The St. Louis Fellows Program is a unique opportunity for WashU undergraduates to dedicate a summer to St. Louis with peers from across schools and majors who want to learn from and contribute to the St. Louis region beyond their classrooms.
Through this competitive program, undergraduate students spend a summer immersing themselves in St. Louis by working full-time nonprofit or civic internships, attending a range of community events, and engaging in an experiential curriculum to understand St. Louis’ history, culture, politics, challenges, and opportunities.
Each St. Louis Fellow receives professional development, structured supervision and mentoring, and a $7,500 base stipend in lieu of summer earnings. Students with high financial need will also receive a $1,000 supplemental stipend. Eligibility is determined by Student Financial Services at the time of program acceptance.
Applications for Summer 2025 are now closed.
The St. Louis Fellows Program application for Summer 2025 closed on Dec. 6, 2024. The application for Summer 2026 will open in Fall 2025.
In the meantime, please subscribe to our Opportunities newsletter and follow us on Instagram to stay connected with the St. Louis Fellows.
Congrats to the 2024 St. Louis Fellows!
Click on names below to learn more about each Fellow. You can also sort the list to see Fellows by group for any group of three or more. To view alumni, click here.
Elaheh Khazi
Goldman St. Louis Fellow, WashU Votes Marketing and Communications Chair
- Email: e.khazi@wustl.edu
Alan Knight
Democracy Fellow, St. Louis Fellows | WashU Votes Voter Engagement Chair
- Email: a.z.knight@wustl.edu
Interest Areas
The St. Louis Fellows Program welcomes students with a variety of interest areas, many of whom search for and confirm their own community partner organization to work with throughout the summer as Goldman Fellows, Mosbacher Fellows, and other named fellows. The program also has opportunities for students who are interested in specific topics to partner with pre-selected organizations or issues through on-going community partnerships with the Gephardt Institute. Students who wish to be considered for interest-specific opportunities will be asked to complete additional application questions to illustrate alignment with the area.
The Goldman Fellows Program is a cohort of students within the St. Louis Fellows Program. Goldman Fellows search for and confirm their own nonprofit, community, or governmental organizations in the St. Louis region to work with throughout the summer. The Goldman Fellows Program was founded in 2008 through generous funding from the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation, inspired the growth of the St. Louis Fellows Program, and is the first endowed cohort of St. Louis Fellows.
Arts as Civic Engagement (ACE) Fellows are a group of students within the St. Louis Fellows Program. These four Fellows are placed with pre-selected regional arts organizations, which have included the Contemporary Art Museum (CAM), Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, The Griot Museum for Black History, and COCA – The Center of Creative Arts.
More information and view Arts as Civic Engagement Fellows alumni.
Democracy Fellows are a group of students within the St. Louis Fellows Program. These five Fellows are placed with pre-selected non-partisan and bi-partisan community partner organizations that advance democracy—its principles, its preservation, and its continued improvement to achieve its high ideals. Democracy Fellows work to extend the capacity of democracy-focused organizations in the St. Louis region and across the state of Missouri working in areas critical to the advancement of democracy—such as voting access, developing new policy initiatives, and working in local government offices. These positions are tentative for Summer 2025. Students are still encouraged to apply. Final confirmation will be made in February
Morris Fellows In Equity and Access to Alzheimer’s and Dementia Response are a group of students within the St. Louis Fellows Program. These three Fellows partner with the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Missouri Chapter and work within one of, or across, the Association’s three pillars: Care and Support, Concern and Awareness, and Public Policy.
More information and view Dr. John C. Morris Fellows alumni.
The Gun Safety Fellow is a student within the St. Louis Fellows Program focused on gun safety in the St. Louis community. This fellow will partner with a St. Louis based organization to advance mission critical-work aimed at increasing gun safety and/or gun violence prevention throughout the region.
The Mosbacher Fellows are a group of students within the St. Louis Fellows Program. Mosbacher Fellows search for and confirm their own nonprofit, community, or governmental organizations in the St. Louis region to work with throughout the summer.
Many St. Louis Fellows search for and confirm their own nonprofit, community, or government organizations in the St. Louis region to work with throughout the summer. These include Goldman Fellows, Mosbacher Fellows, and other named Fellows.
The WUPan (Washington University Pride Alliance Network) Fellow is a student within the St. Louis Fellows Program. This fellow will partner with a St. Louis based LGBTQ+ organizations to advance mission critical-work aimed at attending to the specific needs of the local LGBTQ+ population.
This position is tentative for Summer 2025. Students are still encouraged to apply. Final confirmation will be made in February.
Program Timeline
Application: Applications for Summer 2025 will open Oct. 14. Please check back then to submit your application.
Interviews: Selected students will be interviewed by a selection committee in late January. Final decisions will be made by mid-February 2025.
Spring 2025: In March 2025, St. Louis Fellows will begin attending trainings to prepare for their full-time summer internship. With the support of Gephardt Institute staff, Fellows will also research and meet with community partner organizations in St. Louis whose missions align with their civic, academic, and/or professional interests in order to confirm an internship and summer learning agreement with one organization.
Summer 2025: Fellows will attend an overnight retreat the last week of May and begin their full-time work with a community partner organization on June 2 and concluding on August 6, for a total of 10 weeks. They will participate in weekly seminars to support skill-building, professional development, self-awareness, and connections to St. Louis. Additionally, Fellows will attend community events and participate in neighborhood immersion trips across St. Louis to get to know the St. Louis community more deeply and reinforce their cohort bonds.
