2025 CPA-Zicklin Index Research Intern

CPA Summer Internship

CPA’s 2025 Summer Research Interns will be engaged in important research on corporate political spending, the path of dark money in political campaigns, and other areas related to the Center for Political Accountability’s work on corporate political spending and activity. The internship is remote, but they must be US-based.

CPA

Working through a network of shareholder partners, CPA engages companies to improve the disclosure and oversight of corporate political spending and alert companies and shareholders to the risks involved in such activity. It also closely monitors the consequences of company political spending. This includes preparing reports on company political spending, its consequences, and the risks it poses to companies. Among CPA’s seminal reports are Collision Course (2018), Conflicted Consequences (2020/2021), Corporate Enablers (2021), Hollow Policies (2022), Practical Stake (2022), Corporate Underwriters (2023), and CPA at 20 (2023).

The Center publishes the annual CPA-Zicklin Index that benchmarks companies on their political disclosure and accountability policies and practices. CPA also created and maintains TrackYourCompany.org, a database of corporations’ voluntarily disclosed electoral contributions. Beyond the Index and TrackYourCompany, the Center developed the CPA- Zicklin Model Code of Conduct for Corporate Political Spending which CPA uses to engage companies and encourages them to adopt.

The Internship

CPA is seeking summer interns to primarily conduct research primarily for the 2025 CPA-Zicklin Index as well as smaller research projects related to CPA’s work on corporate political spending. After orientation, summer interns conduct all foundational research for the Index from company websites and provide the first round of analysis for each company reviewed.

The ideal candidate will have an interest in the influence of money in politics and how large companies engage in the electoral process, excellent attention to detail, and an interest in analyzing campaign finance data. Interns will learn about campaign finance law and the various entities that engage in political spending. Interns will work under the supervision of CPA’s Vice President for Programs and Counsel as well as CPA’s Assistant Director for Programs. The ability to work independently is particularly important for remote work of this nature.

CPA’s preference is for full time interns. Interns generally work 9:00 AM-5:00 PM Monday-Friday. Full-time interns receive a stipend of $2,000 upon completion of the program; Interns may earn academic credit.

The internship is expected to begin the last week of May and will end no later than August 8, 2025.

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a bachelor’s program or bachelor’s degree
• Excellent written and oral communication skills
• Self-motivated individual who can work independently
• Ability to efficiently manage time and meet deadlines
• Strong attention to detail
• Interest in money in politics issues and/or corporate social responsibility
• Coursework or experience with data visualization is not required but a plus

The Center for Political Accountability is an equal opportunity employer committed to a diverse, inclusive, and equitable workplace.

To Apply:

Please send a cover letter and résumé (combined into a single .pdf file) to CPAStaffAssociate@gmail.com with the subject line “2025 CPA Summer Internship” by close of business on Friday, February 14, 2025.