CC SOCIAL ACTION INSTITUTE

Overview

This .25-credit mentored internship program is an opportunity for students to advance justice and equity through thoughtful work that aims to uphold/construct participatory democracy by addressing the criminalization of immigrant communities, low-wage workers, and other vulnerable populations through direct collaboration with community-based organizations in the U.S. Southwest (Colorado Springs, Denver, Albuquerque, and Los Angeles) in summer 2027.

The CC Social Action Institute offers students an opportunity to engage in social action work focused on one of four tracks.

Community Organizing to Support Labor/Tenant Housing Rights

SEIU #105 (Denver, Colorado)

SEIU #105 is one of the fastest-growing unions in Colorado, growing 50% over the last five years and representing over 8,000 healthcare, janitorial, security, and airport workers across the state and the US Southwest. Students will gain firsthand experience in the labor movement, including union operations, worker organizing, policy advocacy, and labor communications.

Six positions available. Two positions require a high level of Spanish proficiency.

Colorado Jobs with Justice (Denver, Colorado)

Colorado Jobs with Justice is a coalition of labor, community, faith, and youth organizations working on fair labor, just wages, and equitable working environments, crossing lines of sector, race, and class to win concrete victories for working people. Students work on active organizing campaigns, including local minimum wage campaigns, empowering workers in building trades, and confronting wage theft campaigns. 

Up to three positions available. Bilingual Spanish/English required.

Colorado Springs Tenants (Colorado Springs, Colorado)

Colorado Springs Tenants (COST) is building a local housing-justice movement through grassroots organizing in low-income neighborhoods, apartment buildings, and the unhoused community, where the housing crisis hits hardest. COST organizes residents around the issues they identify—such as displacement due to gentrification, mistreatment by landlords, and over-policing—while aiming to achieve two goals: winning changes on their specific issues and building power for future city-level housing policy change.

Up to four positions available. One high-proficiency Spanish speaker preferred.

Environmental Justice Organizing

New Mexico Environmental Law Center (Albuquerque, New Mexico)

Colorado College students will be on the ground in Doña Ana County, New Mexico, conducting critical research and analysis on Project Jupiter's potential impact on local communities (Project Jupiter is a large data center project). Students will play an integral role in creating and distributing public education materials, capturing their findings to help Southern New Mexico understand what Project Jupiter means for their health, quality of life, families, and futures.

Two positions available. No Spanish proficiency required. 

Immigrant Detention Work and Movement Lawyering

CHIRLA (Los Angeles, California)
Students will work with CHIRLA’s Pro Se Unit, supporting detained and non-detained immigrants in filing for humanitarian relief independently. Such relief includes habeas corpus petitions filed on behalf of detainees, asylum, special immigrant juvenile status, DACA renewals, employment authorizations, etc.  Students will also meet with members at CHIRLA’s legal clinics and collaborate with other departments within the organization.

Four positions available. Bilingual Spanish/English required.   

New Mexico Immigrant Law Center (Albuquerque, New Mexico)
The New Mexico Immigrant Law Center empowers low-income immigrant communities through collaborative legal services, advocacy, and education. Students may assist attorneys representing immigrants in the Torrance, Cibola, and Otero detention centers in New Mexico, as well as engage in advocacy and organizing work. For summer 2027, two positions will work with the Deportation Defense legal team.

Two positions available. High-level Spanish proficiency required.

**Two additional positions may be available for students to support rural outreach efforts around New Mexico, including assessing community needs to establish consistent and effective provision of legal services in underserved counties in the state. One of these positions will require high-level Spanish language proficiency; final confirmation of the availability of the additional two positions will be on November 1, 2026.**

**Two additional positions possibly available (TBD November 2026). One requires high-level Spanish proficiency.**

Public Health Advocacy and Engagement

Clinica Romero (Los Angeles, CA)

Students at Clínica Monseñor Oscar A. Romero will work alongside our Community Health Worker (CHW) team and Civic Engagement and Public Policy department. Students will support resource navigation, connecting patients and community members to health, social, and community resources, and will take part in outreach and health education in Los Angeles neighborhoods. They will also gain experience in community organizing and in local and state health policy advocacy, including coalition work, and may complete a research project aligned with their interests and department priorities.

Three positions available. Bilingual Spanish/English required.

The 2027 application portal opens October 6th, 2026.

The first-round application deadline is Friday, December 4, 2026.

The program director will interview all applicants.

First-round applicants will be notified of acceptance status by December 16, 2026.

If accepted, students will have two weeks to commit to or decline program participation.

The second-round application deadline is Friday, January 8, 2027.

