Your path to a purpose-driven career.

If you're on the hunt for a paid internship or early-career job in progressive spaces you’ve probably come across unattainable job qualifications, unresponsive hiring managers, and limited access to meaningful resources. The Progressive Pipeline Fellowship is designed to remove some of these barriers by connecting underrepresented candidates to paid positions at social change groups and giving them the tools to succeed! 

If you’re accepted, we’ll offer you wrap-around training, coaching, and long-term career support – our goal is for this Fellowship to be a jumping-off point into a long, sustainable career in progressive spaces!

The best part? No experience is expected or required!

Our Fellowship Next Steps FAQs Apply!

Our Fellowship

  • We'll place you.

    We place our fellows in paid internships and full-time jobs with our hiring partners––social change groups that share our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion, and justice. Our hiring partners include advocacy groups, non-profit organizations, and political consulting firms. During our screening and matching process, we’ll aim to find you a placement that’s aligned with your background, interests, and experiences.

  • We'll pay you.

    We’re committed to making the program financially accessible to all our fellows. Our host organizations pay their Progressive Pipeline Fellows at least $15/hour for part-time and full-time positions. Once you’re matched to a potential placement, we’ll share a specific hourly rate and weekly commitment.

  • We'll train you.

    Before you start your fellowship, you’ll participate in a sequence of career readiness trainings. We’ll share best practices for managing up, asking for feedback, building workplace relationships, networking, and navigating questions of purpose and belonging at work––so you have all the tools you need to succeed in the fellowship and beyond.

  • We'll pair you with a coach.

    We’ll match you with a coach, who’ll meet with you weekly through the course of your fellowship. During your 1:1 coaching sessions, they have the opportunity to talk through challenges and opportunities at work, role-play potentially difficult conversations, and bounce ideas around with someone who’s been in your shoes. Many Fellows highlight this relationship as the most helpful part of their experience!

  • We'll broaden your network.

    By participating in the program, you’ll build relationships with the other fellows in your cohort, your coach, host organization staff, Progressive Pipeline staff, and best of all – you’ll join our community of more than 300 Fellowship alumni. You’ll leave with a network of friends and mentors, and we’ll help you leverage your connections to move forward in your career.

  • We'll help launch your career.

    After your fellowship, we’ll stick with our fellows long-term with career support and connections to future employers. We’ll source job applications for you, edit your resume and cover letters, help prepare you for interviews, and work with you to negotiate job offers––whatever it takes to support you in launching a lasting career in the progressive ecosystem.

“This fellowship means young Black women like me have a seat at the political table.”

Rayna Young, Progressive Pipeline ‘21

Apply

Take 10-20 minutes to complete our application, and we'll consider you for a range of paid internships and entry-level jobs with our hiring partners. We’re not looking for candidates with extensive experience or the most impressive resume; we’re looking for people who can tell us a story about themselves and have a clear motivation for working in progressive spaces. All placements are coordinated on a rolling basis. As the hiring needs of our partners evolve, we’ll keep your application on file and reach out if we find a role that’s a good fit for you. Even if you aren't selected for a match, we’ll share valuable professional development resources with you to support your growth.


Apply!

Placements

We’ll work with you to find an opportunity that’s aligned with your background and interests. We place fellows in a wide range of roles with our hiring partners, progressive groups that share a commitment to building a diverse bench of young leaders.

  • Host Organizations

    You’ll work for a group that’s driving progressive change. Past host organizations include the Center for Popular Democracy, BerlinRosen, Run for Something, SKDK, Catalist, Action Network, and Accountable.US.

  • Roles

    Fellows’ roles run the gamut from organizing to analytics to communications and public affairs. None require past professional experience, and our matching process is built to identify opportunities that are aligned with your skills and interests.

  • Mechanics

    Our fellowships generally last for around ten weeks and always pay at least $15/hr. You can choose between remote or in-person placements, full-time or part-time work, and fall, spring, or summer start dates. We’ll share specifics once you’re matched!

“I found Progressive Pipeline as a recent college graduate with no connections or even a place at the starting line. Now, I know I’m contributing to something bigger than myself. I see multiple directions in which my future can go –– it’s my time to explore and see what I can do.”

