2027 Spring Engagement and Capacity Building Internship

Description

The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) offers a paid internship program for students in undergraduate, graduate, law and medical schools, and we also consider postgraduates. These paid internships offer structured work experiences and an opportunity to:

• Gain substantial knowledge of the policy-making process and the role science plays.
• Participate in group meetings and strategy brainstorming sessions.
• Obtain general research and communication skills by working closely with science, policy, legislative and outreach experts.
• Meet with staff at all levels of the organization to discuss career roles and paths.
• Assess your own interests and skills.

About CSPI

CSPI is one of the nation’s leading public health advocacy organizations with a 50-year record of fighting for science in the public interest and working to improve the food environment for all. We’ve led efforts to win passage of many state and local policies to improve school foods, put calories on chain restaurant menus and menu boards, and remove sugary drinks from children’s menus. National policy successes include the Nutrition Labeling and Education Act; Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act; Food Safety Modernization Act; and Food Allergen Labeling and Consumer Protection Act.

About the Internship Opportunity

CSPI’s grantmaking and partner engagement is intended to build the power and capacity of community-based and BIPOC- and LGBTQ+-led organizations to advocate for community-prioritized policies and support the work of local and state partners that transform the food system and advance health equity. The Resource Hub supports grantmaking and partner engagement initiatives through skill-building trainings, policy toolkits, and open discussions at the intersection of equity and food and health policy. Serving as a space where CSPI can launch, discuss, and receive feedback on policy initiatives across the organizational portfolio, the Resource Hub is designed to build the skills, knowledge, and capacity of partners, CSPI’s networks, and the greater food and health community through coordinated webinars, trainings, and resources.

This internship, co-managed by Senior Engagement and Capacity Building Associates Asia Carter and Bethany Williams, comes at a pivotal time as the Engagement Team completes strategic planning and evaluates opportunities to strengthen Resource Hub engagement, implementation, and impact. The intern will lead a mixed-methods analysis of Resource Hub event, partner, and network engagement data to identify trends, assess successful practices, and develop sustainable processes for ongoing evaluation and learning.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities

• Conduct quantitative and qualitative analysis of Resource Hub data to strengthen CSPI’s support for community-based organizations building capacity for food systems transformation, health equity, and policy advocacy.
• Analyze Resource Hub event implementation and engagement data, including event topics, timing, delivery formats, registration, attendance, audience participation, and post-event feedback, to better understand how organizations engage with learning and capacity-building opportunities.
• Evaluate partner and network engagement trends over time, including participation by community-based organizations, advocacy groups, coalition partners, and other audiences working across food systems, public health, and policy change efforts.
• Identify practices associated with successful engagement, attendance, and knowledge-sharing among organizations advancing community-driven food and health policy priorities.
• Assess how the Resource Hub supports partners in elevating local policy issues, sharing advocacy strategies, and building connections across diverse food systems and health equity networks.
• Develop recommendations and actionable insights to strengthen Resource Hub programming, outreach, and its value as a capacity-building resource for organizations engaged in policy advocacy and food systems work.
• Contribute to the development of sustainable processes for ongoing Resource Hub evaluation, including the potential creation of master datasets, coding frameworks, and data documentation tools to support real-time assessment of partner engagement, network reach, and program impact.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated interest in nutrition, food systems, public policy and advocacy, public health, health equity, and/or community engagement.
• Experience with quantitative data cleaning, organization, and analysis, and/or qualitative coding and thematic analysis.
• Demonstrated commitment to advancing racial equity, reducing systemic barriers to health, and working in BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, and other diverse communities.
• Ability to work independently, take initiative, and effectively manage and organize tasks to achieve project goals in a remote work environment.
• Proficiency with Microsoft Office applications, including Word and PowerPoint.
• No minimum educational requirement. Candidates from non-traditional career paths, experienced community organizers, career changers, and individuals with transferable skills are encouraged to apply.

What Else You Should Know

CSPI pays interns $18.40 per hour. Our 10-week spring intern program is part-time (10 hours per week). The ideal start date is late January/early February, but we will work with applicants if there’s a schedule conflict. The internship program is remote within the US, with the opportunity to work from our DC office if desired.

CSPI on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion

CSPI is committed to including and valuing diverse voices and fostering a culture that ensures all staff feel a sense of belonging and are encouraged to be their best selves. In that spirit, each of us is committed to putting in constant work to live up to our organization’s core values:

• We are inclusive. We seek to foster an environment where all staff feel a sense of belonging and are affirmed. We are not looking for everyone to think and look the same. We actively welcome and value staff with different experiences, backgrounds, attributes, abilities, and perspectives.
• We are open. We are honest and direct in how we communicate with each other in order to build trust and integrity within our organization.
• We are accountable. We acknowledge and assume responsibility for our actions.
• We are kind. We communicate and treat one another in a respectful, generous, considerate, and compassionate way.
• We are collaborative. We work together for the common good and shared success.

To Apply

Please utilize CSPI's Paylocity Applicant Tracking System to apply for the 2027 Spring Engagement and Capacity Building Internship. The only materials that will be reviewed are the responses to the screening questions and the resume. The deadline to apply is November 20, 2026, but applications will be considered on a rolling basis.

CSPI is committed to building a team that represents a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills and encourages people of diverse ages, sexual orientations, gender identities and expressions, disabilities, religions, races, ethnicities, socioeconomic statuses, work, and life experiences to apply.