Education Design Intern

Summer 2024 (May – August)

About Education Design Lab

Education Design Lab (“The Lab”) is a national nonprofit that co-designs, prototypes, and tests education-to-workforce models through a human-centered design process focused on understanding learners’ experiences, addressing equity gaps in higher education, and connecting learners to economic mobility. The process helps higher education leaders consider the needs of employers, using curriculum and program design as a gateway to make skills more visible to students and employers alike.

The Lab is unlike other organizations in the nonprofit education space. We are boundary spanners and work across disciplines and alongside schools, employers, entrepreneurs, government, foundations, nonprofits, and innovators. We are known for our work on the ground and have significant experience managing national and local learning cohorts, working with organizations such as Ascendium, The Lumina Foundation, the Gates Foundation, the United Negro College Fund (UNCF), Walmart, American Council on Education, and the ECMC Foundation. To learn more about the work we do and what we care about, visit www.eddesignlab.org. 

We are looking for passionate, rising stars to contribute to our efforts. You might be one! 

High school graduates, undergraduate and graduate students with some relevant experiences are encouraged to apply.  

Role Responsibilities Include (but are not limited to):

• Working across Lab projects to provide capacity and support to project leads/teams
• Supporting our emerging work around what it means to create an impactful Community of Practice
• Participating in and supporting data collection across projects and using those data to help the Lab tell impactful stories about our work
• Supporting design sessions, meetings, and calls with partners
• Designing templates for Miro, coordinating logistics during live sessions and capturing/synthesizing data and themes

This opportunity may be right for you if you:

• Are passionate about education 
• Are equity-focused and committed to dismantling racist systems and other
  systems of oppression
• Have a strong understanding of marginalized populations through lived or
  work-based experience
• Are interested in learning about and applying human and/or equity-centered design and
  design thinking principles to education
• Are a strong oral and written communicator 
• Enjoy telling stories either through written or visual mediums
• Get excited by working in a fast-paced, collaborative environment
• Are someone who is not afraid to try and fail
• Are creative, insightful, detail-oriented, and imaginative
• Feel comfortable working in a largely remote environment

Lab Culture:

The Lab team is a smart group of changemakers who come from different backgrounds (K-12, higher ed, workforce development, nonprofits) but share a passion for education as a lever of change for our most vulnerable populations.  We are a collaborative and supportive bunch that likes to think big as we imagine possibilities and solutions to the big hairy issues confronting the future of learning and work. While the outcomes are important, we take delight in the design process that lights the way.  Our work is rewarding, never mundane, and often complex, so we lean on one another to pressure test concepts, exchange ideas, and sometimes just to exhale.   

Timing, Compensation, & Location

This role is a full-time position from May – August 2024, although there is flexibility here. This is a paid internship with potential for additional contract hours beyond the internship.

The Intern role pays $1000 weekly.

The Lab is based in the lively Dupont Circle area of Washington, D.C., but our employees are working remotely. This position is no exception, so we welcome interest from any US time zone. Greater Washington, D.C. Metro Area based employees have the option to work from our offices in accordance with the office policies which are updated regularly with COVID-19 restrictions to prioritize the health and safety of our team members.  

Application Deadline: Friday, March 1, 2024

Please submit your application by the specified deadline.

Application Instructions

To apply, please submit a cover letter and resume as soon as possible. Applicants will be reviewed on a rolling basis until the specified deadline. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact LaSha Norris, Associate Manager, Operations, People & Culture via email at lnorris@eddesignlab.org.

Equal Opportunity Employer

The Education Design Lab is an equal opportunity employer; applicants are considered for all roles without regard to race, color, religious creed, sex, national origin, citizenship status, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, marital, parental, veteran or military status, unfavorable military discharge, or any other status protected by applicable federal, state or local law.  Data shows that women and BIPOC candidates more frequently do not apply to a job because they do not feel that they meet all of the qualifications listed. Our job descriptions are general overviews, not a mandatory comprehensive list. If you feel passionate about our efforts and believe that you have the skills to succeed in this role, we want to hear from you!