Summer 2022 was, in many ways, a turning point. After two-plus years of enduring the challenges of the pandemic, there was a marked increase in the number of in-person summer internship experiences for Harvard Kennedy School students.
Rising second-year MPP, MPA/ID, and MPA students reported working in summer internships—some remarkably in two or more—across sectors, policy areas, and industries, including government, international development, education, finance and financial technology, consulting and advisory, and technology and science. Some received a stipend from the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Summer Internship Fund, others from the school’s research centers and initiatives.
Our students tackled local and global challenges by taking on relevant, timely, and, perhaps to some, surprising internship opportunities, illustrating the broad applicability of an ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø education.
A number of students' internships focused on advocacy, including sexual and reproductive health and rights, women entrepreneurship, prisoner rights, special immigrant visas (SIVs), autism employment, plant-based foods, adoptees’ rights, and starvation/global food security. Others worked on energy issues, focusing on supply chain, hydrogen, minerals, addressing climate change, and storing carbon dioxide. And for the first time (to the best of our knowledge), an ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø student served at the Vatican.
We are proud to share some of their stories.
If you are a current ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø student, find (HarvardKey login required). You are welcome to follow up with them directly with questions about their experiences.
About 76 percent of employers hired only one ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø student summer intern, which reflects the unique career trajectories of our students. Four employers where students interned this past summer (, , , and ) were founded by ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø alumni.
Read our Summer 2022 internship highlights to learn more about some of our students' experiences.
Sector breakdown of summer internship employers
1% of students worked on political campaigns or were unspecified.
Locations of summer internship employers
Even if intern worked remotely
In-person vs. remote internships
Paid vs. unpaid internships
Reported by 262 students
In the two-year Master in Public Policy (MPP) Program, students learn how to understand complex global and local policy problems and construct concrete solutions.
Sector breakdown of MPP summer internship employers
1% of students worked on political campaigns or were unspecified.
Top industry destinations
- Government
- Education, including interning at Harvard and ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø
- International development
- Consulting / Advisory
- Advocacy / Public interest
- Technology / Science
| Aerospace Corporation |
| Airtel Africa |
| Aleut Community of St. Paul Island |
| American Bankers Association |
| Apple |
| Asian Americans Advancing Justice |
| Atlantic Council |
| Audemic |
| Borgen Project |
| Boston Consulting Group |
| Boston Public Schools |
| Bredhoff & Kaiser PLLC |
| CARE Social Ventures |
| Center for European Policy Analysis |
| Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) |
| Ceres |
| City of Boston, MA, Mayor's Office |
| City of Boston, MA (2) |
| City of Boston, MA, Mayor's Office of Housing |
| City of Brownsville, TX |
| City of Cambridge, MA |
| City of Chicago, IL |
| City of Chicago, IL, Mayor’s Office of Equity and Racial Justice |
| City of Chicago, IL, Mayor's Office |
| City of Chicago, IL |
| City of Freetown, Sierra Leone City Council |
| City of Green Bay, WI |
| City of Nashville, TN, Mayor's Office |
| City of New York, NY |
| City of Revere, MA |
| City of Tshwane, Gauteng, South Africa |
| Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton |
| Commit Partnership |
| Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of Governor Baker |
| Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Office of the State Treasurer and Receiver General |
| CrossBoundary |
| EdRedesign Lab |
| Education Pioneers |
| Engine No. 1 |
| European Bank for Reconstruction and Development |
| Fusion Fund |
| Georgian Young Lawyers Association (GYLA) |
| Girls who venture |
| Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) |
