About Serving the City Internships

Paid Work Experience with Heart

Serving the City was established in 2020 as the Cultural Engagement Internships program to provide students with equitable access to internship opportunities in New York City’s arts and culture sectors. The new internships offered robust, substantive work experience and also paid stipends–thanks to the generosity of alumni donors–that made them an option for students who needed the income. Founded during the first year of the coronavirus pandemic, during Fordham’s temporary pivot to online education, the program drew strong interest from students and from New York’s nonprofit community.

In early 2023, this internship program was renamed Serving the City as it expanded to work with a wider array of nonprofit organizations that enrich New York City life and provide opportunity to its citizens. Today, Serving the City arranges paid internships with a growing number of institutions in the areas of arts and culture but also health, education, and social justice, advancing their missions while providing Fordham students with invaluable experiences.

To date, over 60 students have completed internships, and the number of Fordham’s partner organizations has grown to 37.