Founded
2025 · California
Fellowship for community college students
Your first real professional experience starts here.
CivicCapstone is a fellowship that places community college students inside civic nonprofits as consultants. Fellows take on real projects, build a professional network, and finish with work they can show employers and transfer schools.
Sacramento · Advocacy Day
Fellows at the California State Capitol
About
Why CivicCapstone exists.
For students
By students
By students
Community college students are capable, driven, and ready to lead. They are also routinely passed over by employers in favor of students at four year universities, and most fellowships and internships are not built with them in mind. The result is a gap. Talented students move on to transfer or the workforce without the professional experience, references, and networks their peers already have.
CivicCapstone was founded to close that gap. We place fellows inside civic nonprofits as consultants and give them real projects with real stakes. Fellows analyze legislation, write op eds, and present policy recommendations to elected officials. The work is used, and the experience is real.
Why join
What you walk away with.
Real Consulting Experience
A semester long project with a nonprofit client. Real deliverables, not busy work.
Professional Skills
Research, writing, analysis, presentation, and stakeholder communication.
A Professional Reference
A recommendation from your nonprofit supervisor on successful completion.
A Lasting Network
A cohort of motivated peers plus access to civic and industry professionals.
Published Work
Op eds and policy briefs you can point to when it counts.
A Competitive Edge
Concrete proof of ability for employers and for transfer applications.
Program
The Fellowship.
A semester
Embedded as a consultant
Embedded as a consultant
Spend a semester embedded with a nonprofit as an impact consultant. You research, write, pitch, and deliver. This is not a shadowing program. Fellows do the work.
Scope
What fellows work on.
01
Bill analysis and state legislative research
02
Policy recommendations pitched directly to state legislators
03
Op eds written and published on behalf of nonprofit partners
04
Nonprofit strategy and program consulting deliverables
05
Advocacy Days presenting work to external stakeholders
Process
How the program works.
Step 1
Selection and Orientation
Application, interview, cohort onboarding, and partner matching.
Step 2
Consulting Engagement
A minimum of three months, up to a full semester, with weekly check ins with the partner organization.
Step 3
Capstone Delivery
A final deliverable presented to the partner, such as a bill analysis, a set of policy recommendations, or a published op ed.
Step 4
Showcase and Advocacy
Where applicable, fellows present externally. Past cohorts have presented at the California State Capitol and on community college campuses.
Eligibility
Who can apply.
01
Currently enrolled at or recently graduated from any accredited community college
02
18 years of age or older
03
Open to all majors and backgrounds
04
No prior experience required. Selection is based on motivation and collaboration potential.
Our Partners
Voices
What fellows are saying.
Cohort 2
Irvine Valley College
Irvine Valley College
Through CivicCapstone I learned how the largely invisible process of policymaking and lobbying actually works. For someone pursuing an adjacent career, those skills are vital to learn this early.
Muhammad Ismail
Nathan helped me enormously on my path as a student aiming to transfer to a UC, and I would never have found the opportunity with uAspire without CivicCapstone.
Daniel Lee
In the field
The work, in action.
Cohorts 1 and 2
California
California
