Outreach and Analytics Intern - Student Programs

To be considered for this role, you must apply directly through our online application. 

About the Role

This paid, in-person internship in Washington, DC (25–40 hours per week over 12 weeks) joins Cato’s Student Programs team. You’ll help develop our next-generation talent pipeline by analyzing 40+ years of alumni data to inform strategy and by supporting national outreach to students and young professionals. Work spans audience segmentation, marketing analysis, events and program development, and talent strategy.

Day to day, you’ll clean and analyze datasets (Python/R/Excel), manage records and reports in Salesforce, build dashboards and light ETL automations, and translate insights into clear recommendations and public-facing content.

The work combines analytics, operations, and communications to promote individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace among younger audiences.

Responsibilities

• Analyze over 40 years of intern/alumni data; create reproducible datasets, dashboards, and reports (Python/R/Excel; Salesforce exports)
• Maintain and enhance Salesforce data hygiene; document definitions; support basic ETL and automation workflows.
• Segment student and early-career audiences; conduct basic A/B and cohort analyses to inform targeting, messaging, and channel strategies.
• Support outreach campaigns (email/social/partners), event and program development, and pilot initiatives for young audiences.
• Create concise briefs that translate findings into recommendations for programming and talent development strategies.
• Coordinate cross-team execution with Communications, Events, and other stakeholders; monitor KPIs and timelines.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated enthusiasm for sharing Cato’s ideas, products, and opportunities with students and young professionals; familiarity with libertarian and classical-liberal thought.
• Clear writing and communication—able to turn numbers into straightforward, easy-to-understand takeaways for internal and public audiences.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Excel (filters/sort, XLOOKUP or INDEX-MATCH, PivotTables; clean charting) and comfort with basic statistics (rates, percent change, per-capita).
• Python or R for data cleaning/merging and basic analyses or visuals (preferred).
• Experience maintaining a clean database/CRM—preferably Salesforce—including lists, reports, and basic segmentation (willing to learn light automation).
• Professionalism and reliability—manage multiple projects, meet deadlines, and provide proactive updates; experience in content creation or marketing is a plus.

The Cato Internship Program

Cato’s paid internships are available for undergraduates, recent graduates, graduate students, law students, and early-career professionals who are strongly committed to individual liberty, limited government, free markets, and peace—principles that together form libertarianism, also known as “classical liberalism,” “market liberalism,” or, to many of our international friends, simply “liberalism.” 

All Cato interns participate in the same intensive seminar series, which covers a wide range of history, philosophy, policy, and professional development topics. Interns also assist with events and occasionally support Cato staff with other daily tasks. 

Interns receive competitive pay. Part-time roles are adjusted accordingly and require a minimum of 25 hours per week. Program participants must be able to attend in person in Washington, DC.

For more information about the internship program and experience, we encourage you to explore our website. If you have any questions, email studentprograms@cato.org.