About Us

Our Collaborators

A long-standing partnership with a number of community agencies serving older adults in the Chicagoland area enables the Kott Gerontology Scholars Program to sustain a consistently high level of education and training to interns. Partner agencies that host Kott Scholar interns provide an array of assessment, coordination, direct services, advocacy, case management, wellness programs, and legal services to support older adults and their families. Several partner agencies have been designated by the Illinois Department on Aging as Case Coordination Units (CCU). While KGSP partners with a core set of host agencies each year, host agencies may change year to year based on the availability of internship opportunities and applicant disciplines and/or focus areas.

Submissions

Please click the button below for the Kott Gerontology Scholars Program online application for the 2025-2026 school year. We encourage advanced degree students of all abilities, and racial, ethnic and identity backgrounds to apply.

Apply Now

Kott Scholar Host Agencies

The Kott Gerontology Scholars Program partners with agencies throughout Chicagoland to serve as internship sites, referred to as Host Agencies, for Kott Scholars. The Host Agencies listed below often hire and promote Kott Scholars, kick-starting their careers in aging.

AgeOptions (Oak Park)
North Shore Senior Center (Northfield)
Center for Disability and Elder Law (Chicago)
Pathlights (Palos Heights)
Rush University Medical Center Social Work and Community Health (Chicago)
Solutions for Care (North Riverside)
Oak Park Township Senior Services (Oak Park)
Palatine Township Senior Citizens Council (Palatine)
DuPage County Senior Services (Wheaton)
Aging Care Connections (La Grange)
Central Baptist Village (Norridge)

Alternative internship sites have included but are not limited to:

Ascension Alexian Brothers Behavioral Hospital* (Hoffman Estates)
Council for Jewish Elderly/CJE Senior Life (Chicago)
Edward Hines Jr. VA Hospital Patient Aligned Care Team (PACT)/Social Work * (Hines)
Kenneth Young Center * (Elk Grove Village)
Schwab Rehabilitation Hospital (Chicago)
The Mather (Evanston)
The SelfHelp Home (Chicago)
Unity Hospice* (Skokie)

*Of note, to qualify for the Kott Scholarship, 2nd year advanced degree students must be working with primarily older adults, even within broader programs or settings such as a behavioral health, hospital, rehabilitation center, or hospice.

Many agencies in the Chicagoland area provide high-quality older adult services and offer internship experiences. KGSP will continue considering additional nonprofit host agencies working with and/or on behalf of older adults, meeting quality and supervision-related criteria and demonstrating their capacity to provide a supportive and meaningful internship experience.

Host agencies receive a stipend of $4,500 per Scholar to help offset direct and supervision related costs. Beginning in the 2024-25 school year, KGSP will be executing agreements with its host agencies.

Please email Lisa Peters-Beumer at kottapplications@kottinstitute.org with questions.