Become a Zero Hunger Intern
The Zero Hunger Internship matches college students and recent graduates with Washington, D.C.-based organizations working to address hunger. Over the course of your 10-week internship, you will develop your professional and leadership skills and expand your subject knowledge through on-the-job training, the Hunger Center’s leadership development curriculum, and a summer seminar series. After completing the internship, you will be ready to advocate for an end to hunger.
Adding Capacity
Zero Hunger Interns are placed at host organizations that work to end hunger. As an intern, you will complete a 10-week work plan designed by your host organization that focuses on program implementation, policy, advocacy, research, development and fundraising, or communications. With a commitment to learning and growth, interns make substantive contributions to their host organizations in a short period of time.
The experience I had this summer as a Zero Hunger intern was extremely impactful and pivotal in helping direct my career path. I've been passionate about anti-hunger work, but this summer solidified my desire to work in this field. I was surrounded by passionate, intelligent, hardworking people that inspired me. Through the seminar series I gained an immense amount of knowledge on anti-hunger issues that I wouldn't have learned so quickly elsewhere. I also met some amazing friends that I know I'll keep up with throughout the years.Josie Johnson (Summer 2019), Texas Christian University, Class of 2020
Paid Learning Opportunity
As an intern, you will benefit from on the-job-training at your host organization and the Hunger Center’s leadership development curriculum. Interns also attend a five-part Summer Seminar Series with panels, workshops, and simulations, covering domestic and global hunger, the forces that drive hunger, and effective remedies. Zero Hunger Interns support each other’s learning and growth as they progress through the summer, learning together. Finally, at the end of the summer, you will give a presentation on the state of hunger in your hometown community and propose solutions to end it.
"The Zero Hunger Internship provided opportunities for me to expand my knowledge of the root causes of poverty and food insecurity. This not only helped me be effective in my work throughout the summer, but helped me be more introspective about my personal situation. Knowing how and why my hometown is affected by these issues is an integral part of solving the issue of poverty, hunger, and food insecurity."Emma Peterson (Summer 2020), Lindsey Wilson College
Field-To-Policy Connection
Addressing the disconnect between policy and direct-service is a crucial step to ending hunger. We select interns for their commitment to ending hunger: in their home communities, interns are involved in local anti-hunger efforts and campaigns to improve food security for people all over the world. The Zero Hunger Internship will show you the connections between your experience with local solutions to hunger and federal anti-hunger policy, and teach you how advocacy and policy can be pathways to long-lasting, large-scale change.
As long as we focus on short-term solutions, no real change will happen. Emergency food aid is critically important, but people's lives will improve with policies that support people transitioning out of poverty. I hope to take the passion and drive of my classmates and channel it to policy solutions, instead of short-term solutions. When our leaders hear our persistent demands for structural change, they will listen.Katie Waeldner (Summer 2019), Duke University, Class of 2021
Intern In Action
Summer 2019 Zero Hunger Intern Chido Shamuyarira delivers her final presentation, “Increasing food security in Mbare, Zimbabwe,” August 2019
Join Us
Ready to learn about hunger and develop as a leader in 2022?
Applications to join the summer 2022 class of Zero Hunger Interns are now open. We will be accepting applications through January 13, 2023.
Read our guide for prospective applicants to learn more about the internship, including selection criteria, application timeline, benefits, and much more.
Once you've read the guide, start your online application using the link below.
Join Us
Ready to learn about hunger and develop as a leader?
Applications to join the summer 2023 class of Zero Hunger Interns have closed. We will begin accepting applications for the summer 2024 class in fall of 2023.
Read our guide for prospective applicants to learn more about the internship, including selection criteria, application timeline, benefits, and much more.