Fall 2025: In September, Fellows will present about their summer internship experiences at the St. Louis Fellows Showcase.
Washington Magazine: Growing together
October 2024 — The St. Louis Fellows Program at Washington University is not a career development program, though it connects students to summer internships at local nonprofit and civic organizations. It is not a history course, though it dives deep into the political, economic and cultural forces that shape the St. Louis region. Nor is it a financial aid initiative, though fellows receive a large stipend to live and learn in St. Louis.
At its heart, the St. Louis Fellows Program is a commitment to the region.
Criteria
Are you a first-year, sophomore, or junior at WashU interested in deepening your knowledge of St. Louis and building your skills for civic and community engagement?
Undergraduate WashU students who will still be undergraduate students in Fall 2025 are invited to apply for the St. Louis Fellows Program. This includes international students, students currently studying abroad, and students who are in a 3-2 program. Students who are graduating in May 2025, and current graduate students, are not eligible to apply.
The St. Louis Fellows Program has dozens of community partners working across the region in many different areas, including the arts, public health, racial equity, environmental justice, LGBTQ+ advocacy, democracy, and more! With the support of Gephardt staff, fellows will secure full-time, 10-week summer internships that align with their civic passions and career interests. *Please note, Morris Fellows, Arts as Civic Engagement Fellows, and Democracy Fellows are assigned to their partner organization based on pre-existing partnerships.
In lieu of summer earnings, each fellow will receive a $7,500 base stipend to help offset living costs and expenses. Students with high financial need will also receive a $1,000 supplemental stipend. Eligibility is determined by Student Financial Services at the time of program acceptance.
St. Louis Fellows will learn about and engage with St. Louis’ history and culture through an experiential curriculum that integrates classroom learning with off-campus experiences. The program requires three trainings in spring 2025, an overnight off-campus retreat to kick-off the summer, weekly seminars and community events alongside their 10-week summer internships, and a culminating Showcase event in fall 2025.
Program alumni often share that one of the best parts of being a St. Louis Fellow is the friendships they build with their “fellow Fellows.” Because the program is open to all undergraduate students across years, schools, and majors, Fellows often meet and build relationships with students they wouldn’t have met otherwise at WashU. And, because of the nature of the program, the Fellows end up spending a lot of time together, reflecting on their internship experiences, discussing big issues facing St. Louis, sharing delicious local meals, and exploring St. Louis!
At the Gephardt Institute, we work to equip students with the knowledge, skills, experience, and commitment for lifelong civic engagement, in St. Louis or wherever they may go. Through their full-time internship and Gephardt programming, St. Louis Fellows explore ways to be civically engaged students, community members, and professionals, and our hope is that they take what they learn and apply it to their future lives and careers.
Throughout the program, Fellows will engage with Gephardt staff, internship supervisors, guest speakers, and community members who are excited to share their experiences and expertise and to help Fellows discern potential pathways to achieve civic, academic, and professional pursuits. Fellows will also participate in a variety of skill-building workshops and facilitated activities during the spring trainings, overnight retreat, and summer seminars.
Program Goals
- Develop student civic leaders by identifying and honing civic skills, cultivating self-awareness and social analysis, providing experiential learning to complement academic endeavors, and offering structured supervision and mentorship to advance clarity and preparedness to pursue civic impact goals.
- Support positive community impact in St. Louis by expanding the capacity of local partner organizations to advance their mission-critical work by preparing and funding students for full- time summer internships and facilitating opportunities for collaboration across community partner organizations.
- Foster civic learning and engagement among students through immersion in St. Louis, engagement with civic and community leaders, and reflection and dialogue in a cohort of peers with diverse identities, backgrounds, and perspectives.
Outcomes for Fellows
- Civic Identity – Critically examines their social identities and personal values, attitudes, and beliefs in relation to others.
- Civic Discourse – Recognizes and values diverse identities, perspectives, and experiences.
- Orientation to Social Change – Synthesizes multiple perspectives to form a complex and critical understanding of social issues.
- Professional Skills and Knowledge – Employs best practices to enhance their contributions to their internship organization and future civic and/or professional commitments.
- Affinity for St. Louis – Identifies as a citizen of the St. Louis region with awareness of their role and capacity as civic agents.
- Clarity of Civic/Career interests – Discerns their short-term and long-term goals, available resources, and potential pathways to achieve their civic, academic, and professional pursuits.
2024 Community Partner Internship Sites
This map is interactive! Click on the dots below to learn more about our community partner host sites and the fellows who worked there this summer.
Click here to view the accessible version of this interactive content
St. Louis Fellows Cohorts
Visit our St. Louis Fellows Alumni Directory.
The Goldman Fellows Program started in 2008 and inspired the growth of the St. Louis Fellows Program. Funded by the Joyce and Irving Goldman Family Foundation, 173 Goldman Fellows have dedicated their summer to St. Louis since 2008. Click here to learn about our Goldman Fellows Program.
Arts as Civic Engagement started in 2018 as a platform for students to immerse in arts-based community engagement through partnerships with regional arts organizations. Click here to learn about our Arts as Civic Engagement Program.
The Dr. John C. Morris Fellows Program started in 2021 and is a partnership with the Alzheimer’s Association Greater Missouri Chapter focusing on Equity and Access to Alzheimer’s and Dementia Response. Click here to learn about our Morris Fellows Program.