There are a growing number of programs designed to provide entry-level
or short term experiences to people interested in the public
good. A program might be just the way to gain some experience
and get your foot in the door. Keep in mind that there are a
wide array of programs in existence and you should choose a
program just as carefully as you would accept a job offer. You
might want to review Questions
to Consider in Joining a Service Program before you sign
on the dotted line.
Keep in mind that these are just some of the many programs
out there. If you find a program you think we should include,
e-mail us their web
address.
American Red Cross Presidential Intern Program improves the diversity profile of the American Red Cross staff and provides qualified candidates for future positions. By providing paid internships to a diverse group of undergraduate and graduate students in key professional areas, the American Red Cross Internship Program can serve as the first step in developing lifelong associations between students and the American Red Cross, and the organization’s employee base can mirror the communities it serves.
Arab American Institute Leadership Opportunities provides opportunities to become involved in representing the policy and community interests of Arab Americans throughout the United States and in promoting Arab American participation in the U.S. electoral system. AAI focuses on two areas: campaigns and elections and policy formation and research. The Institute strives to serve as a central resource to government officials, the media, political leaders and community groups and a variety of public policy issues that concern Arab Americans and U.S. – Arab relations.
Campaign Corps is a national grassroots program dedicated to politically empowering young people. Each year, we train talented recent graduates and place them on targeted, progressive Democratic campaigns. Participants receive a stipend and free housing during the campaign, with all travel expenses paid. After Election Day, Campaign Corps helps to find participants another job, be it in progressive politics or elsewhere.
Center for Strategic and International Studies Internships allow interested students and recent graduate to become involved in its mission of advancing global security and prosperity in an era of economic and political transformation by providing strategic insights and practical policy solutions to decisionmakers. CSIS serves as a strategic planning partner for the government by conducting research and analysis and developing policy initiatives that look into the future and anticipate change.
Center for Third World Organizing provides organizer training and leadership development programs in communities of color. The Minority Activist Apprenticeship Program (MAAP) provides young organizers with introductory training and field experience. The Community Partnership Program (CPP) seeks to develop young people of color as professional organizers, combining advanced training and a 10-month internship.
Department of the Interior Internships provide a planned, systematic, competency-based approach to developing future leaders, at all levels, for the Department of the Interior. The various programs offer enhanced development opportunities for high potential future leaders. Entry and mid-level leadership development training provides high potential employees with the necessary skills to transition to supervisory and leadership roles.
Kennedy Center Arts Management Internships offer meaningful learning opportunities and on-the-job experiences to college juniors/seniors, graduate students, and recent college graduates (within two years of graduation) who are interested in beginning careers in performing arts management and/or arts education. Internships may be available in advertising, development, education (local and national programs), National Symphony Orchestra, press relations, production, programming, technology, volunteer management, and finance.
Politicorps is a 10-week political boot camp that connects college students and recent graduates with careers in the public interest. PolitiCorps is the only program of its kind - a political immersion and leadership training program designed to engage and prepare college students and recent graduates for a life of public service through a combination of skills and policy classes, intensive field work, strategic planning exercises, and access to a broad network of activists, strategists, and policymakers.
Americorps Education Program provides college graduates with opportunites to work full-time in museum education designing creative programming with area non-profits including community centers, Head Start programs, schools and public housing sites.
Metropolitan Museum of Art Internship Programs offer opportunities for college and graduate students interested in careers in art museums. Based upon their academic training and interests, as well as the availability of projects, interns work in one of the Metropolitan's departments—curatorial, education, conservation, administration, or library. Most projects require a strong knowledge of art history. Applicants of diverse backgrounds are encouraged to apply.
Museum of the Moving Image Summer Internships offers full-time, paid summer internships. Under the guidance of department heads interns have the opportunity to learn about the full range of Museum operations. Undergraduates entering their senior year in fall 2008, college graduates, and graduate students are eligible to apply.
National Gallery of Art Summer Internship Programs Nine-week summer internships provide opportunities to work on projects directed by a Gallery curator or department head. Biweekly museum seminars introduce interns to the broad spectrum of museum work, and to Gallery staff, departments, programs, and functions. Eligibility varies according to internship: a few are geared to undergraduates graduating in 2008, but most are for currently enrolled graduate students of all levels and those graduating in 2008 with a relevant degree. Applicants from all backgrounds are encouraged to apply. Summer interns are in residence at the Gallery from June 16 to August 15, 2008. Interns receive a stipend of $4,500 and are subject to all applicable taxes.