Esmeralda Orozco, Progressive Pipeline ‘22


Next Steps

  • Application

    Our application is straightforward and easy to complete (we mean it — it only takes about 15 minutes!). Resumes are optional, and we don’t ask for cover letters. There aren’t any trick questions: we just want to get a sense of who you are and what drives you.

  • Screening

    If we’re especially excited about your application, we might ask you to complete a short asynchronous video interview, a written matching exercise, and reference checks. Our goal is to figure out which roles excite you and where you might shine.

  • Matching

    Once we’ve gathered all of the information we can about you, we’ll share your profile with our hiring partners, and reach out to you directly if we confirm a match. We’ll share more background on the role, and you can decide whether you’d like to move forward.

  • Interviews

    If you’re selected as a finalist, you’ll interview with one of our host organizations. During the interview, you’ll meet your potential boss and learn more about the placement. They’ll ask you questions about your background, interest in the organization, and long-term goals.

  • Placement

    After your interview, your host organization will reach out directly with an offer, and you’ll become a Progressive Pipeline Fellow. We’ll give you the training and coaching you need to succeed on the job, and then you’ll get to work!

"Progressive Pipeline is opening doors for so many people that would be shut out of the political process otherwise. The Working Families Party has been fortunate to have an amazing group of young people hungry to make change."

Maurice Mitchell, National Director of the Working Families Party


FAQs

  • If you’re interested in launching a career in progressive politics, you should throw your hat in the ring! Students from all class years, majors, and schools are welcome to apply, as are recent graduates. We don’t have a GPA requirement and we don’t expect or require past experience.

  • Nope! As soon as you apply, we’ll start considering you for paid internships and entry-level jobs. The application only takes 15 minutes to complete, so you should apply as soon as possible to maximize the chances you get placed.

  • Make sure your resume is saved as a 1-2 page PDF and that the file size is under 10MB. If you’re still having trouble uploading it, you can complete the rest of the application and email the file to hello@progressive-pipeline.org, and we’ll upload it your behalf.

  • Try clicking this link to access the application directly. If that doesn’t quite solve things, reach out to us at hello@progressive-pipeline.org and will get it sorted out!

  • We'll take your full application into account when matching you with one of our placement partners, and we’ll aim to find a role that’s aligned with your interests and skills. You’re welcome to share any information on your application that might help us to determine where you’d be a fit, but we usually aren’t able to accommodate requests for particular placements.

  • Because our hiring partners employ their fellows directly, Progressive Pipeline does not ask applicants to provide proof of work authorization during our matching and screening process. Each host organization has its own set of policies and procedures to ensure compliance with federal immigration law. If you receive an offer from one of our hiring partners and have questions about work authorization, you should consult with their HR team and your own counsel to determine whether you should accept the role. We are not experts in immigration or employment law and can not offer you legal advice.

  • Our application is very low-key, and you don’t need to do much to get ready. We encourage (but don’t require) applicants to share resumes, so you should prepare a current, one-page resume and save it as a PDF. You might also want to reflect on the experiences in your life that have motivated you to make change and the communities that matter most to you.

  • Feel free to send a note to hello@progressive-pipeline.org and we’ll get back to you as soon as possible.

Submitting Your Application

The Fellowship

  • We offer both part-time (10-20 hr/week) and full-time (40 hr/week) opportunities. Part-time roles tend to offer flexible scheduling and can fit around course requirements.

  • Of course! All of our internships pay at least $15/hr and most of our entry-level jobs pay substantially more. Some also offer benefits such as health insurance, paid time off, and a work-from-home stipend.

  • While most of our roles are remote, we’re offering a few in-person opportunities as well. We welcome applicants working from anywhere in the United States, including folks who aren’t comfortable working in-person just yet.

  • Sometimes! If your school offers credit for internships or other paid, extracurricular work, we’re happy to confirm your participation in the program and complete any necessary forms. If receiving school credit is an important factor in deciding whether to apply to the fellowship, you might want to reach out to your department chair or your school’s career center.

