Summer Scholar: Next100

Hybrid | Preferred Location: New York, New York

June 12–August 4, 2023 | 40 Hours/Week | Compensated at $18/Hour

The Century Foundation’s Summer Scholars is an internship program designed to foster skill sets in order to excel in the public policy sector. Scholars will build important skills, add to their portfolios, meet interesting people, and hopefully even have some fun. The program is an eight-week, full-time position, running from Monday, June 12 through Friday, August 4. For more information on the program, visit tcf.org/SummerScholars.

THE JOB

We’re recruiting for an intern to join Next100 in-person in the financial district for eight weeks starting in early June. Next100 is an independent startup think tank powered by The Century Foundation. Our goal is to build a more diverse and inclusive public policy sector—and thus more equitable and inclusive public policies—through bringing new, diverse voices (Policy Entrepreneurs) to the policy table, primarily those with proximity to public policy issues. You can learn more about us in this Stanford Social Innovation Review piece, We Need to Reimagine the Modern Think Tank, or this video, Putting People at the Center of Policy.

This internship will not primarily be a policy position like our Policy Entrepreneur (PE) position—it will instead focus on helping our Executive and Deputy Executive Directors run the ship, recruit for a new cohort, help with the off-boarding of the existing cohort, and help the PEs be successful in their policy and advocacy work. But we swear it will also be interesting!

YOUR QUALIFICATIONS

• You care, and understand why we do what we do. You have demonstrated your passion for making your community and society a better place, and care about and possibly have some experience with policy and/or advocacy.
• Some college, perhaps more; a plus if you’re at CUNY. You can be in community college, an undergrad, grad student, or recent graduate. Community College, HBCU, and Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) students and alumni are encouraged to apply.
• Interest in or experience with project management. Maybe you’ve helped lead a campus organization, worked full-/part-time while balancing school, or otherwise had to be in charge of process or project. Whatever the context, tell us about it.
• A good writer. You should be a strong writer, and preferably not just of academic papers, i.e., if you’ve got journalism or social media or creative writing chops, we love to see it.
• Research skills. You have experience doing research between school and work/internships and know how to go about investigating a new topic.
• You’re organized. You have demonstrated your ability to be on top of details and deadlines when you’re given an assignment.
• A team player. You like working with and building relationships with people. We’re a collaborative bunch.
• A multi-tasker. Scholars will work on a lot of different things on any given day. It is crucial to be organized, good with details, and be solutions oriented to succeed at Next100.

APPLY NOW

Please apply with a resume, cover letter, and two writing examples via BambooHR. To be considered, apply by March 31, 2023. If you have any questions, email summerscholars@tcf.org.

PERFORMANCE TASK

Exercise 1 (400 words max): We want to collect feedback from our cohort and alumni and learn more from other organizations on how we can improve Next100. Based on your understanding of Next100 and our work, please draft at least five questions we can engage our cohort and alumni with to collect feedback. In addition, please identify three or four other organizations that overlap with us in terms of what they do, and include a few bullets or sentences on similarities and differences for each organization.

Exercise 2 (200 words max): Tell us about a system you created, project you led, or research you conducted, and why it was interesting to you. This question really does not have to be related to Next100’s work—we just want to learn a little more about you.