Lending Intern - Summer 2012

 

Background: The ‘Lending Intern' works directly with the ‘Lending Team' of ACCION Chicago which is currently comprised of 8 loan officers. A loan officer is the face of ACCION Chicago in the community. She/he is the first point of contact for prospective ACCION borrowers. The loan officers are responsible for generating client leads, making loans, connecting clients to resources that support their success and providing customer service to existing, past and prospective clients.

 

Responsibilities: On a day to day level the lending intern will be working with the lending team supporting them in the key areas of marketing and lending as detailed below. The lending intern will assist loan officers in processing applications for prospective borrowers and support ACCION Chicago in other general initiatives. The following is a list of responsibilities.

 

Lending

• Interview and guide prospective borrowers through the loan intake process, assess their ability and willingness to repay a loan.
• Help loan officers to obtain documentation for business owners who qualify for a loan
• Collate information submitted by the clients and assist loan officers in creating loan packets for the purposes of underwriting and review.

Business Development & Marketing

• Assist the VP - Lending & Marketing in identifying, initiating and managing strategic community partnerships that increase quality referrals from entities such as financial institutions, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, accountants, lawyers and business officers.
• Represent ACCION Chicago at networking events, seminars, and conferences; frequently presenting our mission and services.

     

The lending intern will also be required to complete one or two long term projects based on their area of interest and ACCION Chicago's needs.

 

Long term projects undertaken by interns in the past have included:

 

• Creating and managing database of potential referral partners.
• Creating a time line of ACCION Chicago's milestones.
• Creating a paper on ‘Islamic Financing' - assessing the feasibility of Islamic microfinance in the Chicagoland area.
• Impact assessment study to understand the impact of ACCION Chicago loans in the community through job creation and maintenance.
• Creating an intranet resource directory based on the ‘Wikipedia' format for ACCION Chicago's policies, guidelines and procedures.

 

Qualifications: The position requires an advanced undergraduate or graduate student with self-motivation, excellent organizational, communication, and computer skills, and a commitment to serve micro entrepreneurs in the Chicagoland area. The position requires a 10-12 week commitment and would start in June 2012 and end in August 2012. This is a full time internship and an unpaid position. Proficiency in Spanish is preferred. Please send your resume and cover letter to jobs@accionchicago.org.

 

AmeriCorps*VISTA

ACCION Chicago works closely with the AmeriCorps*VISTA program to provide year-long service opportunities in community outreach and resource development. AmeriCorps*VISTA volunteers gain experience in strategic partner development, event planning, and communications. For more information about serving at ACCION Chicago through AmeriCorps, please visit their website www.americorps.org