✈️ Upcoming Opportunities
Applications for additional Summer Programs — including Affordable Housing, Urban Agriculture, Public Health, Los Angeles and the Olympics, and Immigrant Rights and Social Justice in Los Angeles — will open in December 2025.
PROGRAMS:
🏠 Affordable Housing, Community Development, and Environmental Justice
Interns will work with professional staff on a variety of projects dealing with housing development, housing policy, housing advocacy, environmental justice, and community-based approaches to climate change, policy, and planning.
Possible Organizations:
🌱 Food Studies and Urban Agriculture
Interns will participate in a 2-week orientation course to learn about urban agriculture basics and food justice in Los Angeles that includes classroom activities as well as a series of experiential field trips where students engage in hands-on learning activities, and will then be placed at one of the urban agriculture organizations for an 8-week internship. Students will work alongside urban farmers and gain experience in urban food production methods, community engagement and workshops, as well as marketing, sales, and food assistance acceptance.
Possible Organizations:
🩺 Public Health and Street Medicine
Interns will be placed with frontline public health organizations and clinics that serve vulnerable populations in Los Angeles. Students will work with staff from partner sites on projects related to the mission and goals of the organization. Students may work on projects related to women’s health, health education, nutrition and physical activity, healthcare access, street medicine and/or food assistance program enrollment.
Students must have completed PUBH 203 Introduction to Public Health; or DWA 248 or PUBH 248 Global Public Health before the start of the summer internship program.
Possible Organizations:
✊ Immigrant Rights and Social Justice in Los Angeles
After a 2-day orientation/workshop to working with immigrant populations and community-based partner organizations, interns will be placed in an immigration-focused partner organization in Los Angeles for 8 weeks. During those 8 weeks, interns will work with staff to address matters such as legal immigrant rights, education, housing, work/employment, family, and health. The particular work will depend on the mission of the partner organization.
Possible Organizations:
🌴Los Angeles and the Olympics
Interns will work in the City of Los Angeles’ Mayor’s office and local community-based organizations engaged in planning for the Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles in 2028. Interns will work on a variety of projects dealing with current and future transportation and transit infrastructure, housing policy, tenant and housing advocacy, environmental justice, and community-based approaches to sustainability. Placements will include the Mayor’s offices of Transportation Infrastructure and Sustainability as well as transit and community-based organizing and advocacy organizations.
Preferred qualifications:
- Strong writing and research skills
- Ability to set priorities and manage time
- Ability to take initiative
- Ability to work independently and in teams
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work in diverse environments
💰 COMPENSATION AND REQUIREMENTS
The Occidental students selected for this internship will be paid a $6,000 stipend, will be provided with room and board on campus [based on income, but with a maximum payment of $150 per week for the summer], and will work full-time for a community-based non-profit organization. Additional funds for travel expenses may also be available. The number of internship slots will depend on the level of funding the program can raise.
Interns will be required to:
- Work full-time for 10 weeks from May 27, 2026 to July 31, 2026
- Participate in weekly seminars with faculty mentors and other interns to discuss assigned readings and reflect on the internship experience
- Keep a journal
- Write a final reflection paper
- Present at the URC Summer Research Program Conference on July 29, 2026
🧭 PROGRAM ELIGIBILITY
Open to all majors! Eligibility is limited to current Occidental students returning in the Fall 2026 semester. Past recipients may apply to other program areas. Students graduating in May 2026 are not eligible.
✍️ Applications for Summer 2026 will open in December. Please check back.
Complete the online application form (LINK TBC) and upload your documents by the deadline.
We'll need the following information:
- Your name, Oxy ID#, major, class (frosh, sophomore, junior), GPA, name of a faculty member who can serve as a reference, your method of transportation for the summer (personal vehicle, public transit, ride-share, or carpool), and whether you will need campus housing during the 10-week program;
- Identify the program you are applying for and list the three organizations that interest you the most (only for the Affordable Housing, Public Health, Food Studies, and Immigration Rights programs). Note: You may apply to more than one program but must submit a separate application for each;
- A 250-500 word statement (PDF or MS Word) explaining why you are interested in the program you are applying for, what skills will you bring (e.g. fluent in Spanish, proficient in Photoshop, etc), and what do you hope to learn at the internship site; share your future educational and professional plans and how this internship can help to support these plans. Also include information about any other related internship or volunteer experiences;
- Your resume (PDF or MS Word); and
- Your Oxy transcript (unofficial is acceptable).
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Meet our 2025 UEP & UEPI Summer Interns!
Affordable Housing and Community Development
Funded by an anonymous donor and the Office of National & International Fellowships
Faculty mentor: Maya Abood, Urban & Environmental Policy
Food Studies and Urban Agriculture
Funded by an anonymous donor
Faculty mentor: Sharon Cech, Urban & Environmental Policy
Global Immigrant Rights and Social Justice in Greece
Funded by an anonymous donor
Faculty mentor: Movindri Reddy, Diplomacy & World Affairs; and Mary Christianakis, Critical Theory & Social Justice
Immigrant Rights and Social Justice
Funded by an anonymous donor
Faculty mentor: Mary Christianakis, Critical Theory & Social Justice
Mary Ellen Coaty '26 (DWA)
Andrea Ibarra '28 (CTSJ and POLS)
Villathina Ly '27 (DWA)
Elle McAlpin '26 (COGS and CTSJ)
Oyindamola Obisesan '27 (PSYC and SOC)
Talia Varenik '26 (CTSJ and CSLC)
Julian Villa '26 (DWA)
Los Angeles and the Olympics
Funded by an anonymous donor
Faculty mentor: Martha Matsuoka, Urban & Environmental Policy
Public Health and Street Medicine
Funded by an anonymous donor, UniHealth Foundation, and Oxy's Community Health Engagement
Faculty mentor: Jessica Dirkes, Public Health
