Eligibility: All undergraduate and master's level students are eligible to apply.
All summer interns work full time and a minimum of 8 weeks, although 10 weeks is preferred. Interns are paid weekly stipend. Interns must be able to commit to a minimum of 20 hours per week. International students must be able to provide documentation that shows they are allowed to work in the United States.
Current Internships
Communication Internship
American Progress’ Communications team works to pursue progressive change by connecting American Progress’ experts, ideas, events, and publications with the media and the public. The team works to develop and execute comprehensive and innovative communications strategies to get American Progress’ policy priorities the attention they deserve.
Development/Strategic Planning Internship
The Development department at American Progress works to ensure the long-term stability of the organization. The Development team maintains relationships with members of the progressive philanthropic community; coordinates the work of American Progress’ various departments with the organization’s long-term goals; and furthers American Progress’ mission through communication, coordination, and financial outreach.
Domestic Policy Internship
The Domestic Policy team focuses on five key policy areas: education, health care, immigration, poverty, and women’s health and rights. In pursuing significant change in these areas, team members regularly produce policy proposals, host panel discussions to further public discourse, and work to build relationships with other organizations working in their area of concentration. Team members also work with the Communications and External Affairs teams to bring attention to their work from both the media and Congress.
Economic Policy Internship
Economic Policy interns serve as fully engaged members of the team and are vital to the work that they do. Interns will have the opportunity to delve into a variety of projects and gain valuable knowledge and understanding of key issues facing the nation. Though not limited to this list, the Economic Policy team’s work is likely to encompass the following: labor markets, retirement security, higher education, housing, budget and tax policy, international economic policy and trade, economic mobility, and the general state and future of the economy.
Energy and Environment Internship
American Progress is a leader in the shifting debate on climate change and energy by driving research and policy toward a more comprehensive discussion on sustainable economic growth and our collective global future.
Ethnic Media Internship
American Progress is committed to taking its message to diverse communities. To that end, the Ethnic Media team does targeted and comprehensive communications work to reach communities of color. The Ethnic Media team works closely with American Progress’ policy and events teams and maintains working relationships with national ethnic media outlets, including Spanish-language media. In addition, the Ethnic Media team produces a number of original products and organizes several events each year.
Executive Internship
The American Progress Executive Office is responsible for directing and overseeing all policy developments and educational and communication outreach at the organization. Exposure to all aspects of the organization’s work—educational efforts, policy initiatives, and administrative organization—will provide interns with unique insight into the workings of a fast-paced, nonpartisan public policy research institution dedicated to finding progressive and pragmatic solutions to significant domestic and international problems.
External Affairs Internship
The External Affairs team amplifies American Progress’ policy voice by forging relationships with progressive groups, think tanks, scholars, community leaders, and elected officials at the federal, state, and local levels. The department raises awareness of the organization and its work, while connecting staff with progressive allies.
Faith and Progressive Policy Internship
The Faith and Progressive Policy Initiative of the Center for American Progress works to identify and articulate the moral, ethical, and spiritual values underpinning policy issues, ranging from economic inequality to reproductive and sexual justice to immigration, among others. The initiative helps shape a progressive stance in which these values are clear and increase public awareness and understanding of these values.
Generation Progress Internship
Welcome to the coolest internship experience. Ever. In addition to getting substantive work experience, Generation Progress interns get access to special events such as film screenings and conferences and the opportunity to use words like “substantive” on a daily basis.
Guns and Crime Internship
The Guns and Crime team focuses on gun violence prevention and other issues related to crime in the United States. More than 33,000Americans die each year as a result of firearm injuries, and American Progress advocates for common-sense gun violence prevention policies to reduce the number of deaths and nonfatal firearm injuries that are a result of weak firearm regulations and laws.
Half in Ten Anti-Poverty Campaign Internship
The Half in Ten campaign aims to reduce poverty by 50 percent in the next 10 years. The Center for American Progress Action Fund, the Coalition on Human Needs, and the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights have teamed up in this multiyear effort to update the public’s perception of poverty and change the course of federal, state, and local governing by encouraging policies that promote decent work, provide opportunity for all, ensure economic security, and help Americans build wealth.
