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The Center for Public Interest Careers (CPIC), a public service initiative of Harvard College, offers summer fellowships, post-graduate fellowships, and professional development opportunities for Harvard College students and recent Harvard College graduates to explore public interest work. CPIC focuses extensively on student development, alumni/ae engagement, and building partnerships that serve community needs.

CPIC offers the following programs for students:

  • CPIC Post-Graduate Fellowships (offers placements at a wide-range of non-profit and public interest organizations in eight cities across the U.S.)
  • Mindich Service Fellowships with CPIC (offers summer placements at leading non-profit organizations and programming for students in eight cities across the U.S.)
  • CPIC Summer Fellowships (offers placements paid for by non-profit organizations; CPIC also provides funding from Harvard Alumni/ae Clubs/Shared Interest Groups, the Arthur Liman Public Interest Law Fellowship Program, and grants from our summer work-study program to support independent student projects)
  • CPIC Winternship Program (offers short-term opportunities for students to engage in volunteer service at a public service program during Harvard's Winter Break in January)

Each year, these programs provide opportunities for more than 200 students to gain experience working at non-profit and public interest organizations. These programs allow students to explore careers in the arts, public interest law, journalism, the environment, medical research, education, and housing and urban development.

CPIC was founded in 2001 by Nick Beilenson ’58 and Judith Kidd with Andy and Dorothy Tananbaum, who provided funding and support to launch CPIC at Harvard.  CPIC is a collaborative effort between the Harvard Alumni Association, the Office of Career Services, and Phillips Brooks House, which houses many of the public service activities on campus. CPIC staff and Harvard alumni/ae work together to provide events, seminars, and other professional development opportunities for students.