Please note that the Fellowship program has been filled for Summer 2008. The Breakthrough Institute is hosting its second annual Summer Fellowship program at its main office in Oakland, California, and is hiring up to fifteen of the best and brightest young adults. Summer Fellows enjoy an experience that is qualitatively different than a typical internship, because much of the work involves research, writing, and analysis that is substantial and substantive. In 2007, Breakthrough Summer Fellows conducted research and co-authored a major white paper, "Fast, Clean and Cheap," that appeared in the Spring 2008 edition of the Harvard Law and Policy Review.

This year's Summer Fellows will contribute to the Breakthrough Institute's mission to overcome ecological crises through a new kind of economic development that increases security and expands opportunity. Our strategy is to reinvent politics. The economy and society have changed significantly in the last 30 years, but progressive and environmental politics have not kept up. Toward this end, Breakthrough is developing a new policy agenda on energy technology, deforestation, and a new social contract for the United States. Breakthrough has made significant progress in developing this new agenda, but there is a lot of work left to do. As a group and as individuals, Breakthrough Summer Fellows will contribute to the creation and advancement of this new policy agenda.

The Breakthrough Institute will help Summer Fellows to better understand their unique talents and to apply them in individual or group projects. These projects could include, but are not limited to, a research paper, a strategic Breakthrough plan, digital presentations, new media and online work, a series of short articles, or a combination of the above. By the end of the summer, every Fellow will have created a concrete work product that reflects his or her own interests and the mission of the Breakthrough Institute.

See the new Breakthrough Fellows.

Download Preliminary Program Agenda: PDF (139 KB)


For more information, contact Teryn Norris