
Imagine getting a job as a MythBuster, except instead of debunking urban legend, you’re investigating real life problems that plague businesses and sometimes hurt people. That’s what you could be doing at Exponent. Founded in 1967 by five Ph.D.-level researchers, Exponent was originally known as Failure Analysis Associates. They started out in the energy industry studying stress and fracture mechanics, but very quickly they were “investigating and analyzing accidents and failures of all kinds.” They eventually became The Failure Group, and were listed on the NASDAQ with the ticker FAIL. In 1998 they realized that they had outgrown their name, and changed again to Exponent, because it means “one who expounds or interprets.” We don’t usually get so deep into how a company chooses it’s name, but with the popularity of the FAIL meme (see also: FAIL Blog), we thought that you might be amused. Continue reading about Exponent…

Last month we wrote about the National Association of Railroad Passengers on One Day, One Internship. They are a non-profit organization that is all about promoting the growth of transportation by rail. Today we’re going to look at jobs at the Transportation Learning Center, which is a non-profit organization that promotes all kinds of public transportation. There seems to some overlap between the objectives of these organizations, although NARP appears to be passenger driven (no pun intended), while the Transportation Learning Center’s agenda seems to be driven by transportation workers (once again, no pun intended). Continue reading about Transportation Learning Center…

Happy Father’s Day! We were originally hoping to feature the Prostate Cancer Foundation, since the ad that they’re running called “We Need Our Dads” is pretty eye catching, but they don’t have any job openings, so we did our best to find another Dad related non-profit. We came up with the National Fatherhood Initiative, which is an organization that aims to “improve the well being of children by increasing the proportion of children growing up with involved, responsible, and committed fathers.” Continue reading about National Fatherhood Initiative…

Steve Mariotti was living a successful corporate life when he decided that he needed a change. He didn’t buy a sports car, get a toupée, or start dating 20 year-olds. Ok, he could have done those things, but we have no reason to believe that he did he did. He chose to leave his job and to start teaching special education in the New York City school system. This presented obvious challenges. Teaching special ed can be hard enough in a community with extensive resources, but it must be near impossible in underserved public schools like those in New York City. Mariotti realized that one of the only ways that he could reach his students was by teaching them how to run a business. They loved the subject matter. As Mariotti developed a entrepreneurship based curriculum for his job as a special ed teacher, he realized that he could extend the reach of his educational successes. He founded the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship with the goal of bringing entrepreneurial education to low-income youth Continue reading about National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship…

Typically young children are quite realistic about their career aspirations. They want to be firefighters, policemen, and teachers - professions that are in constant, steady demand. The more ambitious children might want a job as a doctor or veterinarian - still steady, but requiring a significant investment in education. It almost seems that as children we’re more realistic about life and careers than we are when we reach adulthood - except those kids who wanted to be astronauts. Since the beginning of the space program, there have only been 321 astronauts selected. Ever. There’s no surefire (or easy) way to become an astronaut - pilots, schoolteachers, doctors, scientist, and engineers have all been astronauts - but if selection as an astronaut is one of your life goals, you need to start preparing now. If you’re not ready for the commitment that it takes to be an astronaut, there are still plenty of entry-level jobs at NASA that will enable you to have a meaningful impact on the space program and NASA’s other endeavors. Continue reading about NASA…
When we came across today’s non-profit organization, we were surprised at what we found. We saw the name Sylvan Beach Foundation and expected an organization focused on environmental conservation - something like saving sea turtles or preventing land erosion. Instead, we found an organization that is changing the lives of marginalized young men through social enterprises. We’re not sure where the name Sylvan Beach Foundation came from, but we can’t see how it relates to the small town in upstate New York called Sylvan Beach which was founded by a pirate named Captain Steamer (that name is funny, right?). Continue reading about Sylvan Beach Foundation…

The SEED Foundation is a nonprofit organization (and the last one we’ll be featuring this year) that builds urban public boarding schools to prepare kids in underserved communities for college. They opened their first school in Washington, D.C. in 1998 and will be opening their second in Maryland next year. Amazingly, 97% of SEED graduates go on to college, and 85% are on track to graduate after matriculating. Some of them might even be your classmates Continue reading about SEED Foundation…

If you’re a college Senior, it’s time to get your life together. You need to find a job, start managing your personal finances, and think about giving back to society. The Calvert Foundation can help you accomplish all three of these goals. They offer investment opportunities. All Calvert investments are focused on community improvement. And most importantly, Calvert is hiring.
The Calvert Foundation, a 3 time winner of the social capitalist award from Fast Company, is a non-profit organization located in Bethedsa, MD that offers financial products and services that channel flexible, affordable capital to underserved communities. That means that they take money from investors to help other non-profits fund community investments with a focus on Affordable Housing, Community Facilities, Microcredit, Small Business, and Social Innovations. Continue reading about Calvert Foundation…
You know the feeling - it’s hot, wet, sticky and feels like it weighs about 6 lbs. So you change shirts during practice. Twice. That’s three shirts in one practice. You practice 5 days a week. That’s a lot of laundry. How would you like to work for a company founded out of a strong disdain for wet t-shirts (no, not the kind you might find on Spring Break)? Kevin Plank started Under Armour in 1995 with the idea of making better t-shirts to wear under his uniform while he played for the University of Maryland Football Team. With a great product and a little luck, Under Armour has become an essential piece of an athlete’s wardrobe in what was seemingly a saturated market. Continue reading about Under Armour…