Campus Philly Unveils New 3 Year Strategic Plan Focused on Internships, Community

Photo by Melissa Gregoli

After more than a decade of engaging college students to drive economic growth, Campus Philly has released a new 3-year strategic plan.

“The external environment was changing. Philadelphia’s status as a city was improving over that period of time, and we really felt that the strategic plan was an important part of shaping our programs in response to the environment we were really operating in and that was important to really tell people about,” said President Deborah Diamond.

Part of Campus Philly’s strategic plan is to help students find internships as well as increase the awareness of job opportunities in the Philadelphia region. Data shows internships are key in retaining students in the Philadelphia region, according to Diamond.

“We know from our own research that students with an internship, especially a summer internship in Philadelphia, stay after they graduate. 70 percent of students with a summer internship stay. We knew from the numbers that internships are critical,” Diamond said.

Campus Philly is also helping students connect to the community through it’s Campus Philly Exchange Ambassadors Program and the Open Arts Initiative designed to give students access to the wide variety of arts programming offered in the city.

The final focus point of the strategic plan is designed to serve native and new Philadelphians. A large part of that work lies in raising awareness of Campus Philly programs among students who have graduated from Philadelphia high schools. Campus Philly is also looking to provide paid summer internships for more under-represented students by expanding their 2013 Philly StartUp Scholars paid summer internship program to focus on immigrants and first-generation students.

Read more coverage about Campus Philly’s new strategic plan on Technically Philly and Axis Philly.

Campus Philly’s Strategic Plan, 2013 Annual Report and more can be found here.