Sample cover letter for Internship position at Center for the Study of Social Policy

Center for the Study of Social Policy

I am writing to apply for the Neighborhood Investment Internship with the Center for the Study of Social Policy (CSSP). I am a first year master student of public policy concentrating on program evaluation and research. I have a longstanding interest in social policy and have a unique background spanning health care reform, education, and mental health policy. I have worked as a government program analyst for almost two years and developed strong skills in field research, data analysis, and writing. Therefore, I am confident that I have the background and the skills to contribute to the objectives of the CSSP.

In health care policy, I specialized in long-term care for the elderly. In Changsha Municipal Government, I was a part of a team reforming the city-wide nursing home project. My team and I researched on over 100 public nursing homes in Changsha City, collecting data on how the government spending has been used in the last 10 years. I was responsible for data analysis and I needed to constantly communicate with the field research staff and nursing home employees for data validation. In the later phases of the research, my responsibility switched to translating the research statistics to our partners, creating memos, drafting government reports, and representing the government at task force meetings around the city. Through this experience, I upgraded my skills in three important areas: data management, succinct writing, and effective presentation and these are the skills that I would bring to this internship.

In education, I currently joined the Community Action Network (CAN) and I am teaching in an after-school program in Bryant community center. Before this, I worked as a volunteer teacher in one of the poorest areas in China for almost two years. In Dama Chong School, my major responsibility was to give lessons to students under 7. In order to improve my students’ learning environment, I reached out to the local businesses and raised 10,000 RMB for basic school supplies, such as blackboard, chalk, flipchart, desk, and lamp. I learned from this experience that it is important to incorporate the local communities to improve education for the disadvantaged. That’s why I am interested in CSSP’s effort to support children and families by including local neighborhoods.

At International Refugee School in Atlanta, I initiated the school’s first after-school program, aiming to support young refugees’ adaptation and psychological health. Because the Internet is extremely important for refugees’ transition to the US, I created a curriculum teaching simple but interesting computing techniques. I also established a support group for my students to share their experience in the US, which aimed to give verbal support to each other. The project turned out to be a great success: the school decided to keep it running and start designing other projects of this kind.

My interest in the Neighborhood Investment Internship grows out of my longstanding commitment to healthcare reform and education for the advantaged. My professional experience as a research analyst in Chinese local government has also offered me a solid foundation for working with CSSP this summer. I am available from May 1^st to August 25^th and I can work 40 hours a week. Thank you for your consideration.