Blackstone LaunchPad Internship Program Guide – Summer 2025

The Blackstone LaunchPad internship program is open to only employers based in Florida and students who are “actively engaged” (defined as a student who is signed up on Startup Tree and has attended our events, coaching sessions, and/or competitions) in the Blackstone LaunchPad program at any of the 7 sites in Florida including FAMU, FIU, FSU, Miami Dade College, UCF, UF, and UNF (Blackstone LaunchPad - Blackstone). Interns should be primarily undergraduates and can come from any major on campus. Graduate students are also eligible.

These internship positions will be posted on the UCF Startup Tree website, which is a platform that helps us market our internship opportunities to students (Feed | University of Central Florida (startuptree.co). These internship opportunities are visible to all the 7 universities in Florida, meaning employers can draw talent from any of these schools. To view the Jobs Board, click on the “Jobs” tab at the top of the website.

Internship Requirements

• Company must be Florida-based and provide a substantive development experience for the student
• Student must be an undergraduate at one of the 7 universities listed above (graduate students eligible)
• 35-40 hrs/week limit
• 8-12 weeks long
  • Company Deadline to hire: April 1st, 2025
• $20/hr (Blackstone Foundation co-funding up to 50% if necessary)
  • $10/hr paid by the company and the other $10/hr paid by UCF Blackstone LaunchPad
• Overall: 40 hrs/week x $20/hr x 12 weeks x 25% - 50% co-funding rate = $2400 to $4800 max per internship
• Student must complete Jobs for the Future (JFF) onboarding course before their internship

• Student must have a mentor from your company throughout the internship. The mentor will meet with the student 1x a week to offer feedback and support.
• During their internship, the student will sign up and complete the required Blackstone Summer Programming (8 sessions from June-August). Student must sign up by May 12th, 2025.

1. Fill out the Company Application Form and Job Posting Application Form. Please email Emily Thompson (em717551@ucf.edu) once complete. This will allow us to create your company account and individual internship posting(s) on Startup Tree.
2. Become a UCF vendor by filling out the information at this link. You must be approved before payment can be processed.
3. You will receive an approval email with Startup Tree Login credentials, Applicant Review Dashboard instructions, UCF Vendor instructions and more next steps. Then you can start the interview and hiring process!
4. Note: Invoices will be sent to at the end of each month to (em717551@ucf.edu). An invoice template will be provided and payment will be sent in the form of a check.