Prelude partners with employers and high schools to provide paid, work‑based internships for high‑school students from low‑income backgrounds. The program delivers on‑the‑job experience, academic credit, and mentorship, helping students develop transferable professional skills and earn an average of $5,600 per school year. Prelude generates revenue through service fees paid by corporate partners for curriculum support, internship coordination, and access to a pipeline of emerging talent.
Funding
Funding not disclosed
Founders
Product
Problem
High‑school students from low‑income communities often lack access to paid, career‑focused work experiences, while employers face administrative and supervisory barriers that make it difficult to host teenage interns.
Solution
Prelude operates a coordinated work‑based learning platform that matches eligible students with local employers offering paid internships. The program delivers a pre‑internship curriculum covering workplace etiquette, communication, and time‑management, followed by weekly professional‑skills seminars during the placement. Prelude handles school partnership logistics, academic‑credit alignment, and liability compliance, reducing the HR burden on host companies. Interns receive mentorship from both school staff and on‑site supervisors, and their progress is tracked through a cloud‑based dashboard that records earnings, skill milestones, and employer feedback. This integrated model creates a sustainable talent pipeline, supports employee development, and advances economic mobility for underserved youth.
Target Audience
Primary customers are public and charter high schools serving low‑income student populations and mid‑size to large employers seeking to build early talent pipelines, enhance employee engagement, and meet corporate social responsibility goals.
Features
- Automated matching engine that aligns student skill profiles with employer project needs across participating cities.
- Structured onboarding curriculum (email etiquette, meeting protocols, feedback loops) completed before the first day on the job.
- Weekly virtual seminars and coaching sessions that reinforce professional competencies and provide real‑time problem‑solving support.
- End‑to‑end school liaison service: credit approval, schedule coordination, and compliance documentation handled by Prelude staff.
- Integrated analytics dashboard for employers showing intern attendance, task completion, skill acquisition metrics, and ROI indicators.
- Dedicated mentorship network linking students with industry professionals and school counselors for continuous guidance.
- Liability insurance and risk‑management framework that satisfies both corporate and educational policy requirements.
- Scalable SaaS platform that supports multi‑site deployments and provides API access for HR systems to ingest intern data.