George Washington University second-year sociology student Angel Liang, like many of her peers at the university, shoulders a heavy workload.
In addition to her classes, she is involved in multiple organizations and is particularly passionate about policy, voting and justice—serving both as a youth ambassador for Asian Americans Advancing Justice and secretary of the D.C. chapter for the Asian Pacific Islander American Public Affairs Association. She has also done work for Generation Vote, Dear Asian Youth and has been a digital ambassador and orientation leader at GW.
This past summer, an opportunity opened at the civic engagement organization called New Virginia Majority, whose mission is to “build power in working-class communities of color across the Commonwealth.” Given her interests and already large breadth of experience in this kind of advocacy work, Liang was interested in the internship opportunity, even though it was unpaid.
Thanks to the Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund (KACIF), however, Liang was granted a stipend for the summer that allowed her to pursue what she believes was important work without having to worry about the financial burden.
"This internship allowed me to explore the world of movement building and organizing, giving me more confidence to continue doing this work with other organizations,” Liang said. “I've also been able to meet and network with a lot of other professionals in this space."
The GW Career Services Council established the fund in 2013 through alumni and parent donations to reduce financial challenges associated with pursuing high-quality, necessarily unpaid internships (essentially, for organizations that don’t have a paid structure) that may fit into a GW student's career ambitions and/or enhance their academic programming. The council believes that “the financial support provided by the fund will make a significant difference in the lives of GW students, just as the students will make a significant difference in the world and through their work with the organizations at which they intern.”
The money from the donations goes directly to recipients such as Liang, who are paid in lump sum shortly after being accepted to the program with the idea that the money upfront can provide a foundation for the duration of this unpaid internship.
“Because of the award I received from KACIF, I was able to accept a [fellowship] with the New Virginia Majority,” Liang said. “I hope to become more involved with Asian-American organizing in the future. This experience empowered me to serve my community through organizing and direct services.”
To maximize the number of students who receive funding, which is typically about 100 per year, grants for internships in D.C. and other domestic locations typically range from $750 to $1,500, while grants for international internships typically range from $2,000 to $3,000.
Applicants must demonstrate that they will work a minimum of 160 hours at the internship, in addition to proving that their internship is in fact necessarily unpaid. Necessarily unpaid internships are defined as those that genuinely lack the financial resources to pay salaries or wages to their interns. Kelly Charwat, the program associate for interdisciplinary and strategic career initiatives at the Center for Career Services, noted that many of those fall in the government, education and nonprofit sectors.
In addition, many students choose GW because of its proximity in the nation’s capital as they, like Liang, come to seek change in the world and to better society. KACIF allows for students to pursue such opportunities within the sectors of work the Washington, D.C., area is most well-known and coveted for.
Charwat said the KACIF fund closes the gap between the disparity in postgraduate success rates between students who have paid internships and those who have unpaid internships, and that a big part of the issue is that underrepresented student populations often can’t afford internships because they rely on part-time jobs to support themselves.
The National Association of Colleges and Employers notes that internships are one of the main recruiting tools employers use to find recent graduates, but the current divide of paid and unpaid internships is leading to disparate impact on student outcomes post-graduation. The GW Center for Career Services uses the KACIF program to address such inequities and enhance opportunities for students.
“When we ask students to submit a budget for KACIF grants, a lot of them are asking for help to offset lost wages; without that support, they have to choose between their part-time job and the internship,” Charwat said. “KACIF helps provide opportunities for students to pursue career-building internships without having to sacrifice financial stability.”
Undergraduate and graduate students currently enrolled full-time or part-time at the university are eligible to apply. Graduate students enrolled in the first semester of their degree program may apply for subsequent semesters. For example, a graduate student who begins in the fall can apply for spring funding. First-year undergraduate students are eligible to apply for funding for the summer after their first academic year of study.
To help more students like Angel Liang pursue career-building internships without financial worry, please consider donating to the Knowledge in Action Career Internship Fund. Visit the special fundraising page now until Dec. 3, Giving Tuesday. Make a gift today to help continue providing opportunities for GW students to pursue transformative, unpaid internships.