What is the Hometown Director's Internship?

The Hometown Director's Internship celebrates public service along with the regional and geographic diversity of the Harvard undergraduate student population. The program encourages students to return to their local communities during the summer — no matter the size and shape of your hometown — to give back and get involved in City Hall, local non-profits, and community organizations.

With this Director's Internship, the IOP hopes to eliminate the financial barrier to hometown public service by offering students who accept non- or low-paying public service-oriented summer internships a place in the Director's Internship program.

Who is Eligible?

Students are responsible for obtaining their own internships and internships must take place with offices or organizations based in your hometown. Example internships include those with the local, state, or federal government, civic or public interest groups, non-government organizations, political organizations, nonprofit organizations, and political journalism. All prospective host organizations must abide by Harvard's nondiscrimination policy. You can find more information about that policy here.

If you are unsure if your internship meets the public service criteria, we encourage you to still apply to the program. The internship should be full-time and last 10 weeks with the same organization. Start and end dates should match up with the start and end dates of the rest of the Director's Internship Program, but there is some flexibility based on mutual agreement between the host organization and the intern.

Requirements:

The following materials will be required along with your CARAT application to be considered for a Hometown Director's Internship:

• Statement of Interest
  • In your statement, please address:
    • Why you're interested in serving your hometown community this summer.
    • Why your selected organization is an appropriate place to make a meaningful connection.
    • Where you are in the process of confirming your internship.
    • How this experience fits into a broader mission of public service.
• Resume (1 Page Maximum)
• Internship Confirmation or Internship Status Update
  • You will need to submit an internship confirmation. If you do not have a confirmation yet, please submit a document stating the status of the internship (applied, interviewing, awaiting a response, etc.). 
  • IMPORTANT NOTE: All funding offered is conditional on documentation of an internship confirmation.

How to Apply:

All applicants will apply to the CARAT application during the following timeline (same as other Director's Internships):

• Applications Open: December 4, 2023 at 12:00 a.m. (Midnight) ET
• Applications Close: February 4, 2024 at 11:59 p.m. ET

Applications for Summer 2024 are closed.