Job Title: Climate & Conservation Impact Investing Summer Intern
Department/Team: World Wildlife Fund Impact (WWF’s impact investing arm)
Location: Option for either fully remote, or hybrid in Washington, DC
Duration: 35 hours per week for ten weeks over the summer
Reports to: Isabelle Foster (Senior Impact Investing Specialist)
Areas of Interest: Food Systems Transformation (regenerative agriculture, circular food economies), Aquaculture (seaweed/kelp, bivalves, and sea farming), Forestry (sustainable forestry, biodiversity, nature-based solutions), Latin American Climate Innovations
About the World Wildlife Fund:
For 60 years, WWF has worked to help people and nature thrive. As one of the world’s leading conservation organizations, WWF works in more than 100 countries, connecting cutting-edge conservation science with the collective power of our partners in the field – more than one million supporters in the United States and five million globally, as well as partnerships with communities, companies, and governments.
Our vision for diversity, equity, and inclusion at WWF is an organization as diverse as the world we protect; where the richness of all our unique views, experiences, and backgrounds combines to create the most sustainable and inclusive conservation outcomes possible — bringing the greatest benefit to the planet and every person who lives on it.
Across the many cultures and individuals that represent WWF, we are unified by one mission, one brand, and one common set of values: Courage, Respect, Integrity, and Collaboration.
About the Team:
WWF Impact is a new arm of WWF-US, bringing catalytic investment capital to early-stage startups with the potential to offer significant environmental and social benefits for local ecosystems and communities. We make direct equity investments in early-stage companies operating in nascent sectors that, while overlooked by mainstream venture capital, can generate profound planetary benefits and align with WWF’s strategic priorities. We anticipate that as our portfolio companies grow, they will seek to demonstrate market viability and gain traction addressing global conservation challenges.
WWF Impact has three portfolios, or areas where we make investment. These include Aquaculture, Regenerative Agriculture, and Food Circularity. Leveraging our network and global reach, WWF Impact is geographically focused on making investments in Latin America and the Caribbean across our conservation areas of focus. We ensure alignment with WWF’s mission and programmatic work, alongside broader policy and global climate targets.
Position Description/Scope of Work:
WWF Impact works across a variety of areas, and there are several different project opportunities for an intern during the summer. We would like to ensure interns have the chance to work on projects that align with their interests and goals for professional growth. As such, WWF Impact will meet with the intern at the beginning of the fellowship to ensure projects best fit with their interest areas and learning goals.
List of Potential Projects:
Below are a few examples of projects that interns might work on:
- Climate & Food Policies in Latin America and the Caribbean
- The intern could help WWF Impact understand and map policies in Latin America and the Caribbean as they relate to sustainability, climate, carbon and food/agriculture.
- Agroforestry Models in Latin America and the Caribbean
- The intern could help the team research new business models and policies for agroforestry, biodiversity, and carbon in the LAC region and map key legislation, actors, investors, and entrepreneurs.
- Innovations in Agribusiness in the Americas
- The intern could research leading early-stage startups in North, Central, and South America working in the agriculture and food production space (in verticals such as livestock, technology for smallholder farmers, reducing single-use plastic, food waste solutions, etc.). This could consist of market research, interviews with experts, direct conversations with early-stage companies, and analysis of legislation that supports these sustainability shifts
- Food Circularity & Food Security Market Scan
- The intern can help the WWF Impact team complete a market scan of policies and business models that support food circularity—i.e. companies that addressing food loss and waste, composting and reuse of organic materials, reduction of single-use plastics along the food consumption & production supply chain—as well as policies and companies supporting greater food security in the region.
- Regenerative Agriculture Market Scan
- The intern can help the WWF Impact team identify key policies and market trends around agricultural innovations in the Americas and develop a pipeline of the most exciting and promising investment opportunities. This could include interviews with policy experts and entrepreneurs/startups to learn more about their work, business models, and fit with WWF Impact’s impact goals.
- Early-Stage Aquaculture Innovations
- The intern can support WWF Impact’s Aquaculture Portfolio by conducting a market scan of promising seaweed and blue economy innovations and blue economy policy. This can include talking with sector experts, startups, and undertaking desktop research to create reports and analyses on new investment opportunities and trends in the blue investment space.
Desired Skills/Qualifications:
Ideal candidates will be proactive, eager, and excited about the intersection of the environment, entrepreneurship, communities, and conservation. Attention to detail, the ability to work independently, and a proclivity towards leading analytic research and interviews will be valuable, as are strong written skills, the ability to synthesize complex findings, and capacity for presenting insights. Spanish language skills and a background in food systems and agriculture are a plus, but not required.
Logistics:
- EPIC fellows are required to work full-time (35-40 hours per week) for 10 weeks over the summer, and will receive a stipend of $8,000 – $9,500, depending on financial need. This stipend is intended to help cover living and transportation expenses during the fellowship, which the student is expected to arrange and coordinate.
- Preferred start date is in mid-June 2025 (exact date to be agreed upon by you and the supervisor).
As an EOE/AA employer, WWF will not discriminate in its employment practices due to an applicant’s race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital status, genetic information, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, disability, or protected Veteran status. WWF values diversity and inclusion and welcomes diverse candidates to apply.