Bard Urban Studies in New Orleans Program offers a unique and highly-selective 8-week program in New Orleans. The program's 20 students will investigate notions of urbanism, ecology, and social policy, both in seminar style-classes and in demanding internships. Students will be expected to take two courses and intern up to 40 hours per week.
HUD Intern Program offers various opportunities to become involved in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, for students and professionals with a range of experiences
One World Young Leaders Program encourages young people of color to become actively engaged in the human rights and development arenas, particularly as they affect indigenous and minority rights. Through international and domestic service projects, young leaders (ages 19 through 30) are equipped with the tools necessary to affect social change on both domestic and international levels. Participants spend several weeks during the summer working on a human rights or development project in either a developing country or working on a human rights or development project in a developed country on issues facing disadvantaged communities.
Philly Fellows is a year-long post-graduate fellowship program which offers graduating college seniors the opportunity to engage in the Philadelphia's vibrant neighborhoods and diverse non-profit agencies. Fellows live together in one of three houses in vibrant
Philadelphia neighborhoods. They work 40 hours/week at a partnering non-profit agency that captures their interest, in a position where they can build capacity and develop new skills. Additionally, fellows will participate in leadership and professional development curriculum throughout the year.
Public Allies places young adults (aged 18- 30) in full-time leadership positions in community organizations in Chicago, IL; Milwaukee, WI; Washington, DC; Cincinnati, Ohio; Delaware; North Carolina; and Silicon Valley, CA. In addition to a full-time placement with an agency, participants receive extensive training and work with other young leaders in their community.
Green Corps is a national field school program dedicated to the environment and improving communities. Corps members work with state and national environmental organizations in 20 cities across the country and receive training in environmental organizing.
National Civilian Community Corps is a 10-month residential national service program for women and men ages of 18 - 24. Corps members work on environmental projects, disaster relief, education, public safety, and other unmet human needs.
National Renewable Energy Laboratory is the nation's only national laboratory dedicated to renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development. NREL is owned by the U.S. Department of Energy's Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy, and is managed by Midwest Research Institute and Battelle. They have job opportunities for scientists and engineers, research technicians, project leaders, and many other professionals in a variety of careers. They also have graduate and undergraduate internships, and postdoctoral research and research associate positions offered through our Research Participant Program.
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center Internship Program in Environmental Studies offers undergraduate and beginning graduate students a unique opportunity to gain hands-on experience in the fields of environmental research and education. This program enables students to work on specific projects under the direction of SERC's professional staff and is tailored to provide the maximum educational benefit to each participant.
Student Conservation Association Internships offer experience in conservation and work opportunities on summer trail crews to more than 3,000 people each year. SCA is focused on developing conservation and community leaders while getting important work done on the land. Founded in 1957 to restore and protect America’s public lands and preserve them for future generations, SCA remains committed to this goal today. Their Conservation Corps program offers 3-10 month opportunities in conservation for students
American Friends Service Committee is a Quaker organization committed to social justice. This site includes information on paid staff openings and volunteer opportunities around the world.
DART Organizer's Institute is a paid, field school created to recruit and train great community organizers, as well as, strengthen DART’s mission to build power and win justice. The Direct Action and Research Training (DART) Center is committed to building powerful, diverse, congregation-based, and democratically run organizations capable of winning justice on issues facing the community. Since 1982, DART has built and strengthened over twenty local affiliated organizations in six states and trained over 10,000 community leaders and 150 professional community organizers.
Habitat for Humanity International provides opportunities to get involved for a day, a week or longer in the U.S. and abroad. Both volunteer and paid positions are listed.
Interns for Peace was established in 1976 in Israel. IFP was the first and remains the only program with the purpose of training community development peace workers, in Israel and now in Palestine and Gaza/West Bank, Jordan and Egypt; who initiate cooperative inter-communal action that unites all people.
JCC Graduation Education Scholarship Program offers both scholarships and fellowships. The programs pay up to $10,000 per year of a 2 year graduate degree leading to a career in the JCC Movement. There is a two-year work commitment post graduation.
PROJECT OTZMA is a leadership development program in which North American young adults contribute a year of service to Israel and the Jewish people, and gain an in-depth understanding of the country and their own capacities to lead.
Response from the The Catholic Network of Volunteer Service is a database of dozens of faith-based volunteer programs. Some are domestic, others are international. Look here for information on the Jesuit Volunteer Corps, the Lutheran Volunteer Corps, Mennonite Volunteer Services and many others.
