Applications for the Academy’s 2024 Sweeney Internship are now closed.
Deadline: EXTENDED TO SUNDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2024
Eileen P. Sweeney devoted her life to improving the lives of people with disabilities, children, battered women, the poor, and the elderly. Her early Washington career was devoted to disability issues and she played a key role in achieving the disability benefit reforms of 1983 and 1984. She subsequently turned her attention to other vulnerable populations, the needs of children, those served by the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program, and the Social Security and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) programs.
The National Academy of Social Insurance, in partnership with the Children’s Defense Fund (CDF) and the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP) established the Eileen Sweeney Graduate Internship in honor and memory of Eileen.
Support the Eileen Sweeney Graduate Internship in Disability Policy
Who Should Apply
The National Academy of Social Insurance seeks outstanding graduate students aspiring to a career in social policy with a focus on disability issues. Students with a strong interest in disability policy (research, implementation, and/or advocacy) are encouraged to apply for this 12-week summer semester internship in Washington, DC.*
Eligibility of all internship programs requires applicants to be currently enrolled in a college or university at the start of the internship cycle.
*As of summer 2022, Academy interns are offered hybrid or in-person work arrangements, which are subject to change depending on COVID-19. In-person attendance is required for local DC Academy internship programming and activities.
Compensation
Interns are paid at least $17.50/hr based on a 35 to 40-hour work week.
Internship Placements
Students who are selected for an internship will then be matched with a placement organization in the DC area, where they will work under the supervision of an Academy Member. Sweeney interns will have the opportunity to:
- Work with leading disability policy experts;
- Gain valuable work experience;
- Make professional contacts and network in their area of interest; and
- Attend relevant seminars and symposia.
Sweeney interns work closely with experts in their Washington offices. Our most recent internship placements have included:
- AcademyHealth
- ADvancing States (former National Association of States United for Aging and Disabilities)
- AFL-CIO
- Buffin Foundation
- Center for Global Policy Solutions
- Century Foundation
- Community Catalyst
- Congressional Research Service
- Kaiser Family Foundation
- Long-Term Quality Alliance (LTQA)
- Medicaid and Chip Payment and Access Commission (MACPAC)
- National Academy of Social Insurance
- National Association of State Directors of Developmental Disabilities Services (NASDDDS)
- National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare (NCPSSM)
- National Institute for Retirement Security
- SCAN Health Plan
- Social Security Advisory Board (SSAB)
- U.S. House Committee on Ways and Means
- U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP)
- Urban Institute
The National Academy of Social Insurance, as a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization devoted to furthering knowledge and understanding of social insurance programs, is uniquely qualified to provide students with challenging internship opportunities. The Academy’s members, recognized experts in social insurance and health policy, offer the interns access to information and experiences found nowhere else. Academic credit may be arranged through the intern’s college or university. International students with valid student visas can be placed with non-governmental organizations, if placement projects match their skills and interests.