Internship Program

The Internship Program

Austin, Texas
Washington D.C., District of Columbia
+1 more
Internships

About the Role

The Texas Public Policy Foundation provides young conservatives with the opportunity to work with the best free-market thinkers in the country. Our experts research a wide range of different policy areas, and those topics influence not just Texas but the entire country.

Staff members and invited guests share their time, knowledge, and experience with each intern class through a series of discussions that illustrate the range of ways that policy changes the world. All of our interns leave our Foundation with a solid understanding of our work, and with tangible skills they can use in the future.

The Foundation hires interns in a wide variety of areas – fundraising, communications, film, events, and law. We also consider specialty interns, such as accounting, or interns whose course schedules don’t fall into the traditional semester models (like winter blocks).

Responsibilities

• Meet with policymakers
• Conduct in-depth research
• Receive extensive feedback on written products
• Support fundraising efforts
• Research prospective donors
• Prepare for donor engagement events and meetings
• Work with the Digital Director to track analytics, update the website, monitor social media, and make recommendations for expanding the online community
• Network with media professionals
• Attend staff meetings
• Participate in premier TPPF hosted events
• Learn the grant writing process from start to finish
• Assist with various video and audio projects
• Work with the associate filmmaker to assist with video and audio projects
• Conduct in-depth research
• Craft compelling news stories
• Participate in live editorial meetings
• Provide office coverage
• Perform data entry tasks
• Prepare shipments and mailings
• Work on special projects as assigned

Requirements

The ideal candidate is a current student, recent graduate, or student between semesters who is flexible, project-oriented, and self-starters. Successful interns must understand the Foundation's principles of liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise, believe in an individual's right to do business free from big government, and be excited to reshape public policy in Texas and around the world.

Qualifications

Successful candidates should have good research, writing, and interpersonal skills. They should also have a strong ability to plan, organize, prioritize, and multi-task.

Skills

Outstanding writing may be selected for publication as a blog post, op-ed, or policy brief.

Benefits

All interns get to attend “Philosophy of Freedom,” an internal class on the philosophical underpinnings of the liberty movement, taught here by our experts, as well as 1 year of no-cost membership to our Liberty Leadership Council (LLC)!

Pay

Fall and Spring interns are given a stipend of $1000. Summer interns are given a $1500 stipend.

Schedule

Summer 2026 — May 27th through August 14th
Fall 2026 — August 31st through November 20th

Application

Applications for our program should include a cover letter, telling us your story and including the semester you're interested in interning, as well as your résumé, and a work sample if available. Applications should be submitted using the button on this page or this link.

Contact

For questions regarding the program and/or the application, please reach out to Zach McCue via email at internships@texaspolicy.com.

Application Deadlines

Summer — April 1
Fall — July 30
Spring — October 30