Close Up Civic Fellowship

The Civic Fellowship is an immersive experience for people who appreciate teamwork and are excited by the intensity of a fast-paced environment. Your duties will vary from week to week. Most weeks, you’ll be staffing multi-day civic education programs in Washington, DC, leading high school students through study visits to monuments and memorials, meetings with elected officials, and engaging simulations, discussions, and debates. Other weeks, you’ll be tutoring local students in writing, public speaking, and other skills of civic engagement to address pandemic learning loss. You’ll also work on projects in the Close Up office, leading efforts to study and improve the outcomes of our work with diverse students.

Overall, about three-quarters of your time will be spent leading various student programs, with the remaining one-quarter reserved for in-office projects.

The hours of this position vary. During weeks when you’re in the office, Close Up maintains a standard 40-hour work week (Monday through Friday, approximately 9 am to 5 pm). During weeks 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 8 am and ending at room check around 10 pm).

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:

• A $500 relocation reimbursement
• Medical and dental insurance
• No-cost life/AD&D insurance
• All meals while working on program
• Mass transit subsidy
• Free gym access
• The opportunity to earn free graduate credit
• 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 aims to inform, inspire, and empower young people to become active participants in our democracy. We believe a strong democracy requires engagement by all citizens; therefore, we seek to reach youth from all communities and all backgrounds, regardless of race, religion, gender, socioeconomic level, or academic standing. Since 1971, we have partnered with schools nationwide to serve nearly one million students and educators through experiential programs in our nation’s capital and in local communities, virtual after-school and summer programs, professional development for educators, and curriculum and resource design.