Summer Community Service Fellowship (for GSD Students)

In collaboration with the Harvard Graduate School of Design (GSD), the Center offers Community Service Fellowships for GSD students. The mission of the GSD's Community Service Fellowship Program (CSFP) is to expose students to new challenges and methods of working, and to encourage them to explore connections between the academic interests they pursue at School and the practitioner’s vocation to understand and address existing challenges faced by communities both locally (in the Boston area), nationally (elsewhere in the US), and internationally. The Program also provides summer funding to support students as they gain relevant work experience. 

Joint Center for Housing Studies Community Service Fellowship
The JCHS Community Service Fellowship for GSD students supports students who have obtained internships or other opportunities with public sector and nonprofit organizations whose work focuses on housing, the built environment, and/or community development.

GSD students from all concentrations are eligible to apply for funding to work in a nonprofit or public sector setting, in Massachusetts, or in other US cities and regions (but not outside of the US). Funding is available to support 10-week internships across a wide spectrum of possible entities, including but not limited to:

  • Municipal or regional planning departments or offices
  • Housing or Redevelopment Authorities
  • Federal or state agencies (e.g. the US Department of Housing and Urban Development or the Massachusetts Department of Housing and Community Development)
  • National non profit intermediaries (e.g. the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) or Enterprise Community Partners)
  • Local community service organizations and/or community development corporations
  • Research and advocacy organizations (e.g. the National Low Income Housing Coalition, or the Citizens’ Housing and Planning Association (CHAPA))

 

What Former Fellows Have to Say

  • This fellowship allowed me to work with a myriad of topics that rarely intersect in a professional setting: black economic and real estate development in the context of rapidly gentrifying cities. It also challenged me to think critically about core interests of mine as I worked with the organization’s network over the summer to generate a citywide conversation about its future.
    -Gabriel Ramos (MUP), 2018 Fellow at the Africatown Preservation and Development Association
  • This was an excellent opportunity to see how interdisciplinary approaches work together for a common goal. It also allowed me to again become interested in the urban aspects of landscape design.  I can imagine myself helping implement something similar to the Emerald Network in my hometown after I graduate. 
    -Maria de la Luz Lobos Martinez (MLA I), 2018 Fellow with the Livable Streets Alliance’s Emerald Network Initiative
  • My summer fellowship in the California State Legislature gave me a strong understanding of statewide housing policy and also a deeper appreciation of elected officials and their staff for all the hundreds of hours of relationship building and diligent negotiation that go into the legislative process.
    -Juan Reynoso (MUP/MPH), 2018 Fellow in the Office of State Assemblyman Todd Gloria
  • The fellowship opened doors and experiences for me. I learned so much about my potential future line of work, and it provided me with a wonderful working dynamic with my host program.
    -Gloria Chang (MArch II and MDes, Risk and Resilience), 2018 Fellow at the U.S. Naval War College, Civilian-Military Humanitarian Response Program

 

How to Apply

Applications will go live on Monday, January 8, 2024. The deadline for applications will be Monday, April 1, 2024.

More information can be found on the GSD's Community Service Fellowship Program page.