Internship Overview

The City of Madison – Community Development Authority (CDA) provides affordable housing to nearly 3,000 households across the city through either the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program, Public Housing, or Low-Income Housing Tax Credit programs. As CDA evolves and expands to meet the affordable housing needs of the City of Madison, we need to make sure we are providing high quality services to our existing CDA residents. This intern will work with CDA residents, CDA property management staff, and CDA leadership to establish and implement a resident satisfaction survey that will help CDA assess performance and identify areas of improvement.

This is an ideal opportunity to gain hands-on experience in affordable housing, social services, change management, and project management while contributing to contributing to work that directly promotes community well-being.

Project Deliverables

• Launch the survey and begin collecting feedback
• Meet with CDA residents to identify common property management and quality concerns
  and barriers that may limit survey participation
• Meet with CDA site staff and program managers to identify property management and
  quality concerns and barriers that may limit survey participation
• Create a draft survey that is accessible to residents and fairly reflects key performance
  indicators from both a CDA staff and resident perspective
• Create a communication and change management plan to promote a successful survey

Project Background

The mission of CDA is to develop and provide inclusive and safe places through quality affordable housing, services, and community resources in the City of Madison. As part of our mission, we operates approximately 800 units of public housing. Many of these units are within walking distance from campus in the heart of Madison. (Click here for a map of properties.)

Our goal (particularly at our public housing properties) is to foster a sense of community based on shared respect between CDA site staff and residents. Moreover, we strive to meet the customer service needs of our residents with safe, inclusive, and healthy properties. This project will allow CDA to measure our success at meeting these goals and identify areas for improvement.

Qualifications

Requirements:

• Enrolled as a student at UW-Madison or another UW System school
• Major in Social Work, Public Policy, Communications, Real Estate Management or related
  field
• Deep commitment to social welfare and community development
• Ability to meet (in-person) with CDA site staff and residents
• Ability to communicate effectively with a variety of stakeholders
• Ability to manage multiple tasks while working independently

Preferred Qualifications:

• Ability to produce high-quality written communications, including flyers and emails
• Strong presentation skills
• Ability to facilitate focus groups with residents and site staff
• Strong attention to detail, demonstrated organizational skills and ability to work
  independently and meet deadlines
• Ability to collaborate with stakeholders while making decisions independently
• Interest in affordable housing and property management issues
• Ability to think creatively about communication strategies
• Ability to create an inclusive, welcoming, and open environment

Knowledge, Skills & Abilities:

• Familiarity with Microsoft Word, Outlook, and PowerPoint

Compensation

The student will receive a $1,500 stipend for their work and/or directed study credit, if
preferred. The student will be expected to work approximately 10 hours weekly

Schedule

Your schedule will be created in collaboration with your manager. Your schedule is flexible
Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Work will be done remotely and at CDA sites. Anticipate working approximately 10 hours per week, though time requirements may vary from week to week.

This internship will begin on Monday, June 8, 2026 and extends through August 21, 2026.with the weekly time commitment varying throughout the semester based on project needs.

How to Apply

Submit a resume and a cover letter explaining related experience and why you are the best fit for this opportunity to Megan McBride (memcbride2@wisc.edu). Contact Megan for any questions.

Application Deadline

Apply by 11:59 PM on Monday, May 4, 2026.