DAAD Scholarships offer a wide range of opportunities to students, scholars, and universities of the United States and Canada, from undergraduate students to post-doctoral scholars, to study and research in Germany.
Massachusetts Campus Compact Americorps Program places 25 VISTA members at colleges and universities throughout the state to help these institutions face pressing community needs through community service programs, student leadership initiatives and other efforts. Program participants work full-time on a college campus and receive a living allowance, benefits and an educational award.
Brown Office of International Programs at Brown University offers students links to resources on traveling and working abroad, as well as information on health, currency, travel safety, passports, culture shock, concerns of women and LGBT travelers, and foreign embassies and world news.
Humanity In Action sponsors an integrated set of educational programs for university students and post-graduates in America, Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, France, and Poland. In 2006, HIA began an American-based core program, located in New York and San Francisco. Through the core education programs and internships, Humanity in Action works to fulfill its mission to engage student leaders in the study and work of human rights.
Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program invites college graduates to participate in international exchange and foreign language education throughout Japan. JET volunteers work with local and city governments and education and sports programs.
Peace Corps places approximately 6,500 full-time volunteers in over 90 countries to work in agriculture, education, health, engineering, forestry, business and the environment. This site features application information, project and country profiles as well as resources for Returned Peace Corps Volunteers.
U.S. Department of State Intensive Summer Institutes is part of a U.S. government interagency effort to expand dramatically the number of Americans studying and mastering critical need foreign languages. Scholarship recipients - U.S. citizen undergraduate, Master's and Ph.D. students and recent graduates - receive funding to participate in beginning, intermediate and advanced level summer language programs at American Overseas Research Centers and affiliated partners. Recipients are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship period and later apply their critical language skills in their professional careers.
U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants Internships offers students an opportunity to become involved with the mission of addressing the needs and rights of persons in forced or voluntary migration worldwide by advancing fair and humane public policy, facilitating and providing direct professional services, and promoting the full participation of migrants in community life.
United Students for Fair Trade Internships allow six students to take part in a two to three month internship program focused on building and deepening the relationships between the global North and the global South. The interns will be responsible for developing program content, establish working relationships with co-operatives that they want to work with, fundraising, and submitting their project upon completion of the internship.
Volunteers for Peace provides intercultural education through community service. They offer placement in over 3400 international voluntary service projects in more than 100 countries each year, including over 40 in the USA. At each project, volunteers from diverse backgrounds and typically from four or more countries, work and live together like a family. The sharing of everyday life, both with the local community and among the international volunteers, is an integral part of the learning and serving experience.
Working and Volunteering Overseas is Wesleyan University's web site for students seeking employment, internship, or volunteer experience abroad.
World Teach is a private, non-profit organization, based at Harvard, that sends college graduate volunteers overseas to teach in developing countries. World Teach offers both full-year and summer positions.
Alliance for Catholic Education Teacher Formation Program is a two-year service program offering college graduates the opportunity to serve as full-time teachers in under-resourced Catholic schools across the southern United States.
Boston Teacher Residency is a one-year urban teacher preparation and certification program developed as part of Boston's aggressive commitment to improving instruction in every classroom. During the 13-month program, Teacher Residents co-teach with a Mentor Teacher in one of Boston's most effective public schools, take coursework facilitated by exceptional teachers and university faculty, and receive $10,000 during their year of service to a school. Teacher Residents earn a Massachusetts Initial Teacher License and a master's degree in education from the University of Massachusetts/Boston, and work toward dual licensure in Special Education.
Breakthrough Collaborative is a tuition-free academic program for motivated elementary and middle school students with limited educational opportunities with offices in 36 sites nationally. Summerbridge programs employ both summer and full-time staff.
Graduate Residency in Education, Environment and Community at Islandwood is a ten-month graduate program developed in partnership with the University of Washington that draws on the best practices of experiential, environmental and multicultural education, using natural and cultural environments as a context for learning. During the course of their studies at Islandwood, students work with fourth through sixth-grade students to help them develop an awareness of basic ecological concepts and the impact humans have on the environment and each other. After completion of the Islandwood program, students can then apply to complete their Master's Degree at another Graduate School.
Inner-City Teaching Corps places recent college graduates as classroom teachers in the inner-city of Chicago. The ICTC is founded on four principles: teaching as service, simple lifestyle, faith-based community, and spirituality.