  • While we can’t guarantee post-fellowship employment, many of our host organizations have offered their fellows full-time jobs after their internships are over. Regardless, we’ll help you navigate your next steps after the program is over and do everything we can to set you up for long-term career success.

  • We’ll do everything we can to help you launch a lasting social change career. As a Progressive Pipeline Fellow, you’ll participate in a sequence of career readiness trainings, meet weekly with a coach from our team, and join a community of more than 300 alumni. After your fellowship, we’ll stick with you to offer long-term career support, including job sourcing, direct connections to employers, and edits to resumes and cover letters.

After You Apply

  • In short, it depends! We typically reach out with next steps within a few weeks of receiving your application, and again once we find a role that could be aligned with your background and interests. That can take days or months, but we’ll definitely be in touch as soon as we find you a match.

  • Just apply again! Our system will detect that you’ve applied in the past and automatically pull in your most recent submission. If you’ve already completed our matching exercise or asynchronous interview, you won’t lose your responses.

    If you don’t have your previous responses on hand and just need to share an updated resume, feel free to email it to hello@progressive-pipeline.org

  • Just apply again! Our system will automatically update your file to include only your most recent submission.

  • Nope! We have your information on hand and will reach out if we find an opportunity that’s aligned with your background and experiences. If you’d like to share new information with us, you’re welcome to submit another application, but you certainly don’t have to.

  • Our application process is built to center equity, so we use the same questions and exercises to evaluate all candidates. We generally don’t need more information about you unless we ask for it!

    If you have minor updates that would help us more precisely match you to a host organization (e.g. you’ve moved, are now open to in-person roles, are looking for a full-time job rather than an internship, etc.), you’re welcome to email those to hello@progressive-pipeline.org and we’ll update your application accordingly.

    If you have more substantive updates or information that could strengthen your candidacy, you can submit another application and include them in your response to the final (“Is there anything else you want us to know?”) question—but you really don’t need to!

  • Unfortunately, we don’t have the capacity to offer individualized feedback to applicants. Even if we did, we probably wouldn’t have much to share: we have an exceptionally strong candidate pool and have to reject many qualified applicants.

  • Nope! If you saw a question on the application that asked how you heard about the fellowship, make sure you mentioned them. If you didn’t see that question, that means that they sent you a sourced link and we’ve already added a note to your application with the name of the organization that referred you.

Should I Apply If …

  • Definitely The Progressive Pipeline fellowship is a starting point for students who are passionate about progressive causes and eager to organize their communities but who might not have conventional political or organizing experience. We’re excited to help you launch your career.

  • Definitely! We have plenty of part-time, remote opportunities that are designed for students who are enrolled in classes.

  • Yes! You don’t need to be enrolled in the school to participate in the program.

  • Sure! We place fellows in both internships and entry-level, full-time jobs. We’d love to consider you.

  • You must be at least 18 years old to participate in the program, and we generally do not accept applicants who are currently enrolled in high school. Come back in a year or two!

  • Yes! All of our host organizations are open to hiring DREAMers. Once you’re matched with a prospective employer, you’ll be able to ask them about their particular employment policies and procedures.

  • You’re certainly welcome to apply, and if you receive an offer, we’re happy to share any information you need to help you determine whether the fellowship is related to your degree program. That said, we’re not experts in the OPT or CPT programs (or immigration law more broadly), so can’t advise you as to whether the fellowship is compliant with your work authorization. We encourage you to consult with an attorney, your school, or USCIS before accepting an offer of employment.

  • While we encourage candidates to apply regardless of national origin or citizenship status, our hiring partners generally do not sponsor applicants for work visas.

  • Yes! We encourage all applicants interested in launching social change careers to apply, and we don’t consider candidates’ ages when making selection decisions.

Certain US states and cities may require us to include a reasonable estimate of the pay range for the fellowship. Because fellows are employed directly by their host organization (and not by Progressive Pipeline), the final wage will be up to the discretion of the host organization. A reasonable estimate of the range for fellows is $15 - $20/hr. Actual wages may vary and may be above or below the range based on various factors, including, but not limited to the host organization and the scope of work.