Applications open for Horizon’s inaugural Career Accelerator cohort

Horizon’s Career Accelerator is a part-time, remote program designed to help individuals—from current students to mid-career professionals—pursue initial public policy career opportunities related to AI. Apply by May 6th, 2025.

Participants receive extensive support—mentorship, application support, funding, and more—to find, assess, and successfully apply to policy career opportunities, including internships, fellowships, part-time opportunities, full-time jobs, and graduate school.

This support includes connections with policy mentors and hiring managers, policy-focused training, application support, invitations to networking events, and access to a collaborative, close-knit community of aspiring public servants interested in emerging technology policy. In addition, participants can submit a funding request to receive a stipend to advance their policy careers.

What you’ll get

We’ve designed the Career Accelerator to be flexible and modular to provide you with targeted support depending on your specific needs. It’s a part-time, remote program compatible with being a full-time student or professional.

Here are the main types of optional support you may access during the 9-month program period: 

1. 1-on-1 Mentorship: Receive tailored career advice from Horizon staff and a dedicated mentor drawn from experienced policy practitioners, including Horizon Fellows and alumni.

2. Dedicated Training: Participate in virtual guided modules to learn about the topics most helpful to taking your next steps into public policy (e.g. working in Congress, think tanks, or federal agencies; testing your fit for policy, networking in DC, tactical advice on policy applications).

3. Application Support: Get expert coaching crafting standout application materials (e.g. resumes, cover letters, and writing samples) and professional advice on security clearances, immigration, and more. 

4. Opportunity Notifications: Get access to job listings, internships, fellowships, and other public-interest opportunities—some of which may not be publicly advertised.

5. Peer Community & Events: Join a supportive cohort of participants sharing insights, job leads, and motivation via an active Slack and in-person or online events.

6. Introductions to Hiring Managers: Expand your professional network through direct referrals to policy leaders and organizations in Horizon’s network.

The most time-intensive part of the program is the 4-6 week virtual training period (July – August 2025), which may take up to 6 hours/week depending on the number of optional training modules you sign up for. The program stages and timeline are described in more detail below.

Funding for career development

In addition to the above support, you can optionally submit a funding request—during the initial application or anytime during the program—to seek financial support to advance your public policy career. We’re willing to consider funding amounts up to $50,000 total for eligible expenses that would meaningfully advance your public policy career. You do not need to have a specific offer or opportunity already secured to apply for funding.

For example, we’re open to funding expenses like

1. pursuing un(der)paid policy roles (e.g. internships, short-term placements, research/project collaborations) in policy organizations like Congress, think tanks, federal agencies, or state governments

2. upskilling opportunities (e.g. visiting DC, attending conferences, paid online courses) 

3. policy career transition and exploration periods

4. independent study

5. relocation costs to move to DC

6. other funding needs that would meaningfully advance your public policy career (that are not excluded below)

We’ve included more detail on what we can and cannot fund in our funding request form. 

Who should apply

Our Career Accelerator is designed to be flexible and modular in order to support candidates with highly varied backgrounds and experience levels:

• Early-career participants – Students and recent graduates seeking early-career policy opportunities, especially internships, fellowships, graduate degrees, and entry-level jobs.

• Mid-career participants – Experienced professionals (e.g. from the private sector or academia) seeking to pivot into US AI policy work who need assistance navigating the transition, including in finding and applying to full-time roles or part-time upskilling or engagement opportunities.

Some illustrative example applications we’re excited to receive from people in these categories: 

• You’re a student (graduate or undergraduate) seeking to explore your fit for policy by spending a semester interning in Congress and you want help identifying and applying to internship opportunities.

• You’re a final-year undergraduate looking for your first job and you want support locating great job opportunities and optimizing your application materials; as a back-up, you might need 3-6 months of internship funding.

• You’re an established professional making a mid-career transition into AI policy who needs financial support and connections to derisk a 3-6 month transitional period.

• You’re a graduate student or professor who wants to do policy-related projects alongside their research and explore an affiliation with a relevant DC-based organization.

• You're a policy professional who has recently become interested in AI, and you're exploring how to pivot your work to focus more on emerging technology issues.

These examples are not exhaustive – we are open to a wide range of interests and proposals. 

If you’re primarily seeking a 1-2 year full-time placement in government or think tanks, apply for our Horizon Fellowship instead.

Eligibility

Most competitive applicants will have some demonstrated interest in or engagement with AI and/or public policy. This may include relevant work experiences, research or other personal projects, coursework, or other forms of engagement.

Qualifications: We expect competitive applicants to have the following qualifications:

• Passion for public service; genuine interest in exploring their fit for policy or government careers

• Demonstrated engagement with AI and/or public policy

• Strong interest in working on policy topics related to AI

• Strong interpersonal, writing, and communication skills

We are unfortunately not able to sponsor visas for participants; we generally expect applicants to have pre-existing work authorization not dependent on employer sponsorship, but we will consider exceptions for outstanding international candidates considering policy opportunities they’re eligible for (e.g. graduate school).

Application process

We use a simple three-part application process:

1. Initial online application form, asking for

   1. A CV or resume (≤ 2 pages)

   2. A series of short answer questions on your motivations and experiences (≤ 200 words each)

   3. Contact details of 2 professional references

2. Short work test (3 hrs or less; paid)

3. Interview 

4. (Optional) Funding proposal (can be short; ~1,000 words max.)

   • If financial support would help advance your policy career, we encourage you to submit a funding request. Even if you don’t have a specific funding need when you apply to the program, you can submit funding requests anytime during the program.

We are committed to using evidence-based best practices in our application and review process to promote diversity and merit-based selection within our talent pool, such as blind-grading application materials and compensating applicants for their time spent on work tests.

Program stages and timeline

Our Career Accelerator aims to support individuals looking to start a policy opportunity in the next nine months (approximately). For example, participants in this pilot cohort might aim to start an internship, full-time job, or other policy opportunity in the summer or fall of 2025 or the spring of 2026.

Depending on our capacity, we might prioritize applicants looking for earlier opportunities (e.g. summer and fall of 2025), deferring applications for later opportunities (e.g. spring of 2026) to a future program cohort to ensure your application effort is not wasted. If this pilot program is successful, we anticipate running two or three Career Accelerator cohorts per year.

The program is divided into several stages:

• Application period: April 15th, 2025 – May 6th, 2025

• Cohort selected: Early June 2025

• Program period: End of June 2025 – End of February 2026 (9 months)

  • During this period, you have access to the flexible, modular support services outlined above (e.g. mentorship, introductions, funding requests). You can request extended access to these services beyond the 9 months, which we’ll evaluate case-by-case.

• Virtual training period: 4-6 weeks during July – August 2025

  • In general, training modules are optional and take about 3 hours to complete, including some pre-reading, a mini-assignment (≤ 1 hour each), and a group-based discussion / FAQ session. 

  • We anticipate offering 10-12 modules on different topics for this pilot cohort, depending on participant interest. We’ll likely offer 1-2 modules per week over 4-6 weeks total. 

• Post-program benefits: Program alumni will continue to have access to some support services, including an active Slack community.