The Women and Public Policy Program (WAPPP) provides stipends to Harvard graduate students for field placements that focus on closing gender gaps. Over the past decade, WAPPP has supported over 130 students to work in at least 53 different countries including Colombia, India, Jordan, Liberia, Nepal, South Africa, and the United States. 

WAPPP summer interns have worked across sectors—in non-profits, government agencies, and socially responsible enterprises—as trainers, policy analysts, speech writers, and researchers. WAPPP offers up to $7,000 in support of a gender-focused project, internship, or research agenda that takes place for a minimum of eight weeks during the summer.

"The collaborative spirit here is infectious, and I relish the opportunity to exchange ideas, learn from my colleagues, and contribute to projects that have the potential to drive meaningful change."

- adhwaa alsaleh, mpp '24 and cultural bridge fellow '23
About our Summer/Winter Stipend Programs

group of people in a classroom

The Cultural Bridge Fellowship at the Women and Public Policy Program allows students to couple their academic knowledge with real-world experience in the field. The Cultural Bridge Fellowship provides a stipend of up to $7,000 for Harvard graduate students to travel abroad to a country they have not worked or lived in before. Fellows work with an organization on equity and gender-focused issues. Organizations and governments host Fellows to work as program analysts, trainers, and researchers.

As Cultural Bridge Fellows build bridges and expand their networks through these fellowships, they also strengthen their host organization and country’s capacity while applying theoretical concepts to real-world policy situations. Cultural Bridge Fellows have worked across various fields, including education, advocacy, health, microfinance, and environmental and racial justice. Fellows have worked on projects in more than 53 different countries and with clients such as IMAGO Global Grassroots, Casa Migrante, Ifakara Health Institute, UNICEF, the World Bank, and Instituto Maria da Penha. Each experience is focused on building cultural bridges while working to close gender gaps across the globe.

This summer internship program at the Women and Public Policy Program provides financial support for student experiential learning opportunities on a wide range of gender-related projects and internships. Unlike the Cultural Bridge program, the project's geographic location is not a consideration for funding. Any current Harvard graduate student returning to the University the following fall is eligible to receive WAPPP summer internship funding. For more information about WAPPP funding, please contact Laura Botero at laura_botero@hks.harvard.edu.

How to Apply

For HKS students, please apply via the Common Application (see information on HKS summer internship search and funding). For non-HKS students, please submit an application through the Wufoo Summer Fellowship Application Form.

Applications for 2025 Summer Fellowships will open in early 2025.

  1. Wufoo Form(non-HKS)/Proposal (HKS Students)
    1. Please describe your confirmed internship/project and how it relates to your professional goal.
    2. Please describe how you will use a gender lens to look at your project's problems and potential solutions. Incorporating a gendered lens means taking into consideration specific issues that women and other marginalized genders might face—this could include working on specific issues that disproportionately impact women (e.g., combating gender-based violence), addressing gender disparities into your data collection analysis (e.g., including gender-disaggregated data), or exploring how to dismantle cultural and institutional barriers for women and marginalized genders in your field of work.
    3. To be considered for the Cultural Bridge Fellowship, please discuss the Cultural Bridge aspect of your fellowship in your application. 
  2. Resume or CV
  3. Fellowship Budget
  4. Please specify if you are applying to our Cultural Bridge Fellowship Program or our General Internship Program. If applying for a Cultural Bridge grant, please specify that you have not worked/lived in the country where you will be conducting your internship.

WAPPP summer interns are responsible for securing their internship placement and confirming a work arrangement with their host government or organization.

Prior to accepting the WAPPP summer internship funding, students will be asked to provide documentation that such arrangements have been adequately made. Internships must be at least eight weeks in duration. Before leaving for the summer, all WAPPP summer interns are responsible for attending mandatory WAPPP and HKS training sessions and completing the necessary paperwork.

Upon returning to school in the fall, summer interns meet twice a semester to share their experiences with other WAPPP students and enhance our community of people interested in pursuing gender-focused work. Students may be asked to give a presentation of their work and impact to members of the Women and Public Policy Program community.

  • Summer interns are required to blog weekly (8 minimum) about their work. Posts should focus on the impact of their summer work and how they're utilizing their classroom training. Each post must include at least one multimedia (photo and/or video) per post. If students cannot publicly share their work, they can propose alternative reporting forms.
  • After completing the summer internship, each student will submit a collection of high-resolution photos (20 minimum) of their internship that will be used to share their work with supporters and future participants. 
  • Note: $1,000 of the funding will be distributed to the stipend recipient following the completion of all fellowship requirements.

Any current Harvard graduate student returning to the University the following fall is eligible to receive WAPPP summer internship funding. Preference is given to Harvard Kennedy School students, however, students from across the University are eligible. We encourage all interested students with projects fitting the internship criteria to apply.

WAPPP summer interns are eligible to apply for additional J-term funding to expand upon their summer experience by developing it into a gender-focused PAE/SYPA. WAPPP offers limited J-term funding on a case-by-case basis. If you have any questions, please contact Laura Botero at laura_botero@hks.harvard.edu.