| Government of Bangladesh, Ministry of Foreign Affairs |
| Government of Israel, Ministry of Environment |
| Government of Meghalaya, India |
| Guidehouse |
| Guild Education |
| Harvard Medical School |
| Hudson Institute |
| IMAGO Global Grassroots |
| Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques (INSEE) |
| Inter-American Development Bank |
| International Crisis Group |
| International Finance Corporation (IFC) |
| International Foundation for Y-Peer Development |
| International Korean Adoptee Associations (IKAA) |
| Kaiser Permanente |
| KawiSafi Ventures |
| Korean American Sharing Movement |
| Kwanele |
| Learn In Inc |
| Macro Advisory Partners |
| MassHealth |
| Max Rose for Congress |
| McKinsey & Company (2) |
| Meati |
| Meta |
| Michelle Wu Campaign Committee |
| MITRE Corporation (2) |
| National Association of Latino Elected Officials |
| NeighborWorks America |
| New York Legal Aid Society Prisoners’ Rights Project |
| Nuclear Threat Initiative |
| Open Network for Digital Commerce (ONDC) |
| Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) |
| Organise |
| Pacific Community Ventures |
| Patamar Capital |
| Peeler Immigration Lab |
| Physicians for Reproductive Health |
| Project Alianza |
| PUBLIC |
| Pulley |
| RapidSOS |
| Redesign Health |
| Rockefeller Foundation (3) |
| Salt Lake City Corporation |
| SEED |
| SmartJob, LLC |
| Soleco Energy |
| Stanford University |
| State of California, Labor and Workforce Development Agency |
| State of Colorado (3) |
| State of Hawaii, Office on Homelessness and Housing Solutions |
| State of Michigan, Office of Governor Whitmer |
| State of Minnesota, Office of Governor Walz |
| State of New Jersey, Office of Governor Murphy |
| State of North Carolina, Office of Governor Cooper |
| State of Ohio, Office of Governor DeWine |
| State of Wyoming, Office of Governor Gordon |
| State Street Global Advisors |
| Steyn Reddy Associates |
| Thurgood Marshall College Fund |
| Tiger Global |
| Tony Blair Institute for Global Change |
| Town of Islip, NY |
| Umlambo Foundation |
| United Nations (2) |
| United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs |
| United Nations Development Programme |
| United Nations Environment Program Finance Initiative |
| United Nations Executive Office of the Secretary General |
| United Nations Foundation |
| United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund |
| United Nations, Office of the Secretary-General's Envoy on Youth |
| U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) |
| U.S. Department of Commerce |
| U.S. Department of Defense |
| U.S. Department of Education |
| U.S. Department of Energy |
| U.S. Department of Energy, Los Alamos National Laboratory |
| U.S. Department of Energy, Oak Ridge National Laboratory |
| U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (2) |
| U.S. Department of Homeland Security, FEMA |
| U.S. Department of Justice |
| U.S. Department of Labor |
| U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs—Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking |
| U.S. Department of State (8) |
| U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Intelligence and Research—Office of Near Eastern Analysis (INR/NEA) |
| U.S. Department of State, Embassy in Senegal |
| U.S. Department of Transportation |
| U.S. Department of Treasury |
| U.S. Environmental Protection Agency |
| U.S. Federal Emergency Management Administration |
| U.S. Federal Trade Commission Bureau of Competition |
| U.S. House of Representatives |
| U.S. House of Representatives, Office of Congressman Bennie G. Thompson |
| U.S. Mission to the UN Agencies in Rome |
| U.S. NASA Ames Research Center |
| U.S. National Park Service |
| U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) |
| U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions |
| U.S. White House |
| U.S. White House Council on Environmental Quality, Office of the Chief Sustainability Officer |
| U.S. White House Gender Policy Council |
| U.S. White House, Executive Office of the President, Council on Environmental Quality |
| Vamos Ventures |
| Victory Farms |
| Village Capital |
| Watson Living |
| West Wing Writers |
| Westside Cares |
| World Bank (2) |
| World Food Programme |
| Zenith Industries LLC |
In the two-year Master in Public Administration in International Development (MPA/ID) Program, students are trained to be the next generation of leaders in international development.
