Summer Internships

We want to be sure your opportunities catch the eyes of students. Check out some quick tips.

Exciting summer internships allow students to gain experience, explore possible career paths, live out their personal values, and weave together their education at Carleton with community and civic engagement.

• Learn about and from community partner
  • Understand community partner frameworks, stakeholders, audiences
  • Explore organizational structure and development
  • Attend meetings with stakeholders, other invested parties

• Provide opportunities to lead and manage projects or programs
  • Plan, develop, implement, evaluate projects or programs 
  • Analyze project stakeholders, those impacted by projects or programs
  • Create opportunities to supervise volunteers
  • Transition project management, ensuring continuity of projects or programs

• Communicate the work and values of the community partners to campus stakeholders and future Summer Interns

• Collaborate with professionals inside and outside of the community partner
  • Build strong, meaningful relationships with community partners

• Translate knowledge, skills, and interests learned in the classroom to support community partner projects/programs

• November/December: Develop position postings with Erica Zweifel
• December: Posting go live on Carleton’s Handshake platform
• January/February: Priority deadline for applications, with the option to extend
• March – May: Recruitment and hiring continues until positions filled

Thanks to the generous support of Carleton donors and supporters, community partners may engage Carleton students in full-time or part-time unpaid summer internships without placing a financial burden on students. Students with unpaid or underpaid internships may apply for funding from the Career Center to cover their summer expenses and savings goals, and based on the student’s need, most requests can be fulfilled.

• Social media
• Posters
• Student issue-area email list
• Active recruiting among students involved in the local community through the CCCE’s other programs

