WRI Restoration Finance & Policy Intern 2026: Full-Time Internship in Washington, DC with Up to $24/Hour
Overview
The World Resources Institute (WRI) is offering a Restoration Finance & Policy Intern position within its Global Restoration Initiative. It is a full-time, three-month hybrid internship based in Washington, DC, with interns working from the WRI office at least 8 days per month. The initiative helps people restore degraded land and develops finance and policy approaches that can scale restoration. Its TerraFund programme finances, trains and monitors more than 200 growing organisations across Africa, Latin America and South Asia, and its Restore Local initiative supports locally led restoration through a portfolio of more than USD 60 million in projects in Africa, Brazil and India.
Who can apply
The internship is open to undergraduate students, graduate students and recent graduates with a focus on areas such as resource economics, development finance, environmental sciences, social sciences, public policy, environmental studies and data science. The intern reports to the Restoration Policy Analyst and the Restoration Finance Project Manager.
What you get
The intern gains experience in land restoration, partnership building, restoration finance, policy analysis and proposal development. Work depends on the intern's interests and team needs, and may include piloting outcome finance models, engaging buyers and government stakeholders, developing national payment-for-ecosystem-services policies, supporting the onboarding of new TerraFund investees, investor engagement, data and policy analysis, literature reviews and communications materials. The internship mainly focuses on the team's Africa portfolio and also supports early research into opportunities in Europe, including a stock-take of the European restoration economy and help coordinating stakeholder events. Interns also draft briefs, synthesise research, copyedit, support research design and data collection, and contribute to partnership and funding proposals.
How to apply
Submit your application through the official listing before the deadline.
Key dates
The stated application deadline is 2 October 2026, although the listing also shows an end date of 3 October 2026, so applicants should submit by the earlier date.