Capitol Pathways Student Info

Capitol Pathways is a paid spring internship program for BIPOC college students. With the long-term goal of making Minnesota state government and policymaking more representative of our diverse communities, our program provides students leadership, legislative and career readiness training alongside an immersive internship experience with an organization working in policy during the legislative session. This is a spring internship from January – May, 2025.

Is this internship for you?

This internship is open to all students that meet eligibility criteria, but you are encouraged to apply if you:

  •   Are interested in learning about policymaking.
  •   Want to learn about the legislative process and how laws that govern our state are made.
  •   Care about advocacy and are looking to build skills and experience.
  •   Value civic engagement and want to make an impact or drive change in your community. 
  •   Want to develop hands-on professional and career readiness skills. 

We will continue hybrid programming for the upcoming 2025 year. Program staff will provide detailed information about all programming to students accepted into the program.

 

 

Application

Our student application is now open! The deadline to apply is November 15 at 11:59pm

Click here to view the application. Scroll down and select “Student Application” to begin.

You can also click here to view a Word Doc version of the application.

Join our info session

Want to learn more? Join an info session below:

Tuesday, October 29 from 10am – 11am

Thursday, November 7 from 1pm – 2pm

Click here to RSVP 

 

Program Information:

Learn more about what we provide, expectations, timeline, and more by clicking on the sections below, or click here for a PDF of this information.

APPLICANT ELIGIBILITY

.Please carefully read the following application criteria to ensure you are eligible to apply.

To be considered for this internship, you must:

  • Be a current undergraduate college student in good academic standing attending an accredited undergraduate college or university in Minnesota.
  • Have completed your first year in college (at least have Sophomore status) or have the equivalent in credits of a full first year student.
  • Self-identify as BIPOC.
  • International students are eligible to apply only if they have a J1/F1 visa with authorization to work in the U.S.
  • Undocumented or underdocumented students are eligible to apply.
  • Be available to interview with up to three organizations during the weeks of: November 25 – December 11.
  • Be available to attend a mandatory paid student orientation and legislative training on: January 2 – 5, 2024.
INTERNSHIP DETAILS

Our goal is to provide students exposure to policymaking and first-hand experience with the legislature.

  • Training. Students receive technical legislative training and race & equity training.

  • Cohort Meetings. Students join a cohort of up to 40 other students and attend 5 monthly cohort meetings for networking, leadership development and professional skill-building sessions.

  • Internship Placement. Students are placed with a host organization working at or around the Capitol for the internship period.  All host organizations will assign a staff person as the student’s direct host supervisor.

  • Stipend. Intern at their host site a minimum of 10 hours per week and receive a minimum stipend of $3,400. This is the equivalent to $17/hr.

  • Internship Activities. Intern responsibilities and duties will vary depending on the organization they intern with however, some examples include:
    • Informational interviews with legislators, Capitol staff and other policy professionals
    • Research, track and summarize bills
    • Attend committee meetings, take notes and draft summaries
    • Assist in scheduling, preparation, and staffing meetings
    • Attend events within your organization and externally
    • Write articles for social media (e-newsletters, blogs, etc.)
  • Networking. Connected to other job, internship and networking opportunities through their host organizations, programmed social hours, alumni network and ongoing mentorship by program staff.
REQUIRED MATERIALS
  • Application
  • Resume (upload on the application portal)
SELECTION & PLACEMENT PROCESS

Phase One: Pre-selection

Program staff review host and student applications to determine interests and needs. Based on this information, we pre-select student applicants to move on to the interview phase.

Phase Two: Interviews

Selected students will interview with up to three organizations. Not all students who interview will move on to Phase Three.

Phase Three: Official acceptance into the program

Program staff will make final intern selection based on feedback from interviews along with information from host and student applications. Program staff will notify students of their acceptance into the program and host site placement.

PROGRAM TIMELINE
2024:                     
October 21   Student application opens
October 29   Student info session I (virtual)
November 7   Student info session II (virtual)
November 15   Student application closes
November 22   Interview notifications (phase I)
Nov. 25 – Dec. 11   Interviews (phase II)
December 18   Program status notification
December 20   Students confirm participation
 
 

 

2025:                 

       
Dec. 31 – Jan. 3   Orientation & training
January 6   Internship start date
January 14   First day of legislative session
January 23   Cohort Meeting 1/Race & equity training 
February 21    Cohort Meeting 2
March 21   Cohort Meeting 3
April 18   Cohort Meeting 4
May 16   Cohort Meeting 5
May 24   Last day of internship

PROGRAM CONTACT

If you have any additional questions or feedback, please contact Program Manager Kalia Xiong:

 

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