Application preference is given to rising juniors and rising seniors at Colorado College, the ACM colleges (Accredited Colleges of the Midwest), and other select schools. Rising sophomores may apply, but limited placements are available.

International Student Information

The Social Action Institute includes a full-time internship with a community partner organization. Because this experience is considered practical training under F-1 immigration regulations, eligible F-1 students must have appropriate employment authorization before beginning the internship. 

Current Colorado College F-1 students: Colorado College currently authorizes Curricular Practical Training (CPT) only when an internship or practical training experience is a required component of a student's major. Because the Social Action Institute is not required for most CC majors, most CC F-1 students are not eligible to use CPT for the program. Students majoring in Education may be eligible for CPT if the internship meets the applicable requirements.

F-1 students attending another U.S. college or university: Visiting F-1 students should consult with the international student office at their home institution to determine whether they are eligible for CPT, pre-completion OPT, or another form of employment authorization for the Social Action Institute.

Eligible F-1 students should confirm their eligibility and required employment authorization before applying. Questions about F-1 status and employment authorization may be directed to International Student & Scholar Services.

Program Cost and Participation Stipend

Colorado College students do not pay a program fee. CC students are responsible for travel costs to/from Colorado Springs, CO.

Non-Colorado College students pay a program fee of $5,000, plus travel to/from Colorado Springs, CO. Funding may be available from your college. Talk to your college representative. 

What Costs are Covered

The CC Social Action Institute covers the following expenses for participants:

• All food and housing at Colorado College during orientation and debrief sessions.
• Transportation from CC to (and to CC from) the individual program sites.
• Housing and program-related transportation while on location at the individual program sites.

Additionally, all students will receive a $1,600 stipend for food and incidental expenses to use while on location at the individual program sites.

The Colorado College President’s Office and the William P. Dean Memorial Fund provide generous support for this program.

College Credit

All participants will be enrolled in a .25-unit general studies course (GS215). Eligible CC students on an F-1 visa will receive a transcript notation applied to their summer transcript in accordance with their Curricular Practical Training (CPT) requirements.

CC students who do not require work authorization will receive .25-units applied to their next fully enrolled semester. Non-CC students will be admitted as non-degree-seeking students and receive .25-units of credit (equivalent to approximately one semester unit at another institution). Non-CC students on an eligible F-1 visa should consult with their primary DSO regarding the CPT process. 

Transcripts listing the course will be available to all participants who complete the program.

 Work, Laws, Living Arrangements, and Travel Information

 Please review the following information before submitting your application.

• This program requires a full-time work commitment. Students are not permitted to have other work commitments during the program.
• Participants are expected to comply with all applicable U.S. laws, as well as the laws of the city and state in which they are assigned.
• Participants are expected to comply with all Colorado College codes of conduct, participant agreements, Colorado College and partner housing rules, and regulations while on the CC campus and while on location with partner organizations.
• The program requires shared living environments (roommates, shared kitchens/bathrooms, etc.).
• Peer mentors (students who have previously completed the program) will be available in each city for participants to talk to and ask questions of. Peer mentors will serve in a role similar to an RA in college student housing.
• Accepted participants will have an opportunity and are encouraged to share their housing needs and/or request reasonable accommodations after the selection process.
• Colorado College and the CC Social Action Institute cannot provide funding for housing or travel home between the end of the academic year and the start of the program.
• Participants may not bring or use a personal vehicle while in a partner city or at a partner site. 

Orientation and Travel to Partner Sites

The 6-week program begins with orientation on the Colorado College campus led by the program director and representatives from the community partner organizations. The orientation includes multidisciplinary reading and discussion on the racial and class dimensions of neoliberal capitalism and immigrant detention, community and labor organizing theory and practice, immigration policy, and movement lawyering practices.  

Following the orientation, students travel in groups to their designated community partner sites in Colorado College vehicles. The program director travels to each program site twice to reflect on the experience with students. These visits are supplemented with Zoom sessions with the students and community partner organizations. At the end of the program, students present their work to their host community partner organizations and then reconvene at Colorado College for a 1.5-day program recap and debrief.

Participant Outcomes

 During the program, students learn skills to engage in social action projects, participate in discussions focused on conceptions of social change, and explore career possibilities in social action.

At program completion, students will:

• Demonstrate an understanding of how community-based knowledge structures, organizational analysis, and initiatives shape student collective project work. 
• Demonstrate the ability to evaluate systemic inequality and power relationships for effecting social change.
• Practice cultural humility by reflecting on personal cultural wealth and assets as team members to gain awareness of their personal strengths and limitations as community change agents. 
• Demonstrate an ability to delineate and utilize appropriate strategies and mechanisms for effecting social change by reflecting on how their civic commitments align with their career aspirations.