International Education Internship at Watson Institute's Choices for the 21st Century Education Project at Brown University enables a recent college graduate to spend a year working as part of a team focused on increasing international education at the secondary level. The program seeks to support individuals who plan to enter the secondary education field. Salary will be $1,500/month plus benefits.
Jumpstart creates partnerships between early childhood providers and colleges in Boston, New Haven, New York and D.C. to use the power of community service to build school success, family involvement, and future teachers.
New Teachers Collaborative Start your secondary school teaching career by working and learning in small schools designed to foster the habit of answering important questions. This program is a year long path to teacher certification in which participants collaborate with experienced teachers, usually in small teams, meeting daily for planning, support, and curriculum development while working in a small public middle or secondary school in Massachusetts or New Hampshire.
New York City Teaching Fellows seeks talented professionals and recent graduates to commit to teach in the city's most under-performing schools. Previous coursework in education is not required. The Fellowship includes a regular teaching salary, AmeriCorps programs benefits for highere education costs, intensive training, on-going support, and an accelerated, fully-paid Master's Degree program. The strategy of the Fellowship is to create a network of dynamic professionals determined to build effective classrooms where every student achieves.
Steppingstone Internships The summer internship at Steppingstone provides talented college students with an opportunity to learn about careers in education and the non-profit sector through first-hand experience working with children in an academically rigorous program. This six-week internship grants significant exposure to different facets of Steppingstone programs, including direct curricular, non-curricular, and administrative responsibilities. Participants work closely with other Steppingstone Interns, staff, and faculty members on projects both in and outside of the classroom. Interns meet regularly with the Internship Coordinator and their mentor teachers. Interns also attend weekly seminars on various relevant topics in education.
Teach for America is a national teacher corps of recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in under-resourced urban and rural public schools.
AFL-CIO Organizing Institute is a national recruiting and training mechanism for the labor movement. They offer a three-part training/apprenticeship in labor organizing and, upon completion, will help place you in permanent organizing positions. Initial training sessions are offered around the country at various times of the year.
AFL-CIO Union Summer is a 10-week educational internship in which participants develop skills useful for union organizing. Launched in 1996, Union Summer has graduated nearly 3,000 activists, many of whom continue to work for social justice. Union Summer is committed to uniting workers, students and community activists to bring about social justice through workplace and community organizing.
Labor Resource Center at Queens College, City University of New York. The Labor Resource Center was established to provide labor related resources and educational services to academia, the public, and the labor community. Publishes New Labor Forum and runs the New York Union Semester, a unique internship opportunity.
Charles G. Koch Summer Fellow Program offers 40 individuals the opportunity to work during the summer in Washington DC with top policy experts, journalists, and academics. Fellows explore market-based solutions to critical social and economic problems and gain the skills necessary to effect policy change. The program involves an internship, seminars, forums and career workshops. It offers participants a $1,500 stipend and covers housing and airfare expenses.
Library of Congress Fellowships offers opportunities to become involved with the nation's oldest federal cultural institution that serves as the research arm of Congress. It is also the largest library in the world, with millions of books, recordings, photographs, maps and manuscripts in its collections.
Public Interest Research Groups (PIRGS) are nonprofit, non-partisan organizations dedicated to serving as a watchdog for the nation's citizens and environment. U.S.PIRG "combines the expertise of professionals with the power of citizens in defense of clean air and water, strong safeguards for consumers, a vigorous democracy, and a way of living today that ensures a better quality of life tomorrow."
RESULTS Internships allow students to work for a nonprofit grassroots advocacy organization committed to creating the political will to end hunger and the worst aspects of poverty. RESULTS is committed to individuals exercising their personal and political power by lobbying elected officials for effective solutions and key policies that affect hunger and poverty.
Barbara Jordan Health Policy Scholars Program brings talented African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, and Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander college seniors and recent graduates to Washington, D.C., where they are placed in congressional offices and learn about health policy. Through the nine-week program, Scholars gain knowledge about federal legislative procedure and health policy issues, while further developing their critical thinking and leadership skills. In addition to gaining experience in a congressional office, Scholars participate in seminars and site visits to augment their knowledge of health care issues, and write and present a health policy research memo.
Center for International Health and Cooperation Internships provide students with a substantive and challenging work experience, and the possibility to expand one's knowledge and understanding of humanitarian aid. The Center for International Health and Cooperation was founded to promote healing and peace in countries shattered by natural disasters, armed conflicts and ethnic violence. The Center employs its resources and unique personal contacts to stimulate interest in humanitarian issues and to promote innovative educational programs and training models.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Career Development Programs further the organization's mission of promoting health and quality of life by preventing and controlling disease, injury, and disability. They offer opportunities for current undergraduates, recent graduates and those in graduate school to become involved with the CDC in multiple internship and fellowship programs.
