Architectural Foundation San Francisco –

In our partnership with the City of Antioch, youth from underserved Antioch neighborhoods enroll in paid internships to gain workplace experience exploring design for the first time in professional settings, helping them visualize and orient their own future goals. Interns will be placed from July 26 – August 27 and will have once-a-week mentoring.

These mentors assist the interns in understanding the complexity of construction in the 21st century, and the wide range of issues connected with urban development.

Interns have an opportunity to develop their own design skills and to create a portfolio of work that they can use for college applications and career opportunities. In this unique program, interns will be able to learn drawing techniques, 3D modeling, photography, video, animation and work with a range of computer aided design tools including SketchUp and the Autodesk family of modeling software.

Expectations / Recommendations of a Mentor

Personal interactions with design professionals has consistently been one of the most impactful aspects of interns in our programs. You will have a profound effect on how they see a future for themselves in whatever they choose to pursue.

Here is some information on mentoring with the Architectural Foundation of San Francisco:

Timeframe: we are seeking mentors for our summer program:
1. Mentor once a week for 5 weeks – July 19 – August 27, 2021
2. One 1-hour session per week
Scheduling: flexible hours
1. All mentoring sessions can be tailored to fit your schedule.
Who can mentor? Anyone in the design world
1. We welcome any professional working in architecture, engineering, construction
  management, landscape architecture, interior design or related fields.
2. Mentors can work individually, in pairs or teams.
  1. Most mentors work alone
  2. We ask everyone to introduce their intern to some of their colleagues.
Who are these interns?
1. AFSF participants are youth aged 16-20.
What will I do with them? Mentoring an intern entails the following 3 (or 4) components:
1. Sharing your own professional experiences:
  1. the field you’re in, the scope of work you do
  2. what a typical year / week / day looks like for you
  3. the arc of your education and career
  4. how you made your choices, lessons learned along the way
2. Introducing your intern to the specifics of your firm and your work
  1. samples of projects you’ve done
  2. samples of specific tasks / products
  3. show / share tools (digital and otherwise).
  4. scope and arc of project work within your firm
  5. virtual tour / site visit of work space, work sites, completed projects
  6. introduce to others at the firm
3. Providing feedback on work the intern is doing with AFSF
  1. digital designs
  2. research projects
  3. compiling their portfolio
4. (Optional): Provide a small project or task(s) they can complete for you
  1. work with images or files, labeling, etc.
  2. graphic design, flyer, map, etc.
How will mentoring take place?
1. Mentoring will occur remotely, like all aspects of AFSF programming this summer.
2. Use whatever online meeting platform you use professionally (Zoom, Meet, etc.)
3. Send your intern a link for them to connect with you.
What other expectations are there?
1. Model professional habits and behavior
  1. Communicate consistently with your intern, e.g. if you need to reschedule a session.
  2. Professional and school-age-appropriate language and decorum
2. Keep us updated on your intern’s progress
  1. Complete a SHORT weekly survey on their participation.
  2. Show up to your intern’s final presentation, if you can.
3. Spread the word! We’re always looking for more mentors for our youth.