Sector breakdown of MPA/ID summer internship employers
Top industry destinations
- Consulting / Advisory
- Government
- International development
- Finance / Financial technology
- Education, including interning at Harvard and ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø
- Research, including think tanks
| Almond Fintech |
| Analysis Group Inc |
| Antara Health |
| Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) |
| Bain & Company (2) |
| Bankaya |
| Barings Asset Management |
| Barings LLC |
| Baybridge Ltd |
| Better Govs |
| Beyond Capital |
| BFA Global |
| BillionToOne |
| Botho Emerging Markets Group |
| Breakthrough Energy Ventures |
| Center for Economic Research in Pakistan |
| Center for Urban Economic Studies (CEEU), National University of San Martin |
| Central Bank of the Bahamas |
| Centro de Estudios Económicos y Urbanos, Universidad San MartÃn |
| Centro de Información y Educación para la Prevención del Abuso de Drogas, Perú |
| China Foundation for Poverty Alleviation |
| Clarity AI |
| Clinton Health Access Initiative (4) |
| CrossBoundary |
| Ecoanalitica |
| European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) |
| Finance for Development Lab |
| GiveDirectly |
| Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (GAVI) |
| GlobalCAD |
| Government of Germany, Federal Foreign Office |
| Government of Indonesia |
| Government of Kazakhstan |
| Government of Meghalaya, India (6) |
| Government of Mongolia, Ministry of Economy and Development (MED) |
| Government of Mongolia, New Recovery Program Delivery Unit, Prime Minister's Office |
| Government of Mongolia, Prime Minister's Office |
| Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan (4) |
| Growth Lab Namibia Project |
| Horn Economic and Social Policy Institute |
| IDinsight (4) |
| IMAGO Global Grassroots (3) |
| International Finance Corporation (IFC) |
| Knife Capital |
| Marco Financial |
| Moody's Investors Service |
| Paulson Institute |
| Pegasys |
| Progressive Foundation, India |
| Rio Tinto |
| Rockefeller Foundation |
| Sanergy (2) |
| Scotiabank |
| Siklus |
| Sozo venture |
| Treinta |
| United Nations |
| wagely |
| World Bank (3) |
| World Bank Group |
In the two-year Master in Public Administration (MPA) Program, students—who already have significant professional experience—gain the additional skills needed for positions of responsibility in the public, nonprofit, and private sectors.
Sector breakdown of MPA summer internship employers
2% of students were unspecified.
Top industry destinations
- Government
- Technology / Science
- Finance / Financial technology
- International development
- Consulting / Advisory
| Agoda |
| Antin Infrastructure Partners |
| ARGA investment |
| Barclays |
| Boston Consulting Group (3) |
| CARE International, Care Impact Partners |
| Charles Stark Draper Laboratory |
| Checkr, Inc. |
| City of Boston, MA, Mayor's Office of Early Childhood |
| City of Chicago, IL, Mayor's Office—Office of Economic and Neighborhood Development |
| Coalition of NGOs for Child Protection in Kosovo (KOMF) |
| CommandBar, FooBar Inc |
| Community Action Agency of Somerville |
| Cyber Cube |
| Emilie Health |
| Equarius Risk Analytics |
| Forgepoint Capital |
| Fundação Lemann |
| Georgia Resilience & Opportunity Fund |
| Ginkgo Bioworks |
| Goldman Sachs |
| Goldman Sachs, Urban Investment Group |
| Government of Brazil, National Congress |
| Government of Germany, Bundestag |
| Government of India |
| Government of Lebanon, Embassy in the United Kingdom |
| Government of Meghalaya, India (2) |
| Government of the Republic of Kazakhstan |
| Hines |
| Humu |
| Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC) |
| Institute for the Cooperative Digital Economy at the New School |
| International Finance Corporation (IFC) |
| Istituto Affari Internazionali |
| Korea International Trade Association NY Center (KITA) |
| Leping Social Entrepreneur Foundation |
| LIFTE H2 Inc. |
| Maine Venture Fund |
| MassHealth |
| McKinsey & Company (3) |
| New York City Ballet |
| New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) |
| No One Left Behind |
| Numinar Analytics |
| PRAUD |
| Remitly |
| RockFix |
| Royal Caribbean Group |
| Sensorum Health |
| Snap |
| Social Finance |
| State Government |
| State of Missouri, Office of Governor Michael L. Parson |
| Stem Inc. |
| United Nations (4) |
| United Nations Development Programme |
| United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund and Melbourne University |
| U.S. Department of Commerce |
| U.S. Department of Commerce, Economic Development Administration via |
| U.S. Department of Defense |
| U.S. Department of State, Rangel Fellowship |
| U.S. Department of State, Cities Forward |
| U.S. Economic Development Administration |
| U.S. Navy |
| U.S. Office of Management and Budget (OMB) |
| Vatican |
| VotER |
| World Bank (2) |
| Zillow |
Summer internship stipends
Many ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø students accept unpaid or minimally paid summer internships in public service or at nonprofits. As a result, limited summer stipends are available through the ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Summer Internship Fund (SIF) in addition to the school’s research centers and initiatives. If you are a current ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø student, read more about and . (HarvardKey login required).
Our data collection process
The ÌÇÐÄvlog¹ÙÍø Office of Career Advancement (OCA) collected data on summer internship experiences of rising second-year MPP, MPA, and MPA/ID students from June to August 2022 using several techniques, including voluntary surveys and individual email inquiries. Numbers in this report have been rounded up/down when necessary to help simplify reporting.