Summer 2026 - Planning/Reporting/Communications Intern - 90304320 - Washington

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Job Summary

Summer 2026 program will run from May 18th - August 7, 2026.

 

The graduate-level intern will assist the Northeast Corridor Commission with its planning initiatives. The Commission was established by Congress in the Passenger Rail Investment and Improvement Act of 2008 to coordinate agencies that share the region’s core rail network. The Commission is administratively hosted by Amtrak. 

 

The Commission seeks a current graduate student to support its planning, reporting, and communications initiatives. These include the five-year NEC Capital Investment Plan and any associated infrastructure reporting activities. Other ongoing support may include analysis of economic impacts of investments along the Northeast Corridor, train performance analysis (delay, on-time performance, etc), and other analyses that may be featured in blog posts or reporting spotlight stories. 

 

The intern will work closely with a collaborative team and will have the opportunity to shape project work in coordination with Commission staff. The intern will support the preparation of public materials (including maps, data visualizations, written material for plans and reports, and website content), data collection, and other tasks as assigned. The intern will also lead and complete a summer-long project. Successful candidates will demonstrate a willingness to undertake unfamiliar initiatives and strong enthusiasm for the Commission’s work. 

 

The internship is a full-time, paid position during Summer 2026 based out of the Commission’s Washington, DC office (with potential to work out of New York City; OR Philadelphia) with a 4-5 day per week in-person schedule. The internship has the potential to continue as a part-time opportunity (minimum 16 hours per week) during the subsequent school year.

Essential Functions

The intern will support the following project-based work:

• Use Microsoft Excel and PowerBI to organize and analyze data;
• Work with NECC staff to collect data from NEC project sponsors;
• Write and/or edit content that is meant for non-technical audiences; and
• Create easy-to-understand tables, graphics, and data visualizations in Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, and/or Microsoft PowerBI.
• In addition, the intern will work in collaboration with Commission staff to develop, lead, and complete a summer-long project, such as:
• Undertake a research project on topic(s) related to NEC planning and reporting;
• Write case studies or explainers to help educate non-technical audiences;
• Create tools to help staff standardize the look and feel of documents, tables/ charts, and dashboards; and/or
• Update and enhance existing graphics that are used in public materials.

Minimum Qualifications

• Must be actively pursuing a degree at an accredited educational institution.
• Must be actively pursuing a graduate degree in public policy, urban planning, engineering or program management at an accredited educational institution.
• Must have a cumulative GPA of 2.8 or higher.
• Strong skills in written, verbal, and graphic communication of quantitative and qualitative information, including the ability to clearly express technical concepts to broad audiences.
• Strong attention to detail with both data organization/analysis and graphic design.
• Comfort with using Microsoft Excel to organize and analyze data.
• Comfort with Adobe Creative Cloud, particularly Illustrator and InDesign.
• Ability to stay organized and maintain attention to detail under tight deadlines.
• Must have excellent written and oral communication skills.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience collecting,