Internships at the First Ask
The First Ask offers our interns the opportunity to gain hands on political experience, including direct opportunities to work with candidates, build stakeholder relationships, and develop both hard and soft skills that will be invaluable to a career in politics. This internship is designed for those with little to no professional political experience who are excited to learn and who are incredibly dedicated to seeing positive political change.
Our competitive application process, hands-on work experience, and supportive work environment prepares our interns for a career of making change!
Summer 2025 Internship applications are now open through March 14!
“I absolutely loved my experience at The First Ask. I was a second-semester senior during my internship, and I learned so much about the professional world from the team. Getting to develop relationships with our candidates was invaluable, and I really enjoyed the opportunity to expand my portfolio. I’m so thankful to Caroline and Eleanor for giving me the chance to work at TFA—I would recommend the organization for anyone who cares about women in local politics!”
Spring 2025 Interns
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Sarina Govindaiah
Sarina Govindaiah is a senior at American University in the Honors Program majoring in International Relations with minors in Transcultural Studies and Business and Entertainment. She has previously interned on Capitol Hill as a Legislative Intern in Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi’s Office, and for the D.C.-based nonprofit Hindus for Human Rights. In her free time she stage manages for AU’s Department of Performing Arts and loves to read. She is incredibly excited to be joining The First Ask team and to get to do hands-on work to elect women to state legislatures!
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Giovanna DeStefanis
Giovanna DeStefanis is a third-year student at American University studying Political Science and Sociology. She has been involved in state and local politics in her home state of Massachusetts, serving on a town committee and working for a local progressive podcast. On campus, she is involved in a nonpartisan organization, Voters of AU, as the research director, the Body Neutrality Coalition as the director of communications, and the AU Experience program. She is passionate about social justice and education access and is very excited to be starting at the First Ask!
Hear from our former interns!
“ I had a wonderful experience working with The First Ask! I was very anxious before starting, as this job was my first internship, but Caroline and Eleanor’s guidance proved to me that I had nothing to be nervous about. Doing work that had a real impact in campaigns within my home state was an incredible experience, and it reaffirmed that advocacy is the field I want to go into. The skills and knowledge I have retained from my semester with The First Ask will without a doubt help me in my future career.”
“ My time as an intern at The First Ask was incredibly rewarding. Being able to help women across the country work to represent us all is something I’ve always been passionate about. At The First Ask, I was able to have direct contact with strong, selfless candidates and have my faith in state candidates strengthened. I was able to build my research, communication, and writing skills and feel confident in my ability to continue to help build female representation in the future. I am so lucky to have had this experience and the First Ask is an amazing organization that shines a spotlight on elections that would otherwise go unnoticed.”
“ My time with The First Ask is truly everything I hoped it would be. I couldn't have asked for a better first-internship experience. I'm so grateful to the team that I've worked with this summer. Caroline and Eleanor were the perfect supervisors because they really valued my experience and ensuring that I met my goals and learned about the specific research and fundraising areas that I wanted to learn about. Politics is something that I have been passionate about for a while, but being able to actively participate in this country's Democratic process was so incredibly fulfilling, and I cannot thank The First Ask enough for the opportunity it has provided me to make a difference.”