National Summer Learning Association's Summer Policy Internship
National Summer Learning Association(NSLA) believes that internships are one of the highest forms of summer learning, so we recruit diverse college students for a paid public policy internship in Washington, DC.
Each intern is an alumni of an award winning summer program, and we provide them a public policy summer internship. Students work on Capitol Hill, public policy organizations, and community-based organizations. They were immersed in professional development throughout this internship experience, which can lead to full-time employment opportunities!
Meet our interns:
Mikyra, South Carolina
Mikyra is a rising senior at the College of Charleston from Pageland, South Carolina, majoring in political science and minoring in communication. During summer 2023, Mikyra interned for the lobbying firm Allied for Progress and for the communication firm West End Strategy. At the College of Charleston, Mikyra is part of the Bonner Leader Program (a prestigious civic engagement program), is a peer facilitator for the first year experience courses, and is president of the black student union. Mikyra works for a nonprofit afterschool and summer program in the Charleston area called Kids on Point, which works to address educational disparities and racism; she has been with them since 2021 when she started as a volunteer and quickly rose the ranks to become a lead mentor and volunteer coordinator. As a high schooler, Mikyra got to participate in the nationally-renowned summer college preparatory program, Thrive Scholars.
Langston, Georgia
Phillip "Langston" Redden is a senior music major, psychology minor at Morehouse College. Hailing from Savannah, GA, Redden spent his internship with the Boys and Girls Clubs of America in their Government Relations and Advocacy office. External to his internship, Langston is a member and section leader in the Morehouse College Marching Band and serves on the Board of Directors for the Savannah chapter of the Horizons Summer Program as an alumni representative.
Nabila, Michigan
Nabila Chowdhury is a rising junior from Detroit, Michigan studying Philosophy at Harvard University. She focuses on dismantling inequities in existing political structures through her work in Ethics and Justice. Nabila is passionate about gender issues and securing mental health and educational resources for underprivileged communities. She is currently a Legislative Intern with Senator Edward Markey’s office and a part of the Stennis Program for Congressional Interns. In addition to her work on the hill, Nabila is on the executive board of Harvard Model Congress Middle East as Faculty Liaison. In her downtime, she enjoys sitting in the sun reading poetry, and traveling with loved ones. She is a part of the award winning program Math Corps at Wayne State University.
Jeanna, New York
In summer 2023, Jeanna Raphael was an intern this summer for the Education Policy team at UnidosUS. She is a rising sophomore at Princeton University, majoring in public international affairs with minors in environmental studies and African American studies. At Princeton, she is a writer for the Princeton Legal Journal and General Officer on the Whig-Clio Board. In the previous summer, she worked as a math tutor for Legal Outreach in New York, instructing a classroom of thirteen urban students from under-resourced communities on the math topics appearing in the math section of the SAT. Prior to that summer, she was an organizer and Steering Committee member from 2019-2022 at Teens Take Charge (TTC), involved with coordinating among a coalition with other youth organizations to increase funding for SYEP (Summer Youth Employment Programs) for students and organizing community fridges and clothing and food drives across three different boroughs during the pandemic.
Kayla, New York
During the summer of 2023, Kayla Collins had the privilege of interning in the office of Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer from New York. Kayla is a distinguished recent graduate from the University at Albany, where she earned a bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice with minors in Geography and Law and Philosophy. Her academic achievements and passion for environmental advocacy have paved her path towards attending Pace Law in the upcoming fall, where she will be pursuing her aspiration to become an Environmental Lawyer. Kayla's dedication to driving environmental change was evident during her time at UAlbany's Green Scene, where she actively participated as an Eco-Rep. Additionally, Kayla further honed her skills and knowledge during her final semester of undergraduate studies through an internship in the office of a distinguished New York State Senator Jose Serrano, contributing to legislative initiatives in the NYS Senate.
Amillia, Wisconsin
Amillia is an undergraduate student at North Carolina A&T double majoring in Supply Chain Management Mass Communication and Journalism. She serves on the community service committee for the N.C A&T chapter of the National Council for Negro Women. Additionally, Amillia is a Spring ‘23 initiate into the Gamma chapter of Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority Inc where she also serves as the community service chair. Bell continues to use her various platforms to be an advocate for change within our community.
Gabriela, Georgia
Gabriela Oliveros was an intern for the office of Senator Jon Ossoff from Georgia. She is a rising senior and a Posse Foundation Scholar studying International Affairs and Political Science with a concentration in Comparative Political, Economic, and Social Systems at the University of George Washington. She is a member of GW OLAS and LULAC and is passionate about addressing problems that the Latino community faces. Additionally, she has worked with LaAmistad Inc, The Education Trust, and The Emerson Collective; which aim at bridging the education gap and increasing civic engagement for underserved communities. She was selected as a Gilman scholar and will spend a semester abroad in England. Gabriela is from Atlanta where she participated in the summer program, Breakthrough Atlanta.
Mazzi, Pennsylvania
Mazzi Ingram interned with the Afterschool Alliance in the summer of 2023, where she assisted on projects that aided the Alliance's advocacy efforts. Mazzi's participation in various afterschool and summer programs, which she credits for her current success, made this work a true full-circle experience for her. She is a rising junior at Brandeis University studying environmental studies and is well-known on campus as an advocate. She received a Leonard Bernstein Festival of the Arts grant in 2023 and was the inaugural Samuel Scholars fellow. She also maintains a number of other community-oriented activities, such as her part-time work in substance abuse disorder, her work with Cities United as a 2023 fellow; she is also a member of the inaugural cohort of the 2023 Young climate leadership of Color. She is passionate about educational equity, civic engagement, and youth empowerment, and she is eager to find a job that allows her to work at these intersections.