Isla Internships: Uganda - Internship Programs

Isla Internships provides career-launching international internships as well as faculty-led and service-learning trips that make a sustainable impact in rural Uganda. Isla builds upon the work of our parent organization, the Foundation for Community Development & Empowerment (FCDE), by providing opportunities for intrepid humanitarians, social entrepreneurs and change-makers to work shoulder-to-shoulder with the dedicated sustainable community development leaders in our partner communities.

Isla recruits undergraduate and graduate students from universities and work places around the world to intern side-by-side with FCDE’s partner organizations seeking solutions to pressing challenges in their communities.

Isla’s unique program immerses interns with substantive community development projects carried out in coordination with local partner organizations and our program staff in Uganda. With access to FCDE’s locally-led sustainable development model and innovative capacity-building methodologies, interns have the potential to make a lasting impact.

Our local partner organizations benefit from the support Isla interns provide in the delivery of trainings, education, and skills, while interns gain academic, professional, and cultural experiences through direct, hands-on work and living in the community with a host family.
Isla's philosophy derives from the knowledge that local people, communities and organizations are best equipped to guide development in their communities. The Isla internship model advocates for a greater investment in people and their capacity to create real change as a way of achieving inclusive sustainable development. 

Our model delivers capacity building services to organizations that work in seven key areas:

Small Business/Social Enterprise DevelopmentHealth and Well BeingQuality Education and Youth DevelopmentPeace, Social Justice, and Reduced EqualitiesGender EqualityHIV/AIDS AwarenessEnvironment – Climate Change, Clean Water & Sanitation, Clean Energy
Isla seeks interns from a variety of academic majors and backgrounds. Isla has defined internships available on the Isla website and will also customize internships according to specific skill sets. Isla also organizes faculty-led and service learning trips. Scholarships are available. 

Isla is the international internship program of the Foundation for Community Development and Empowerment, a U.S. registered 501(c)(3) non-profit organization headquartered in Ketchum, Idaho with field offices in Uganda and Kosovo.