About the Foundation

The Kresge Foundation is one of the top 20 private philanthropic foundations in the United States and the only one focused exclusively on expanding opportunities for people with low-income in American cities. With an endowment of approximately $4 billion and a staff of over 100 employees, the Foundation deploys grants and social investments across arts and culture, education, environment, health, human services, and community development. The Foundation’s state-of-the-art headquarters maintains an array of energy-efficient, water-conserving and health-promoting systems. The Foundation also operates an office in Detroit’s Midtown district.

About the Legal Team

The Legal Team is made up of a General Counsel, an Associate General Counsel and an Administrative Assistant and part of the Executive office. The General Counsel helpslead the Foundation’s internal and external legal resources to maximize social impact and scale operations through creative and effective use of a variety of financial tools and incentives, including grants, equity investments, debt structures, and service contracts, negotiated with a wide range of partner organizations operating across the country. Additionally, the General Counsel:

Acts as Board Secretary, maintaining the official records of the Foundation, coordinating meetings and communications with the Board of Trustees and performing the duties of the role as outlined in the Foundation’s Bylaws. This role also serves as staff liaison to the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Foundation;
Oversees the general compliance and monitoring activities related to the conflict-of-interest process and other associated policies;
Provides strategic advice, counsel and legal support to Foundation staff to provide the highest quality legal representation and positioning that supports the Foundation’s mission and strategic framework; includes research, counseling, document drafting, review and negotiation, regulatory work associated with general business transactions, intellectual property protection and technology, corporate requirements, internal foundation policy review and oversight;
Troubleshoots issues with the Foundation’s Board of Trustees, Executive office and staff and assists in finding solutions and acts as a thought partner on the Foundation’s development and operational initiatives and projects;
Cultivates knowledge of and provides periodic legal support on private foundation issues and tax laws affecting grant making and the philanthropic sector generally, developing and delivering training on those issues;
Assists with drafting, review, and negotiation of documents and policies on a variety of transactions related to all areas of the Foundation’s work, including grants, program-related investments, and talent and human resource issues. This includes the review of contracts, policies and practices for the procurement of goods and services and for the retention of vendors/consultants; and
Manages the legal budget, overall quality of services and cost of services. In partnership with internal stakeholders, directs and coordinates activities and actions with outside counsel retained to represent the Foundation, partnering around the delivery of legal services.

About the Position

The intern’s role will be designed to provide practical experience in private foundation law and tax and regulatory compliance related to non-profits, in addition to assisting the General Counsel and Associate General Counsel.

The position will report directly to the General Counsel and include opportunities to own significant projects and interface with multiple Foundation teams.

Primary Responsibilities Include:

The intern will support the Legal and Executive teams. Projects might include:

Vendor/Consulting contract preparation and review;
Identifying organizational-wide policies and processes with legal implications and the creation, drafting and implementation of such policies;
Review legal risks and incorporate into the Foundation’s Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) plan.
Grant agreement review and revisions from prospective grantees;
Researching various legal issues and providing guidance to Program staff;
Development of a procurement policy and corresponding guidance documents (RFP, RFI and RFQ templates);
Overhaul of record retention policy and schedule to align with industry standards and practice; and
Development of legal training materials on various topics of interest to the Foundation’s staff.

Qualifications

Current law student entering their second (rising 2L) or third (rising 3L) year of law school in the Fall of 2026;
Minimum GPA of 3.25;
Resume, Cover Letter, Transcript and References;
Strong legal research and writing skills; and
Strong organizational skills

What we offer our Interns

A pay rate of $30/hour for Graduate students
Housing stipend of $350 per month
Volunteer opportunity or group activity
Breakfast, lunch, and snacks daily for a minimal charge from our Troy cafeteria

This position is located at the Troy, MI office and has a hybrid schedule. Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday are in-office days. Therefore, the Foundation highly encourages applications from local metro-Detroit university students and students who will be local to the metro-Detroit area over the summer.

The application deadline for this position is Midnight EST on January 4, 2026. Please attach a cover letter, transcript, and references for consideration for this position. The cover letter should address your specific interest in the position and outline skills and experience that directly relate to this position.

Kresge is proud to be an Equal Employment Opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, age, status as a protected veteran, status as an individual with a disability or other applicable legally protected characteristics.

The Kresge Foundation participates in E-Verify to confirm authorization to work in the United States. For more information on E-Verify and to know your rights please click here.

Kresge Foundation

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