Capital Sourcing & Strategic Finance Intern

Job Summary

NALEJ.ai is seeking a research-driven Capital Sourcing & Strategic Finance Intern to support the identification, evaluation, and engagement of potential capital sources across public, private, federal, state, local, DoD, and agency-affiliated funding channels. This role is focused on building a structured view of capital pathways that may support NALEJ's growth strategy, including non-dilutive funding, public financing programs, strategic investment sources, state and local economic development programs, and private capital relationships.

The intern will help build a capital source tracker, prepare concise source briefs, and support leadership with actionable intelligence for capital planning and external engagement.

• Research and map potential capital sources across federal, state, local, DoD, public, private, and agency-affiliated programs relevant to NALEJ's growth strategy.
• Identify non-dilutive and alternative capital pathways, including grants, loans, loan guarantees, economic development incentives, innovation funds, challenge/prize programs, and public-private partnership opportunities.
• Research private and strategic capital sources, including venture capital, strategic investors, corporate innovation funds, family offices, and mission-aligned investment groups.
• Build and maintain a structured capital source tracker with eligibility criteria, capital type, funding range, application or engagement requirements, timing, risk considerations, and recommended next steps.
• Prepare concise capital source briefs that summarize source fit, value proposition, engagement path, and key considerations for NALEJ leadership.
• Support preparation for external engagement by drafting outreach notes, backgrounders, meeting prep materials, and follow-up action trackers.
• Coordinate with Corporate Operations, Finance, and BD stakeholders to distinguish capital sourcing from traditional contract pursuit and avoid duplication of effort.
• Provide weekly capital sourcing updates and priority recommendations to Corporate Operations and the CEO.

• Currently enrolled in a Business, Finance, Public Policy, Economics, Entrepreneurship, or related undergraduate/graduate program;
  George Mason University students preferred.
• Strong research skills with the ability to assess public finance programs, investor profiles, agency websites, state and local economic development resources, and federal funding portals.
• Demonstrated interest in capital strategy, corporate finance, venture funding, public-private partnerships, government funding mechanisms, or small business growth.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office Suite; experience with Excel, CRM systems, databases, or financial tracking tools preferred.
• Strong analytical and written communication skills for producing executive-ready source briefs, trackers, and recommendations.
• Ability to synthesize complex funding or capital information into clear decision-support materials.
• Ability to work independently on research tasks while maintaining consistent communication, documentation, and follow-through.
• Familiarity with federal budget, appropriations, SBIR/STTR, SBA, venture capital, or economic development programs is a plus but not required.
• Security clearance not required; willingness to pursue clearance upon potential FTE/PTE conversion preferred.

• Build and maintain a master capital source tracker covering public, private, federal, state, local, DoD, and agency-affiliated capital pathways.
• Conduct a baseline capital landscape analysis within the first 30 days identifying priority capital sources relevant to NALEJ's business profile, technology focus areas, and growth stage.
• Identify and summarize at least 20 qualified capital sources during the internship, segmented by source type, fit, timing, expected funding range, and engagement path.
• Develop a simple scoring framework to prioritize capital sources based on strategic fit, funding potential, dilution/non-dilution, eligibility, timeline, application or engagement burden, and probability of pursuit.
• Prepare weekly capital source briefs or updates for review by Corporate Operations and the CEO.
• Draft outreach language, meeting preparation notes, and follow-up trackers for priority capital source engagements.
• Deliver a final capital sourcing roadmap with prioritized sources, recommended next steps, and a 90-day action plan for NALEJ leadership.

• 1. Gain practical experience researching and evaluating…