• Food Access Intern at CAC (CCCE), Address food insecurity working with the Food Access Program team, the Summer Food Access Intern will provide direct client services and support the overall operations of mobile food distributions, assist with the daily operations of the new CAC Food Shelf, as well as continue to advance CAC’s community outreach within Rice County.
• Growing Up Healthy Internship (CCCE), Use your skills to transform communities and build resiliency with our immigrant neighbors. Join Growing Up Healthy in working with Latine immigrant families in Rice County this summer.
• Growing Up Healthy Resource Redistribution Summer Internship  (CCCE) Are you excited about providing a welcoming and supportive community for all? Are you wanting to use your skills to transform communities and build resiliency in our immigrant neighbors? Provide support for Growing Up Healthy’s involvement in Carleton’s Lighten Up thrift sale. Work directly on Lighten Up sale preparation during the month of June with a focus on local resource redistribution. Spend July and August supporting Evenings in the Park programming.
• Believet Business Development and Marketing Coordinator Intern (CCCE), We are seeking a dynamic Business Development and Marketing Coordinator Intern to assist in creating and implementing marketing strategies while also supporting the business development aspects of these new services. This internship provides an excellent opportunity to gain hands-on experience in marketing and business development within this industry. Believet Canine Service Partners, a nonprofit provider of service dogs to veteran clients with mobility and/or psychiatric needs, such as PTSD, is expanding its services to the general public, offering boarding, day training, and grooming for dogs. 
• Believet Community Outreach and Canine Foster Recruitment Intern (CCCE) We are seeking a passionate and motivated Community Outreach and Foster Recruitment Intern to expand our canine foster network. This internship offers an opportunity to engage with the community and recruit new foster families, contributing significantly to the success of our service dog program. Believet Canine Service Partners, a nonprofit provider of service dogs to veteran clients with mobility and/or psychiatric needs, such as PTSD, is expanding its services to the general public, offering boarding, day training, and grooming for dogs. 
• Laura Baker Public Policy Intern (CCCE), Work closely with LBSA’s Executive Director and Director of Community Relations to assist in the execution of LBSA’s Advocacy Plan, manage the LBSA Instagram and Twitter accounts and assist the organization with other marketing initiatives. Our goal is to make it easy for members of our community to voice their policy concerns in a simple, unified manner. 
• Curbside Compost Cooperative Summer Assistant (CCCE), (Feb 7th deadline) Work with Curbside Compost Cooperative this summer! In this position, students will gain experience working in a democratically-run business doing community education, getting hands-on experience with compost processing and collection, and working on expanding the business into new geographic areas. If you are interested in local, cooperative strategies for waste reduction and sustainability, this is a great position for you! We would love to host two Carleton interns this summer.
• Sharing Our Roots Regenerative Farm Summer Internship (CCCE), work with us as we envision a world where food and agriculture systems are profitable for farmers, fair to workers, beneficial to consumer health, restorative for rural communities and regenerative for the environment.
• Sharing Our Roots Farm Communications Internship (CCCE) Join the team at Sharing Our Roots farm, a regenerative farm powered by emerging farmers and farmers of color. This Farm Communications internship offers a unique opportunity to support Sharing Our Roots Farm’s sustainable agricultural and land access work, while building communication, visual content, and design skills. As a member of the communications team, you will collaborate with the Communications Director and Commons Cohort Facilitator to create engaging content, visually capture farm life through photography, and help coordinate and lead regular farmers’ markets.
• Sharing Our Roots Ecological Restoration Intern (CCCE) Join the team at Sharing Our Roots farm, a regenerative farm powered by emerging farmers and farmers of color. The focus for this internship position will be to support our ecological restoration programs at Sharing Our Roots farm. We seek support in 1) in-the-field restoration projects, and 2) native plant seed collection and native plant installations. This will be a year to offer volunteer projects, including native species installation, native seed collection and natural lands restoration. 
• Faribault Public Schools Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Math STEAM summer programming (CCCE), Lead activities and lessons for a section of students going into grades PreK-8 for Summer STEAM. Responsibilities include leading, assisting in, and working with a team to provide instruction and activities, leading afternoon camp sessions
• Northfield Middle School BLAST Summer Internship (CCCE), BLAST is a free program for Middle School students that strives to develop academic skills and abilities through engaging enrichment opportunities.
• Northfield Elementary School Summer PLUS Internship (CCCE), PLUS is a free program that strives to develop academic skills and abilities for students, as well as provide engaging enrichment opportunities.
• Communication Intern at Clean River Partners (CCCE) Help Clean River Partners find engaging ways to share educational opportunities, research, and stories about water and our area to engage more of our neighbors to join us! The Communications Intern will assist in Clean River Partner’s communications with members and broader community members to showcase our work and invite more folks in. They will take the lead on projects related to social media marketing, website development, and event coordination to amplify our message.
• Internships with River Bend Nature Center in Faribault (CCCE). Be part of RBNC’s summer programming, including educational place based programs for youth and families. Support RBNC’s natural lands management.
• Northfield Union of Youth Staffer (CCCE)Provide a caring adult presence at The Key Youth Center on a schedule assigned by the youth board and Assistant Director. Responsibilities include providing social and emotional support for at-risk youth, creating and fostering developmental relationships with youth, empowering and supporting youth leadership, and other responsibilities as they arise. Tasks include supervising the youth center, tracking attendance, tracking programs, cleaning and maintenance, and other tasks as they arise. This also includes check-ins and follow-ups with the youth throughout the week both within and outside The Key.
• Northfield Union of Youth Thrifting Coordinator (CCCE) Provide support for the Key’s involvement in Carleton’s Lighten Up thrift sale. Work directly on Lighten Up sale preparation during the month of June. Work alongside the Key youth volunteers at Lighten Up, including supervising the youth, tracking attendance, tracking tasks, and other duties as they arise. Explore outlets for Lighten Up resources that would benefit youth. Assist with food resource distribution to youth. The opportunity to create and foster developmental relationships with youth, empowering and supporting youth leadership. 
• Affordable Housing Intern with the City of Northfield (CCCE), Are you interested in learning how city governments can increase and improve housing locally? Municipal governments have a unique set of levers at their disposal to incentivize the creation of housing to support low-income families and improve and maintain an aging housing stock.
• Project Friendship Resource and Fundraising Coordinator (CCCE) Provide support for Project Friendship’s involvement in Carleton’s Lighten Up thrift sale and explore fundraising campaign options for the organization. Work directly on Lighten Up sale preparation during the month of June. Work alongside the PF volunteers at Lighten Up, including supervising the youth and family volunteers, tracking attendance, tracking tasks, and other duties as they arise. Lighten Up is one of PF’s fundraisers. Spend the remaining portion of your internship exploring fundraising and grant writing opportunities for Project Friendship.

• Visit Northfield has lots of good suggestions 
• Riverwalk Market Fair, every Saturday from May 20st through October 21th from 9am-1pm in Bridge Square. Local produce, baked goods and artistry.
• Northfield Arts Guild has classes/performances
• Red Barn pizza night is delicious!
• Ride the East Cannon River Trail to Marthas for lunch or pastries
• Volunteer at the Community Action Food shelf
• Thrift shop at Used a Bit Shoppe, Clothes Closet, Thrifty Parrot, Vintage
• the Friends of Downtown Northfield
• Volunteer with Carleton Farm or Sharing our Roots with wildlife counts or farm days

Check out the city event calendar!