Federal Internship
Apply Here
CAPAL will help place students in internships within the federal government in DC. Opportunities in regional offices, including California, Texas, and Wisconsin, may also be possible. Interns are placed in program management, legal and finance positions. These internship positions are open to ALL MAJORS, and are suited for individuals looking to gain real-world federal government experience. CAPAL has partnerships with Federal Agencies including Agricultural Research Services and Forest Service. Depending on your interests and placement, your duties could vary from policy or scientific research, project coordination and management, business, law, communication, and more. Applicants are asked to specify their preferences on the application, and those selected will be placed based on their interests and skills. Agricultural knowledge is not required. These internships are suitable for all students interested in government and public policy.
CAPAL will also mentor all selected interns and provide guidance in transitioning to Washington, D.C. including how to locate housing, how to navigate the city, and how to make the best of their summer in the nation’s capital.
Federal Internship Award
$3,000 stipend and $500 for travel expenses
CAPAL Scholarship
Apply Here
CAPAL will award 3 scholarships to outstanding APA college undergraduate and graduate students who will be serving in unpaid public service internships (non-profit or government) in the Washington DC area for the summer. The scholarships are intended to enable outstanding APA scholars with leadership potential to work full-time and learn about ways to influence public policy in their local communities. Recipients of the CAPAL scholarships are responsible for securing their own public service internships.
Asha Jaini Scholarship Award
$3,000 stipend
SunTrust Scholarship Award
$3,000 stipend
Deadlines
The early deadline to apply is in mid-February. The final deadline will be early March. Applicants will be asked to provide a resume, transcript, personal statement and 2 letters of recommendation. Please see application link above for details.
Questions
Please see our Frequently Asked Questions section. For any other questions please email applications@capal.org .
Forest Service (FS)
National Credit Union Association (NCUA)
U.S. Department of Treasury
Application Requirements
1. Resume
2. Transcript (Applicants must have a GPA of 3.0 or higher)
3. Personal Statement: Please provide a statement of purpose that addresses the following questions. Please limit your statement to 750 words or less.
a. What are your long-term career goals? How will your summer internship experience advance those goals?
b. Describe your previous educational, community work, and internship experiences. Please explain how these experiences have influenced your long-term career goals, and how you demonstrated leadership during those experiences.
c. How will you use the experiences and knowledge gained during your summer with a federal agency to better the APA community and your local community?
4. Two letters of recommendation: Please attach scanned and signed recommendations along with recommender contact information.
Additional Requirements During Summer
Interns are required to attend orientation, all sessions of the Washington Leadership Program, and develop a Community Action Plan.
- Launch of the mentorship program for incoming APA students at Cornell University.
- Launch of a student-run academic journal dedicated to issues facing Asian Americans at Harvard University.
- Launch of a student-run non-profit organization at the University of California, Berkeley, with the mission of educating the public about human trafficking.
Past Intern Experiences
As a CAPAL Scholar, I interned at the Department of State’s Office of Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative. I worked with the new Feed the Future Initiative, which emphasizes country-ownership and a comprehensive approach to development and aid. I conducted research on Feed the Future’s involvement with the Asian region, in particular the countries of Nepal, Cambodia, and Bangladesh. Through both my internship and participation in the Washington Leadership Program, I learned how to link my personal experiences with international NGOs and local nonprofits to policymaking at the government level. The Washington Leadership Program’s variety of discussion panel topics and panelists provided an in-depth view into how politics and government are shaped. Having a community that both supported and inspired me really allowed me to absorb all that Washington, DC had to offer.-Lily Cheng, CAPAL Scholar, University of California, Berkeley
Being a CAPAL intern this past summer was one of the best experiences of my undergraduate career so far. Not only did I learn valuable skills of working in a Federal Agency but I also so learned so much from the CAPAL board members as well as from other interns I met in CAPAL and other partner organizations. The best parts of my summer in D.C were those after work networking events like the Washington Leadership Program where I was able to meet prominent Asian American figures like Congress woman Judy Chu and Congressman Mike Honda.
It was [at the Washington Leadership Program] that I met some of the most inspiring, caring and thoughtful friends that I know I will be contact with for a long time. I will always be grateful to be a part of the CAPAL family.
-Priscilla Choi, Office of Chief Financial Officer, US Office of Personnel
Management