Civic Fellowship

The Civic Fellowship begins with comprehensive training in Close Up’s methodology and curriculum to provide you with a foundation for both working with students on program and improving civic learning outcomes. You will gradually begin working directly with students through a variety of Close Up programs, including our flagship high school and middle school programs in Washington, D.C., local policy summits in other communities nationwide, and partnership and special constituency programs. The time you spend directly engaging students is interspersed with professional development, time to observe and reflect, and cooperative work with Foundation leaders to improve civic learning outcomes. 

You will be treated to Foundation-wide breaks around Thanksgiving and at the end of December. The time you spend working directly with students is the busiest part of our program season, for much of November through June. In June, we will wrap up the Civic Fellowship with some culminating activities. 

The Civic Fellowship is an immersive experience for people who appreciate teamwork and are excited by the intensity of a fast-paced environment. Most of the time, you’ll be staffing multi-day civic education programs in Washington, DC, leading high school or middle school students through study visits to monuments and memorials, meetings with elected officials, and engaging simulations, discussions, and debates. Your work with students will provide you with the firsthand knowledge needed to assist in efforts to study and improve the civic learning outcomes of our work with diverse students.

The hours of this position vary and it’s not your typical 9-5. When you’re staffing a student program, the hours align with those of the specific program (often Sunday through Thursday, with days beginning at breakfast around 8am and ending at room check around 10:30pm).

Close Up serves young people from all communities and backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, gender, socioeconomic level, or academic standing. Our participants come from all 50 states, U.S. territories, rural and urban communities, the left, the right, and everywhere in between. This diversity is what makes our programs great, opening students’ eyes to new perspectives and ways of thinking.

In addition to a salary (paid twice per month), Civic Fellows receive:

• Up to a $500 relocation reimbursement
• Generous benefits (including medical and dental insurance, no-cost life/AD&D insurance, FSA plan, retirement plan, all meals while working on program, mass transit subsidy, monthly cell-phone stipend, and the opportunity to earn free graduate credit)
• Sick leave and built-in, paid breaks around Thanksgiving and at the end of December
• Exposure to elected officials, policy experts, and issue advocates
• An extensive network of alumni, schools, and leaders in politics, policy, and the nonprofit world
• Eligibility for the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program
• Comprehensive training and coaching
• Leadership and skill development
• Expertise in civics and educational systems and practices
• Eligibility for the Close Up Civic Educator Award

Unfortunately, no. This is a full-time position that is open to college graduates only. But please apply once you’ve graduated!

Close Up is a nonprofit, nonpartisan, civic education organization that informs, inspires, and empowers young people to become active citizens. Since 1971, we have partnered with school districts nationwide to serve more than one million students and educators through experiential learning programs in our nation’s capital and in local communities, professional development, and curriculum design and consulting. Our goal is to connect what students learn in class to the real world around them and help them articulate their own views, listen to those of others, and engage with people of different backgrounds with tolerance and understanding. To learn more, visit www.CloseUp.org.