The Taylor LEAD Foundation Internship Program

Ten weeks. Real work. Your name on it.

A paid summer internship in Boise for juniors, seniors and graduate students who want to build a career in sport, storytelling or community work. Five seats. One cohort. Finished work you can put in front of an employer.

Join the interest listApply nowJoin the interest list for next year View the application timeline
Sixty seconds with our CEO Angela Taylor on what these ten weeks actually look like. Filming before applications open.

What you can expect

Work that genuinely matters, alongside the people deciding what happens next.

Our CEO, Angela Taylor, is a former WNBA President and General Manager and a two-time NCAA champion at Stanford. You will work with her directly every week, because on a team this size the person running it is in the room with you.

01

You are paid for your time

You earn an hourly wage for every hour you work, on the same footing as anyone else on the team. Academic credit is available alongside it if your school offers one, and we will complete whatever paperwork they ask for.

02

You lead a project end to end

Each of the five roles carries a signature project that is yours to lead, from the opening brief through to the day it ships. You finish the summer with completed work you can show an employer, credited to you, because you are the person who built it.

03

You are in the room all summer

Your week opens with the CEO and closes with your own written reflection. Along the way you meet board members one to one, and in August your cohort presents its recommendation directly to the board.

Three cohorts a year

Summer is the big one. Fall and spring keep it going.

Summer is hybrid in Boise and full of in-person days. Fall and spring are virtual and built around a class schedule, because a 9am lecture should not cost you the internship.

Summer 2027

The Starting Five

Ten weeks, five people, five roles. The cohort works as one team on The Playbook Project alongside the role each of you leads.

When
June 7 to August 13, 2027
Seats
Five
Hours
Up to 30 a week
Where
Hybrid in Boise. Huddle Days in person Tuesday and Thursday, plus camp days.
Fall 2027

The Fall Squad

A smaller group carrying the work through the school year, with roles that rotate by season.

When
September 7 to December 10, 2027
Seats
Two to three
Hours
10 to 12 a week
Where
Virtual
Spring 2028

The Spring Squad

The spring half of the school year, pointed at the gala, the scholarship cycle and the run-up to camp season.

When
January 18 to April 28, 2028
Seats
Two to three
Hours
10 to 12 a week
Where
Virtual

School-year roles rotate by season across Events & Partnerships, Scholarship Operations, Content, Communications, Research, and Camps & Clinics pre-season.

The Starting Five

Five roles. Pick two and rank them.

Each one leads a signature project end to end. Not a task on somebody else's project: the thing itself, with your name on it when it ships.

Content & Storytelling

Photo and video across camps, clinics and events. You are the one holding the camera on the days that matter, and the one deciding what the footage becomes.

Signature projectA short film from one camp season, start to finish, shot and cut by you.

Communications & Newsletter

Writing for The Long Game and the Foundation's channels. Real publication, real readers, real deadlines.

Signature projectAn issue of the newsletter you research, write and ship under your own byline.

Camps & Clinics

Program delivery on the ground. Logistics, volunteers, participants, and the hundred small things that decide whether a Saturday works.

Signature projectRun a clinic day end to end, from the run sheet to the debrief.

Grants & Research

The evidence behind the programs. Grant research, data, and the questions nobody has had time to answer properly.

Signature projectA research brief the board actually uses, with your analysis in it.

Operations & Project Management

The systems that hold a small organization together. Process, tracking, and making the other four roles faster.

Signature projectBuild an operating system for one program area and hand it over working.

The rhythm

What a typical week looks like.

This is the rhythm we are building, and most weeks will follow it, so you always know what is coming and when you will be in a room with people. The founding cohort will help us shape the details.

MondayTip-OffStandup with the CEO. What happened, what is next, what you are stuck on.
TuesdayHuddle DayIn person in Boise. Project work alongside the people doing it.
WednesdayFilm RoomLunch and learn with a guest from sport, media, health or business.
ThursdayHuddle DayIn person again, plus camp days when camps are running.
FridayBox ScoreFive minutes of written reflection. By August you have ten of them and a record of what changed.

Beyond the work

The parts you will still be talking about in five years.

A ten-week leadership curriculum

One session a week, built around things people usually learn by accident and a decade late.

  • Personal brand
  • Listening as a leadership skill
  • The business of sport
  • Giving and taking feedback
  • Telling the story with data
  • Performance and wellbeing
  • Leading teams
  • Pitch practice

The Playbook Project

The five of you work as a consulting team on one real question the Foundation genuinely does not have the answer to. In August you present your recommendation to the board.

Not a mock exercise and not a presentation about what you learned. A recommendation, to the people who decide.

