The Emma Bowen Foundation (EBF) is a company founded in 1989 that helps students of color discover opportunities to find internships at major companies. They recruit promising students and put them in paid internships providing the future tech and media companies with a pipeline of young talent. They believe “that diversity is important in all aspects of the media industry, from the correspondents in front of the camera to the media sales departments bringing in revenue to the coders and engineers who are changing the way we access and understand content” (emmabowenfoundations). They focus on different types of media such as the business of media, the content of media, the content the media produces, and what the media is able to innovate. The EBF is also partnering with multiple media companies to help with their interns. Some of the interns that are partnered with them are HBO, CBS, ARRIS, and Concurrent Computer Corporation (CCC).
The EBF has more than 30 partners that hire interns. Some of these companies include the popular ones like: PBS, CPB, Warner Bros, and Comcast. PBS usually hires more than 20 people a year for internships in Virginia. “The goal of PBS’ internship program is to provide a valuable, educational experience for students interested in the world of public media” Interns here will be working on key projects and will get the attention of major workers there as they will be working together with special departments and within their teams. At PBS you will learn what they do outside of the children shows they usually present. Take a look at the PBS intern experience here: (https://youtu.be/F76OSY3kZrQ)
To be able to apply to be part of the EBF you must be a student of color, graduate high school or in college, have a GPA of at least 3.0, should be interested in pursuing a career in the media industry, plan to go to a 4 year college or university, be a U.S. citizen or permanent resident, and lastly be able to speak and write English fluently. Even if you’re not able to meet these certain requirements you are still welcome to be part of this corporation. Once you have passed these you will just need to be able to find their recruiting office in one of this cities. There is an online application here: http://www.emmabowenfoundation.com/application_info.
The internships from the EBF run through the summer but most of the companies run them year through. Interns will also be paid for their work there if they apply through the Emma Bowen Foundation. At HBO they will usually get paid around $12 per hour during the summer but the most someone can make there through an internship is $42 per hour.
