Summer Fellowship (2026)

The Commit Partnership Summer Fellowship

The Commit Partnership Summer Fellowship is a 10-week paid hybrid experience based in Dallas, Texas , designed for graduate students, advanced undergraduates, and early-career professionals —including those seeking a career transition aligned with Commit’s mission to increase student success and equity.

Fellows are matched with Commit teams and take ownership of one or more high-impact projects that advance strategic initiatives across the organization. These projects are designed to create lasting value for Commit and the communities it serves, while offering Fellows meaningful professional growth and exposure to education policy, data, and systems-level change.

The Fellowship Experience

Throughout this fellowship, fellows will build community through access to talented professionals that bring a diverse set of experiences. Fellows will grow their leadership through on the job learning, in-person convenings, site visits, and communities of practice. Fellows will have a high impact by applying their skills to strategic initiatives in education. At the end of the 10 weeks, fellows will present a Capstone project to the organization that highlights all of the work completed during their time at Commit.

Compensation: $10,000

Application Timeline:

1. Application opens 11/1/25
2. Application deadline 3/27/26
3. Interviews 4/6/26 - 4/24/26
4. Acceptance confirmation 5/4/26
5. Summer fellowship start 6/8/26

Candidate Profile:

An ideal Fellow is a mission-driven, collaborative problem solver who thrives in dynamic environments and is eager to learn from and contribute to a diverse team. Fellows are passionate about improving educational outcomes and committed to equity, systems change, and data-informed decision-making.

Qualifications and Skills Required:

• Demonstrated ability to analyze information, synthesize insights, and make data-driven recommendations.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills with the ability to work effectively across teams.
• A genuine commitment to equity in education and a desire to contribute to Commit’s mission of ensuring every student has access to opportunity.
• Flexibility and initiative in navigating complex challenges with creativity and persistence.

Education and Experience Required:  

• Enrolled in or recently completed an undergraduate or graduate program, or an early professional exploring a new career path aligned with Commit’s work.
• Previous internship or fellowship experience is welcome but not required.

Preferred: 

• Proven experience in project or program management, research and analysis, operations, or policy.
• Relevant experience in education, public policy, analytics, nonprofit work, or strategic initiatives preferred.
• Previous internship or fellowship experience is welcome but not required.

Language Skills:

• Ability to read and write in Standard English.
• Ability to understand sentences and frequently used expressions related to areas of most immediate.
• Ability to communicate in simple and routine tasks requiring a simple and direct exchange of information on familiar and routine matters.
• Ability to describe in simple terms aspects of his/her background, immediate environment and matters in areas of immediate need.

Knowledge, Skills and Abilities:

• Ability to establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with others.
• Ability to interact with persons of various social, cultural, economic, and educational backgrounds.
• Ability to listen perceptively and convey awareness.
• Ability to interact diplomatically with the public in a continuous public contact setting.
• Ability to work as part of a team and in a team environment.
• Ability to maintain level-headedness in the face of resistance and contrary opinions.

Work Environment:

Fellows will work in a hybrid setting, collaborating both in-person and virtually with Commit teams. The environment is mission-oriented, collaborative, and supportive, designed to foster professional growth through mentorship, learning sessions, and exposure to organizational strategy.

Eligibility

Summer Fellowship applicants must be available to complete the full program in person. At this time, The Commit Partnership does not sponsor visas.

Application Prep

To prepare a strong application, candidates should focus on highlighting their demonstrated professional experience, leadership skills, commitment to education, and unique perspective that they bring.

Onboarding Timeline/Matching

Our onboarding process plays a crucial role in ensuring the right fit between Fellows and Commit. Candidates will interview with Commit departments and are placed with projects that align with their interests and goals. Throughout the process, Commit provides support and guidance to the Fellows to ensure successful and fulfilling experience.

About The Commit Partnership:

Our Mission

We believe that through our actions, Dallas County – which educates 10% of Texas and 1% of the nation– can be an inclusive and prosperous region where economic opportunity is shared equitably. That’s why our true north goal is that by 2040 at least half of all 25-34-year-old residents of Dallas County, irrespective of race, will be provided the opportunity to earn a living wage.

To increase living wage attainment, we must equitably increase educational success aligned with high-demand jobs, maximizing the cumulative impact from early education all the way to college, career, and/or military readiness and accessing and completing a strong postsecondary education. Our staff aligns community stakeholders around this shared future roadmap – analyzing data to lift up strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding that grow our community’s capacity to serve every student more effectively.

Our Story

Founded in 2012, this partnership is the nation’s largest educational collective impact organization, composed of backbone staff and over 200 partners across Dallas County and the state of Texas working collaboratively to solve systemic education challenges. Our staff aligns community stakeholders around a shared future roadmap – analyzing data to lift up strategic initiatives that improve policies, practices, and funding that grow our community’s capacity to serve every student more effectively.

Together, we work to advocate for excellent and equitable public education that ensures all students – regardless of race, place, or socio-economic status – have the power to determine their future and earn a living wage. We do this work through several ventures including Early Matters Dallas, North Texas Tutoring Corps, Dallas County Promise, Texas College Bridge, Dallas Thrives, Commit’s Policy Team, the Texas Impact Network, and several coalitions.

True North Traits

Our True North Traits creates a mission-driven environment and champions us to do our best work each day.

Systemic Impact : You understand the barriers and lived experiences that our students face and are skilled at delivering systemic solutions at scale that address these needs. You achieve significant, sustainable results that increase equitable outcomes through your work (including the reallocation or improvement in public funding), and you recognize the difference between activity and impact.

Judgment: You exhibit a relentless “students first” focus by thinking strategically about what data must be collected, analyzed, visualized, and activated (and what steps must be taken, in what order) to cause resources to be reallocated and actions to be taken to systemically overcome the root causes hindering achievement of the Partnership's mission.

Communication: By listening to understand before seeking to be understood, you’re able to build trust and facilitate collaboration across lines of difference, recognizing that both are essential to our success. You are also able to find common ground with diverse stakeholders and can tailor the organization's message to different audiences as needed to influence meaningful change.

Innovation: You can create or meaningfully contribute to the design and execution of a systemic and transformational strategic plan to solve complex problems, often at scale, that improves organizational effectiveness and/or closes equity gaps for our students and families.

Equity and Inclusion: You intentionally create spaces where relevant stakeholders have a seat or voice at the table, ensuring that each person at the table's thoughts and perspectives are shared, valued by all others at the table, and reflected in our work. You're excited to help build and/or contribute to teams where everyone feels welcomed, respected, valued, and highly supported.

Joy: You recognize that people are central to our work, striking a balance between people and process, and you inspire others with your optimism and thirst for substantive change in service to the mission.

Integrity: You admit mistakes openly, share learnings widely, and elevate bad news quickly, also capable of making difficult decisions in all situations to ensure the success of the organization.

The Commit Partnership is an Equal Opportunity Employer that seeks to hire individuals with backgrounds similar to that of the stakeholders they serve. As an organization that embraces equity and inclusion, all employment decisions are based on business needs, job requirements and individual qualifications, without regard to race, color, religion or belief, national, social or ethnic origin, gender, age, sexual orientation, gender identity and/or expression, marital, civil union or domestic partnership status, or any other status protected by federal, state, or local laws.

Commit does not sponsor visas of any kind.