Immigration Policy Internship
The American Progress Immigration Policy team provides leadership on research, advocacy, policy, and communications in all aspects of immigration policy in the United States. The team crafts and supports positive immigration reforms and refutes negative and biased anti-immigrant sentiment and policy. The team works closely with a broad coalition of advocacy organizations, as well as congressional and government offices to promote real solutions to the nation’s immigration challenges.
Legal Progress Internship
Legal Progress is the legal policy program at the Center for American Progress. No matter the issue, the judiciary will continue to play an increasingly important role in the lives of hardworking Americans, as well as in the success of the progressive legislative agenda. Through legal and policy analysis, communications and public education, and convening key stakeholders, Legal Progress helps push the American legal system in a more progressive direction and educate the public about the courts’ effect on the issues they care about most.
LGBT Issues Internship
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender, or LGBT, research and communications interns serve as fully engaged members of the LGBT team at American Progress. The main focuses of the team’s strategic work include ending discrimination against LGBT workers, achieving relationship recognition rights, increasing LGBT people’s access to health care, and advocating for anti-LGBT bullying initiatives across the country.
National Security and International Policy Internship
The National Security and International Policy team seeks to advance a strong progressive vision for U.S. foreign policy. The team works on a wide array of issues, ranging from defense and national security policy to foreign affairs and international development, and has a broad geographic scope, from China and Southeast Asia to the Middle East and Turkey to Mexico and the Americas. Major ongoing projects include a robust Middle East program; innovative work on U.S. foreign policy toward China and in Asia; articulating a strong progressive vision on national defense; the cross-linkages of climate, migration, and security; and building sustainable security through greater global prosperity and effective international development.
Race Policy/Progress 2050 Internship
Progress 2050 is a project of the Center for American Progress that provides analysis on the intersection of policy and race and examines the implications of the demographic shift happening across the nation. The team’s work uses current and future U.S. demographic trends as a foundation for progressive policies that advance equity.
Research Team Internship
The American Progress Research team works on both rapid-response and long-term research and communications projects. The team’s core products are The Progress Report and ThinkProgress.
Technical Support Internship
Are you the person your friends and family run to when their computer has issues? American Progress has dozens of Macs and hundreds of PCs, as well as its share of gremlins, so the Technical Support team can give you hands-on experience using professional-grade tools and techniques to fix the problems that arise while running a think tank that employs more than 200 people.
ThinkProgress Internship
ThinkProgress is one of the web’s top progressive blogs, presenting original and continual research on the day’s hottest news. Interns do extensive research, write, edit, fact-check, monitor news stories, blog on ThinkProgress, and complete other tasks as assigned.
Video Internship
Do you want to film people such as former President Bill Clinton, Oscar nominee Ryan Gosling, and President Barack Obama? Get hands-on experience working with cutting-edge HD and DV cameras? Have the freedom to flourish in Final Cut Pro? AmericanProgress is looking for an intern to join the Video team to expand the organization’s visual media offerings.
War Room Internship
The CAP Action War Rom team works on both rapid-response and long-term research and communications projects. The Progress Report, the War Room’s signature product, is a daily newsletter reaching more than 90,000 subscribers with a progressive analysis of the news.
Web Producer Internship
Interns on the Web Technology team learn how journalistic content is managed and produced at a leading think tank and assist in the production and distribution of policy work on a broad range of issues. Interns learn how to effectively provide solutions to assigned projects and improve quality control of both utilities and content; deal effectively with a variety of situations and find appropriate solutions in a rapid-response environment; acquire experience and essential training for developing new and innovative ideas; and gain hands-on training in web and journalism best practices.
Web Technology Developer Internship
Have you created your own mash-up or hosted your own blog? American Progress supports dozens of websites and blogs; you can help add features, launch new projects, and get involved in creating online campaigns.
Women’s Health and Rights Internship
The Women’s Health and Rights Program, or WHRP, helps reframe the domestic debate on reproductive rights to better address fundamental issues of women’s health care and rights; develops innovative policy approaches to these issues; and integrates these critical issues into the broader progressive agenda and community.