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, 2024.

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 professional and career readiness skills. 

We will continue hybrid programming for the upcoming 2024 year. Program staff will provide detailed information about all programming to students accepted into the program.

 

 

Application

Our student application is NOW OPEN and will close on Monday, November 27th at 11:59pm (CT). 

Instructions to apply: Click “apply now” and scroll to the bottom. Select “Student Application.”

APPLY NOW

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: Dates:
  • December 4 – December 19, 2023
  • Be available to attend a mandatory paid student orientation and legislative training on:
  • Dates: January 2 – 5, 2024

  • Be available to attend a race & equity training sometime on the week of January 22, 2024. Date to be determined.
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 35 other students and attend 4 monthly cohort meetings for networking, leadership development and professional skill-building sessions.

  • Internship Placement. Students are placed with an organization working at or around the Capitol for the internship period. These internship sites are referred to as our host organizations/sites. 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 $3,000.

  • 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. Consistently exposed 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 (uploaded 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 will 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 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 final host site placement.

PROGRAM TIMELINE
2023:                     
November 1   Student application opens
November 10   Student info session I (virtual)
November 16   Student info session II (virtual)
November 27   Student application closes
December 1   Interview notifications (phase I)
Dec. 4 – Dec. 19   Interviews (phase II)
December 22   Program status notification
December 26   Students confirm participation
 
 

 

2024:                 

       
Jan. 2 – Jan. 5   Orientation & training
Week of Jan 22   Race & equity training (date TBD)
January 29   Internship start date
February 16   Cohort Meeting 1
March 22   Cohort Meeting 2
April 19   Cohort Meeting 3
May 17   Cohort Meeting 4
May 24   Last day of internship
June (TBD)   Capitol Pathways Celebration

PROGRAM CONTACT

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

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