Creative and civic practice internship
A remote spring internship blending design, storytelling, and public service.
At Public Servants, we believe emerging creatives have an important role to play in shaping the future of public systems. Early-career years are where curiosity sharpens, skills expand, and voices take shape—and where the right opportunities can open doors to meaningful, mission-driven work.
We also know that opportunities at the intersection of design, storytelling, and public service can feel limited. That’s why we’ve created an internship experience that is supportive, flexible, and intentionally designed to offer emerging creatives room to contribute, explore, and grow through real project-based work.
We’re excited to open applications for our Spring 2026 creative and civic practice internship—a paid, part-time, remote contract role for emerging creatives who want hands-on experience contributing to public-interest design and storytelling.
A promotional graphic announcing the Public Servants Creative and civic practice internship.
What this internship is
This internship is designed to meet you where you are and offer space for creative growth. Rather than filling one narrowly scoped role, we invite applicants to select their top 2–3 areas of interest:
Video editing
Illustration
Motion graphics and animation
Digital strategy and content repackaging
Desk research
Workshop or facilitation support
You don’t need to be an expert in all of these—strength (or promise) in one area and curiosity to explore more is more than enough.
Interns will have the opportunity to work with our founder and CEO, engage with a small remote peer group as needed, and contribute to creative projects that support a public-interest consultancy.
What you’ll gain
This internship is shaped by a set of commitments we make to the people who work with us. You will receive:
Real, portfolio-ready work: You’ll produce creative and narrative work that appears across our platforms, credited to you.
Tailored responsibilities: Before accepting the role, interns help shape their own responsibilities based on skill, interest, and goals—ensuring your work is meaningful and aligned with your development.
Exposure to civic design and public-interest work: You’ll gain insight into how creative practice supports public systems, how narrative influences policy and trust, and what it means to design for communities and public servants.
Tools and materials support: Interns use their own laptops or personal devices for this work. If a project requires specialized creative software (e.g., Adobe Creative Cloud or motion tools), we can discuss providing access to what you need for the duration of that project. Limited reimbursement is available for approved supplies—such as illustration materials, brushes, or stock assets—directly related to contracted work.
Compensation and flexibility: This is a paid, part-time contract at $25/hour for approximately 8–10 hours per week. Work is deliverable-based with flexible timing, supporting students and emerging creatives balancing coursework, jobs, or other commitments.
Optional opportunities:
Practice Sessions with the Public Servants network: You’ll be invited (but never required) to join informal conversations with leaders across design, communications, civic tech, research, policy, and public service. These sessions offer firsthand insights, space for questions, and an opportunity to connect your creative practice to broader public-interest work.
Creative feedback and mentorship: You can opt into weekly check-ins or creative critiques and receive guidance from our founder and CEO, who has led award-winning design and communications teams across government, nonprofits, and civic-tech spaces.
A collaborative, remote-first studio experience: We work intentionally in a flexible, remote-first setup. Interns can join critique discussions or planning conversations as fits their availability and interests.
Peer exchange: Interns may (if they choose) share work with one another, offer feedback, and present lessons learned. This is also a supportive space to workshop school projects or personal creative explorations.
What we’re looking for
We welcome applicants who are:
Current undergraduate or graduate students, recent graduates (within one year), or emerging creatives at similar stages in their development.
Skilled in at least one area of creative practice (video, illustration, motion, strategy, or research)
Deeply curious about public service, civic design, or social impact
Comfortable working in a remote environment and engaging with others as needed
Kind, thoughtful, reliable, and receptive to constructive feedback
You don’t need to have experience with government or public-sector work, just a genuine interest in how design and storytelling can strengthen public systems.
Our commitment to emerging creatives
Public Servants is a values-led organization, and part of our mission is to help ensure that creativity stays rooted where it’s needed most—inside public systems, communities, and places where imagination is often underfunded or overlooked. This internship supports emerging creative practitioners who want to shape the public good with clarity, courage, and care.
Because this opportunity is designed with early-career creatives in mind, we’re focusing this role on applicants who are in the early stages of their professional journey. If you’re a more seasoned practitioner, we’d still love to stay connected—please follow Public Servants for future roles that align with your experience. There’s more to come.
We also recognize that creative paths aren’t always linear. If your experience is unconventional or still unfolding, we encourage you to apply. Curiosity and values alignment often matter more than traditional qualifications.
A promotional graphic announcing the Public Servants Creative and civic practice internship.
How to apply
Applications for the Spring 2026 internship are now open.
Apply directly through our application portal:
The application includes:
A portfolio or a few work samples (links are welcome)
A few short questions about your interests and goals
Your preferred areas of focus
We’ll review applications on a rolling basis and follow up with selected candidates for a short conversation about the role.
Have questions?
If you have any accessibility needs, questions about the internship, or want clarification before applying, reach out at info@publicservants.com.
We’re excited to meet the emerging creatives who will contribute to thoughtful, effective public services in the years ahead.
