Sheryl Sandberg's Nonprofit Will Pay Its Interns

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By Kurt Wagner2013-08-18 19:00:46 UTC

Sheryl Sandberg's nonprofit is about to start walking the walk.

LeanIn.org, the nonprofit launched in conjunction with Facebook COO Sandberg's popular book "Lean In" about female empowerment, will start to pay its interns, according to a post on Facebook last week.

The gesture did not come unsolicited, however. LeanIn.org's post came just two days after the organization took heat for an employee who posted on Facebook seeking an unpaid editorial intern.

See also: Sheryl Sandberg Sells Facebook Stock for $91 Million

LeanIn.org has benefitted from unpaid student help in the past. But in last week's post it referred to them as "volunteers," not interns. The message went on to address the controversial unpaid internship posting, calling it "a position that doesn’t fall within LeanIn.Org's definition of a 'volunteer.'"

"As a startup, we haven’t had a formal internship program," wrote LeanIn.org president Rachel Thomas. "Moving forward we plan to, and it will be paid."

LeanIn.org is not be the first organization to solicit help from unpaid interns, or "volunteers." The post for an unpaid intern did, however, contradict much of what its famous founder has been preaching for months about gender equality in the workforce and equal and fair pay. In March, Sandberg told the Guardian "I want this to get better. I want women to get paid more. I want to teach them to negotiate so they get paid more." (Women should listen to her methods — Sandberg recently cashed in 5% of her Facebook holdings for a whopping $91 million.)

A 2010 study by Intern Bridge [PDF link] found that 77% of unpaid internships are held by women. This number is more alarming when you explore how unpaid internships set students up for life in the working world.

A recent study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers found the starting median salary for paid interns to be more than 45% higher than the starting salary for unpaid interns.

Image: Stephen Lam/Getty Images News

Topics: Business, Facebook, internships, Jobs, lean In, leanIn.org, nonprofit, Sheryl Sandberg, Startups, unpaid internship