Explore your professional and personal interests this summer through the SHECP Summer Internship Program (June 2 – August 2, 2025)!
The SHECP Summer internship matches students with an academic background in poverty studies with organizations engaged in hands-on, community-facing, anti-poverty work for a transformational internship experience. The Internship is a 9-week program, with one week of virtual training, 8 weeks on-site with a community partner, and concludes with the SHECP Annual Conference. Students receive housing with other SHECP Interns and a $1,250 stipend to support living expenses. Read more below to determine if this is the right internship for you!
SHECP Summer Internship Program
Serve
During their 8-week placement, interns provide full-time, substantive support to community partners while deepening their understanding of poverty by working directly with communities and individuals experiencing poverty.
Students are selected by their schools and matched with an internship placement by SHECP. Throughout the placement process, SHECP works to balance the student’s skills and interests, the community partner’s needs and work, and other logistics such as housing and transportation.
Learn
Interns participate in supplemental SHECP programming, both virtual and in-person, to strengthen their connection with the local community, deepen their understanding of anti-poverty work, reflect on their experience, and network with the larger SHECP community.
Through the SHECP Internship Academy, SHECP provides trainings and resources to prepare students to enter their internships. Staff and members of the larger SHECP community support and mentor students throughout their summer. At the end of the program, students participate in the SHECP Annual Conference, to place their summer experiences into broader anti-poverty policy, research, and organizational efforts.
Connect
Cohort living is at the heart of the summer experience. SHECP cultivates community among interns by placing students from different schools, working with different community partners, together. Conversations between roommates often illuminate how interconnected the issues of poverty are, as well as how different agencies collaborate to serve the community.
Participating students join the SHECP Network of 2,000+ internship alumni, hundreds of community partners, and countless advocates and connections.
The SHECP Summer Internship Components:
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Academic programming and training through Internship Academy, guided reflections, guest speakers, and SHECP Annual Conference
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100+ internships in focus areas such as:
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Clinical medicine & health outreach
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Law, advocacy & public defense
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Food & housing security
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Public & behavioral health
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Education
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Immigration & refugee support
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Cohort living with fellow interns who are working within the community you serve. SHECP provides housing, travel to the Annual Conference, and a $1,250 stipend to support living expenses.
Eligibility: The SHECP Summer Internship program is designed for students with an academic grounding in the complexity of poverty, including its definitions, causes, and potential solutions. Interns must be at least 18 years of age and in good academic standing with their institution.
Selection & Matching: Students are selected by their schools and matched by SHECP. SHECP works to balance the student’s skills and interests, the community partner’s needs and work, and other logistics such as housing and transportation. Partners meet with their selected intern before confirming the match with SHECP.