Larry Kessler Scholars Program s a paid ten-week summer internship at AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts (AAC). Each Scholar undertakes a meaningful project in their department. At the close of the Scholar program they present their accomplishments to the AIDS Action staff. Scholars are challenged to apply their new knowledge to benefit their campus or community following their tenure. Entering college juniors or seniors, recent graduates and graduate students in relevant fields are eligible to apply. Scholars receive a $3500 stipend for the summer and all Scholars will be based in Boston, Massachusetts.
Postbaccalaureate Intramural Research Training Award at the National Institutes of Health provides opportunities for recent college graduates to spend a year engaged in biomedical research at the National Institutes of Health. Trainees work side-by-side with some of the leading scientists in the world in an environment devoted exclusively to biomedical research. Fellowships are available in the more than 1250 intramural laboratories of the NIH in Bethesda, MD as well as in Baltimore and Frederick, MD; Research Triangle Park, NC; Phoenix, AZ; Hamilton, MT; and Detroit, MI.
Public Health Summer Fellows Program is a joint collaboration between Rollins School of Public Health, Morehouse School of Medicine and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The program is directed toward rising junior and senior undergraduate students of African, Latino, Native American and Asian/Pacific Islander descent. The program is designed to introduce and expose minority students to the exciting field of public Health.
Visions in Action is committed to achieving social and economic justice in the developing world through grassroots programs and communities of self-reliant volunteers. Volunteers can work directly on Visions' relief and development programs in Liberia and Uganda. This includes education and food security programs in Liberia and an HIV/AIDS counseling and testing program, as well as an emergency education program for Internally Displaced Persons, in Uganda. They also offer short-term summer programs, in Mexico, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
Taxpayers for Common Sense Fellowship Program offers several full-time paid fellowships to work on policy and administration. Taxpayers for Common Sense is dedicated to cutting wasteful government spending and subsidies and reducing the national debt. They also offer internships to current undergraduates.
AIESEC Work Abroad Programs provide international opportunities for young people to discover and develop their potential to have a positive impact on society. To reach this aim, AIESEC provides over 5,000 leadership positions , organizes over 350 conferences , and runs an exchange program that offers 3,500 members the opportunity to live and work in a foreign country.
Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs Internship Program Founded in 1985 as Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs, CNFA is a Washington, DC-based, non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to stimulating economic growth around the world by nurturing entrepreneurship, private enterprise, and market linkages. CNFA has actively promoted public-private sector partnerships as a way to jumpstart economic growth.
Fonkoze Bank -Haiti's Alternative Bank for the Organized Poor - is the largest micro-finance institution offering a full range of financial services to the rural-based poor in Haiti. Fonkoze is a Haitian Creole acronym for Fondasyon Kole Zepòl, which means, "The Shoulder-to-Shoulder Foundation". The word itself conveys the meaning, "in the midst of sharing". Fonkoze's mission is to build the economic foundations for democracy in Haiti. They offer internship programs in the field in Haiti for French and Creole speakers.
StartingBloc's Institute for Social Innovation offers an opportunity for students to focus on the intersection of business and society. It provides socially conscious undergraduate students and young professionals with the training, experience, and networks necessary to drive social, economic, and environmental innovation through their careers and lives as engaged citizens.
Tuck Business Bridge Program consists of a four-week intensive business "boot camp" specifically for liberal arts graduates heading transitioning from college to careers. They have a grant that will allow for students to attend specialized nonprofit training as well as the four week program at a substantially discounted rate.
Department of Energy Science Undergraduate Laboratory Internships places students in paid internships in Science and Engineering at any of several Department of Energy facilities. Many of the participants in the program have decided on a career in science and engineering because of the nature of the experience. Students work with scientists or engineers on projects related to the laboratories' research programs. The different laboratories each offer different research opportunities
Bay Area Youth Agency Consortium is a collaborative of over 30 community service organizations that serve youth and families in all 6 counties of the San Francisco Bay Area. As part of AmeriCorps, a federally funded national and community service program, BAYAC Members commit to a term of service in a full time (1700 hr) or reduced part time (450 hr) position. Members provide direct services to youth in the areas of Tutoring, Afterschool Activities, Service Learning, and Volunteer Coordination.
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