape a growing family crisis advisory practice  from an early stage, gaining meaningful exposure to how a consulting and advisory practice actually grows: identifying opportunities, building relationships, creating outreach systems, supporting visibility and events, and using AI and simple tools to make the work more efficient. The role rewards strong initiative. You'll be expected to research, execute, and document your work rather than wait for step-by-step direction.

This internship has flexible start and end dates. You can begin at any time and continue for as long as the arrangement is mutually beneficial. For students completing it for course credit, the timeline can be structured around a single semester to meet your program's requirements.

Primary Responsibilities

• Business development - Research and qualify referral partners, prospects, and community opportunities that fit the practice
• Outreach - Conduct approved calls, emails, and follow-up, tracking every meaningful contact
• Community partnerships - Build relationships with organizations that already serve parents, teens, and families
• Speaking and visibility - Research speaking, podcast, and visibility opportunities; prepare pitches and track responses
• Marketing support - Organize testimonials, LinkedIn research, content repurposing, and approved promotional assets
• AI tools - Use ChatGPT and Claude for research, drafting, and building efficient workflows
• Recruiting - Help recruit interns and volunteers, and keep the candidate pipeline organized.
• Operations - Keep the CRM, project tracker, and SOPs organized and up to date

What You’ll Learn

You’ll receive direct mentoring and real-world experience developing transferable professional skills, including business development, networking, professional communication, relationship building, marketing, project coordination, event planning, creative problem-solving, and entrepreneurial thinking.

You’ll also learn how to communicate with different personalities, initiate professional conversations, identify opportunities, follow through on ideas, and move projects from concept to execution.

Minimum Qualifications

Candidates should:

• Be currently enrolled in a bachelor's program (or a recent graduate) in Business Administration, Marketing, Communications, Public Relations, Entrepreneurship, Psychology, Sociology, Human Services, Organizational Leadership, Event Management, or another related major
• Have prior experience in outreach, sales, recruiting, events, leadership, or other people-facing roles including campus jobs, student organizations, or volunteer work
• Have strong written and verbal communication skills
• Be comfortable initiating contact and building rapport with new people
• Be dependable and consistent in following through on commitments
• Be organized and capable of managing their own priorities independently
• Demonstrate initiative and a genuine willingness to figure things out
• Be receptive to feedback and eager to improve
• Exercise professionalism and sound judgment with sensitive information

Who Might Love This Internship

You may be a particularly good fit if you’re the person who naturally starts conversations, makes connections, comes up with ideas, enjoys people, and would rather be actively involved than spend an internship doing repetitive administrative work.

The internship is collaborative and will include a combination of independent work, direct one-on-one mentorship with the founder, and opportunities to participate in professional and community activities remotely.

Check out https://cherianderson.com/ for a more in-depth look at Cheri Anderson, LLC.