January 2024 – Essex Heritage, in keeping with its long tradition of supporting the Essex National Heritage Area’s unique cultural heritage and providing opportunities for local youth, announces its 2024 “Future Leaders” Youth Jobs Internship Funding Program.

Seeking to engage young adults in meaningful paid work with local institutions, the funds are intended to assist in providing exposure to areas including visitor services, exhibit design and maintenance, archival work, environmental education and preservation, “hidden histories,” and trail development and maintenance. The program was born of a critical need for high school and college-aged youth to gain meaningful work experience without the sacrifice of an unpaid internship. This reimbursable grant is available to registered 501(c)3 organizations seeking to hire young adults within their community in amounts ranging from $2,000 to $10,000 depending on each organization’s needs.

Applications can be found at EssexHeritage.org/Programs/Future-Leaders and are designed to be as accessible as possible.

“We’re excited to be able to offer this youth jobs funding program to the many wonderful organizations throughout the Essex National Heritage Area. After piloting the program to great success, I hope to see a considerable amount of organizations reaching out for the opportunity.”
-Charles Smith, Manager of Future Resources

About Essex Heritage and the Essex National Heritage Area
Essex Heritage is the non-profit organization that manages the Essex National Heritage Area by developing programs that enhance, preserve, and encourage recreation, education, conservation and interpretation projects on Boston’s North Shore and the Lower Merrimack River Valley. The Essex National Heritage Area comprises the 34 cities and towns of Essex County, MA. For more information,
visit www.EssexHeritage.org or call (978) 226-8154.