Exploring Boise

Ten weeks somewhere should mean you actually know the place by the end of it. We put a handful of outings in the calendar each summer, and the cohort has a say in what they are.

  • Live sport, from the ballpark to the pitch
  • Arts and performance evenings
  • Food and neighborhood tours
  • Networking nights across the city
  • A joint session with our LEAD Fellows

After August

The cohort does not close when the summer does.

  • An alumni network that keeps meeting
  • First look at roles when they open
  • Recommendations into our network, for interns whose work earns them

The timeline

Summer 2027, stage by stage.

You will hear from us at every stage, including the ones where the answer is no. Being left wondering is its own kind of answer and not one we want to give.

  • January 4, 2027Applications openAt 8:00 a.m. Mountain Time. Pick your top two roles and rank them.
  • January 31, 2027Applications closeAt 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time. No extensions, so do not leave it to the last evening.
  • February 12, 2027Video interviews dueA short recorded answer to a couple of questions, on your own time.
  • From February 16, 2027Group interviewsYou will meet other candidates. That is deliberate: the summer is a team.
  • March 1, 2027Offers go outEveryone hears, either way, by this date.
  • June 7, 2027The Starting Five beginsTen weeks, through August 13.

The Fall Squad and Spring Squad have their own application windows, announced closer to each term. Join the interest list and we will tell you when they open.

Who should apply

You do not need to have played. You need to care why it matters.

Some of the best people in sport never competed in it. What we are looking for is someone who wants to build something and will say so out loud.

YearRising juniors, rising seniors and graduate students.
Age18 or older by the start date.
Where you liveYou need to be living in Idaho for the duration of the internship.
PayPaid hourly.
HoursUp to 30 a week in summer. 10 to 12 a week in fall and spring.
CreditAvailable if your school offers it. We will complete their paperwork.
HousingNot provided. Worth planning for early if you are not already in the Boise area.
ExperienceNo athletic background required, and none assumed.

Questions

The things people ask before they apply.

Is it paid?
Yes. Hourly, for every hour you work. Academic credit is also available if your school offers it, and we will fill in their paperwork.
Do I have to live in Boise?
For the summer cohort you need to be living in Idaho for the ten weeks, and in or near Boise for the in-person Huddle Days and camp days. The fall and spring cohorts are fully virtual, so anywhere in Idaho works.
Is housing provided?
No. We do not provide or subsidize housing, so if you are not already in the Boise area it is worth planning early. Say so in your application and we will share what we know about the area.
Can I get academic credit?
Yes, if your school offers credit for internships. Tell us what your institution requires and we will complete the paperwork and supervision they ask for.
Can I put my work in my portfolio?
Yes, and we want you to. Work created during the internship belongs to The Taylor LEAD Foundation, which is how paid work normally operates anywhere you will be employed. Every intern has our permission to show that work in a portfolio, a reel or an application, with credit to you as its creator. If a school or an employer needs that confirmed in writing, ask us and we will put it in writing.
Do I need to be an athlete?
No. We want people who care why sport matters, whether or not they played. Some of the most useful people in this field never competed, and nothing in the selection favors those who did.
Can I apply for more than one role?
Yes. Rank your top two on the application. We read both, and more than once the second choice has been the better fit.
When will I hear back?
At every stage, including the stages where the answer is no. Offers go out March 1, 2027, and everyone hears by then either way.
Is there a fall or spring internship?
Yes. The Fall Squad runs September 7 to December 10, 2027, and The Spring Squad runs January 18 to April 28, 2028. Both are virtual, two to three seats, 10 to 12 hours a week. They have their own application windows, announced closer to each term.
Can I apply for a future year?
Yes. Join the interest list for any cohort up to three years out, including if you are a first or second year student now. We keep it, and we come back to it when that cohort opens.

How to know a message is really from us

Applying for anything means handing over your details, and you should feel confident doing it. Here is what to look for, so you always know when you are talking to us.

Everything about this program comes from internships@taylorlead.com. You may also hear from addresses ending in taylorleadscholarship.com. Both domains are ours.

Applying is free, and it always will be. We will never ask you for payment, for bank details or for a Social Security number as part of your application, and we will never ask you to buy your own equipment. If a message asks for any of that, or arrives from somewhere else entirely, it did not come from us. Send it to internships@taylorlead.com and we will take it from there.

The Starting Five

Five seats, and one of them could be yours.

Applications open January 4, 2027. Join the interest list and we will tell you the morning they do.Applications close January 31, 2027 at 11:59 p.m. Mountain Time.Applications for summer 2027 have closed. Join the interest list and you will be first to hear about the next cohort.

Join the interest listApply nowJoin the interest list for next year Ask a question first

internships@taylorlead.com · The Taylor LEAD Foundation, Boise, Idaho