Human Rights Internships and the Fraser Fellowships
The Human Rights Program offers two internship opportunities for undergraduate students at the University of Minnesota - Twin Cities who seek field experience in leading human rights organizations to complement their academic studies. The selected students intern at leading human rights organizations for the upcoming summer. The interns are also recipients of the Fraser Fellowships. Named after Donald and Arvonne Fraser, two groundbreaking leaders in the defense of international human rights and women’s rights, the Fellowships offer $3,500 in funding each.
Donald Fraser was a tireless advocate for human rights during four decades serving in public office as a State Senator, member of Congress, and Mayor of Minneapolis. Ambassador Arvonne Fraser was a founder of the Center on Women and Public Policy at the Humphrey School of Public Affairs, and was a leading voice on women’s issues in Minnesota, nationally, and abroad. These Fellowships aim to invest in the next generation of human rights leaders.
The intern at The Advocates for Human Rights receives the Don Fraser Fellowship. The Advocates has been at the forefront of the world’s human rights movement for more than 30 years, leading innovative programming that has changed the lives of refugees and immigrants, women, ethnic and religious minorities, children, and other marginalized communities.
The intern at Gender Justice receives the Arvonne Fraser Fellowship. Gender Justice is a nonprofit legal, policy and political advocacy organization working to advance gender equity through the law. They fight discrimination based on sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.
Applications for summer 2026 placements are now open! Apply via this link by Sunday, March 15. Find more information below on these incredible opportunities to gain experience in the field of human rights.
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Stories About the Fraser Fellowships
Libby Nemitz and Dante Rocío, the 2025 Don and Arvonne Fraser Fellows, interned at The Advocates for Human Rights for the International Justice Program (IJP). “The people at my internship gave me solid career advice like what kind of degree I should go for [to work in this field],” Nemitz shares. “The skills [I learned] really are important, and you constantly have to improve. So a lot of the writing I did will help me.”
Bella Minahan and Manushri Ivaturi interned at Global Rights for Women and The Advocates for Human Rights, respectively. Minahan worked with GRW's Development and Communications team, spending her days helping with research, creating social media and website content, writing grant proposals, and planning for the fall fundraising event. Ivaturi looked into countries’ human rights conditions and researching and drafting reports for submission to the United Nations.
Shubhangi Mohan discusses her experience interning with the International Justice Program at The Advocates for Human Rights. "My time at the Advocates illustrated the complexity of the process behind human rights advocacy and education," she shares.
Zeinab Mohamud, the 2022 Arvonne Fraser Fellow, interned with Global Rights for Women. As a development and communications intern, her work centered around social media content and research. The internship allowed her to see and experience how nonprofits operate and work with others who passionate about human rights.
2022 Don Fraser Fellow Kathleen Zhang interned with the International Justice Program at The Advocates for Human Rights, creating, tracking, and editing drafts of documents that the organization would be submitting to the United Nations. "This experience has greatly helped me understand how international submissions are created, the attention to detail required to assemble them, and the different considerations that organizations make before submitting them," she shares.
In 2018, Ryan Atkinson and Anishaa Kamesh interned with the International Justice Program at the Advocates for Human Rights and the Prevention Education Program at ECPAT-USA, respectively. Their experience deepened their knowledge of human rights work, including strengthening human rights accountability and protecting the rights of children.