Youth Internship Program
Every year over 25 young people participate in our intensive 9-month Internship Program. Participants engage in hands-on learning around environment, health, community development, leadership and social justice.
2024 Milestones
Our youth internship unlocks the potential of young people in East New York by mobilizing them to address food justice in our community. From February through November, interns participate in our intensive internship program. They are involved in all aspects of running a 1/2 acre organic farm, and provide support to other gardens through East New York, often run by senior citizens. Through this process, they learn about the environment, health & nutrition, advocacy, leadership. They work in multi-cultural and multi-generational teams to create change in their community. Many youth stay in the program for several years, taking on new leadership roles each season.
Youth Internship Applications
Youth who are passionate about our mission to make healthy, local food available to all members of our community! We are looking for responsible, motivated individuals who want to see personal and professional growth in this internship program. Submit an application if you can commit to spending your summer with us, as well as one weekday after school and Saturdays in the Spring and Fall. We are an equal opportunity employer, pledging to not discriminate against interns based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, disability or genetic information.
Preferred Qualifications:
- Are comfortable working onsite in all weather conditions and virtually when promoted
- Are comfortable being ambassadors for ENYF
- Interested in food justice and community engagement
Applications for First Year Intern are now closed. Please check back here May 2025 to apply for the 2026 season, applications are accepted on a rolling basis
Eligible Interns:
- Must be 14-16 years old, high school student
- live or go to school in East New York and neighboring communities
- Available to work from the beginning of April to mid-November
- Must be available to work Thursday, Friday and Saturday in the Spring
- 12 positions available
Compensation:
- Bi-weekly stipend
Program Timeline:
- Spring- Hands on skills development training
- Summer- Outdoor learning and community exploration
- Fall- Final project development
Senior Intern Application
Applications for Senior Intern are now closed. Please check back here Fall 2025 for open positons
Eligible Interns:
- Must be 17-20 years old
- Has been a part of ENYF internship for 2+ years or other relevant experience
- Available to work from February-November
- Excited to mentor ENYF Youth Interns and be an ambassador for ENYF
Compensation:
- Bi-weekly stipend
Youth Food Justice Organizing Interns
The Youth Food Justice Network was created with the mission to build a shared learning spaces for youth organization involved in the food movement. From the beginning, the work of the YFJN has been to establish a platform to connect and celebrate youth food justice organizations working to demand a better and just food system for all.
The Youth Food Justice Organizing Institute - YFJOI
A project of the Youth Food Justice Network aiming to educate and empower NYC youth with the tools to advocate for food justice. We hire youth from across the city to participate in this intensive nine month program.
Applications for the YFJOI 2024 Cohort are now closed, check back here in Fall 2025 to apply for next year's internship.
Interested in learning or collaborating with the Network, email [email protected].
2023 Youth Exit Projects
We are so proud of what our 2023 Intern cohort created during their exit projects last year! Interns were able to choose from 5 different topics to create personal projects that they presented at the end of the program. Topics included Herbalism, Carpentry, Nutrition, Mycology, and Yearbook. Stay tuned for exit-project features and follow us @enyfarms to see more!
Our alumni and interns say it best in their own words:
"My favorite memories is having all interns together even though we lost some along the way we still kept going and we got to make the farmer better than it was before"
-Manny, 2nd Year Intern
"I learned a lot of stuff but most importantly we learned about each other and food justice"
- Ashley, 2nd Year Intern
"I learned a lot about my community and food justice. Generally those things aren't taught in school when I was in high school, I only briefly touched on food justice in my 12th grade health class. So I'm grateful that I had East New York Farms to educate myself on that."
- Fourth Year Intern, 2021
"I learned about environmental racism, food justice, the history of East New York, and community members."
- First Year Intern, 2021
"It taught me responsibility, leadership, team work, how to make an impact in our community because we are the youth. We are the next generation coming up. It's up to us to build better. We impact and reflect on the past and see what it has done to us and see the kind of chaos and the things that happen."
- Jayda, 20 years old
"I really enjoyed working together. It was my first job and the internship helped build on the ground to learn how to work. I learned how to work with others and how to work fast."
- Karen, 26 years old
"My experience at ENYF has been good I've made new connections with new people"
-Ari, 2nd Year Intern
"The experience working at ENYF has been very rejuvenating in ways of being connected to community and getting engaged"
-Shawnay, 2nd Year Intern
"I learned a lot about nature and how to grow fresh produce. And how to use food scraps to help as well to create compost"
- First Year Intern, 2021
"For a program to actively reach out to people in the
community and teach us about our own community that we did not know and create a sense of our community is a big thing that I look back at now. I am really grateful for it. It taught us so much more than what they taught us in school."
- Musheerah, 25 years old
"I found ENYF to be a very good experience for me, in terms of working, getting to know people, how to work together with other people, especially with differences. It gave me the opportunity to come out of my shell."
- Lianna, 20 years old
"I think ENYF really influenced my work ethic. Thats what I can take along with me to build my future."
- Isaiah, 20 years old
Contact Us
East New York Farms!
United Community Centers
613 New Lots Avenue
Brooklyn, NY 11207
(718) 649-7979
