Education Design Intern

About Education Design Lab
Education Design Lab (“The Lab”) is a national nonprofit that designs, tests, and implements education models and credentials that address the rapidly changing economy to ensure equitable outcomes for learners and earners. The Lab has partnered with some of the most aspirational institutions, and often their ecosystem partners, as they consider how to design their offerings to serve learners flexibly with more data-driven, human-centered models, processes and tools. Our biggest areas of work include improved career pathway visibility, micro-pathways, durable skills, micro-credentials, alternative on-ramps to degree, upskilling workers, and training college leadership teams in change management and agile prototyping.

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 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Citizens, Carnegie Corporation of NY,  Charles Koch Foundation, Walmart, and a variety of state and regional community college systems. To learn more about the work we do and what we care about, visit www.eddesignlab.org

Overview
We are seeking curious, motivated Education Design Interns to support project teams across the Lab during Spring/Summer 2026. This paid, full-time internship offers hands-on exposure to human-centered design, community college transformation, and equity-driven education innovation.

The Education Design Interns will work alongside Education Designers, project leads, and partners to support design sessions, data collection, synthesis, and storytelling across multiple Lab initiatives. Interns contribute meaningfully to live projects while building practical skills in facilitation support, research, collaboration, and design operations.

This role is well suited for high school graduates, undergraduate, or graduate students, or early-career professionals, who are passionate about education as a lever for equity, excited to learn through doing, and comfortable working in a fast-paced, remote, and collaborative environment.

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 2026, although there is flexibility here. This is a paid internship with potential for additional contract hours beyond the internship.

The Intern role pays $1200 weekly.

The Lab is based in Washington, D.C., but our employees are working remotely. This position is no exception, so we welcome interest from any US time zone. 

Application Deadline: February 28, 2026

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 us via email at careers@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!