Featured Community partnerships
The Office of Experiential Learning at the University of Puget Sound has cultivated key partnerships with community organizations that provide critical services and support to our local community for the common good. University of Puget Sound students have the opportunity to apply for and complete an internship through our Summer Fellowship Internship Program (SFI), and/or a community-based learning experience through our Community-Based Learning Program (CBL).
For further details on SFI and CBL, click on the links, or set up a first steps meeting with the button to the right!
CENTER FOR DIALOGUE AND RESOLUTION
We believe collaboration is the best way to start conflict resolution, rather than taking legal action. This belief drives our commitment to making affordable mediation, training, and facilitative services available to our community, including individuals, businesses, non-profit organizations, and governmental agencies.
The Parks, Recreation and Community Services Department preserves and maintains over 600 acres of parkland, open spaces, public buildings and areas to enhance the beauty and positive image of Lakewood. The department establishes partnerships to ensure that a comprehensive system of programs, facilities, and services are available to meet the needs of the community. Parks and Recreation contributes to the vitality of Lakewood; encourages economic development, creates neighborhood identity and improves the quality of life for our citizens.
Degrees of Change is a non-profit organization whose mission is to prepare diverse, homegrown leaders to succeed in college and career in order to build more vibrant and equitable communities. We partner with community organizations, high schools, colleges, and employers to provide cohort-based leadership training, college success support, and career development programming to underrepresented students and graduates who desire to lead and serve their home communities.
Emergency Food Network is Pierce County’s nonprofit food distributor, with a mission to provide Pierce County with a consistent, diverse, and nutritious food supply, so that no person goes hungry. Each year, we distribute more than 12 million pounds of food to 75+ food pantries, meal sites, and shelters, at no cost to them. This food comes from donations, government programs, our Co-op Food Purchasing Program, and our eight-acre Mother Earth Farm.
Freedom Education Project Puget Sound (FEPPS) is a nonprofit that offers a college program leading to an Associate of Arts and Science degree and Bachelor Degree in Liberal Studies accredited through the University of Puget Sound inside the Washington Corrections Center for Women (WCCW) in Gig Harbor, WA. Our mission is to provide access to a rigorous college education to incarcerated people in Washington and create pathways to higher education after people are released from prison. Founded in 2011, FEPPS supports a student body of 40 to 60 students inside WCCW.
Hilltop Artists is a mid-sized youth development arts nonprofit in Tacoma, Washington embedded in the Tacoma Public Schools operating deeply impactful programs at Jason Lee Middle School and Silas High School. Our mission: using glass art to connect young people from diverse cultural and economic backgrounds to better futures.
Greentrike is a nonprofit that advocates for and models equitable access to playful experiences for children, youth, and families — because play is essential for learning, joy, and a thriving community.
The museum is a replica of Tacoma’s first permanent non-Native residence. We share stories of Tacoma: why settlers and immigrants came here, how they lived, what industries put Tacoma on the map, and much more! We currently have a unique internship option that would allow students to pursue their own passions and individual educational goals while also acquiring the knowledge and skills to help usher a nonprofit arts institution into new arenas of growth.
Emergency Food Network is located in Lakewood, WA and was established in 1982. In a given year, we move more than 13.7 million pounds of food and serve more than 71 partner programs. Our Board of Directors and our Ambassador Board are active and engaged with our work. EFN also operates Mother Earth Farm, an 8-acre farm in the Puyallup River Valley, to meet the need for fresh food in the community. Each year, Mother Earth Farm uses organic practices to grow roughly 120,000 pounds of fruits and vegetables for our partners.
Multicare–Healthcare Philanthropy
As a nonprofit health care system, MultiCare’s mission is powered by generosity. Donors and volunteers help build healthier communities by supporting exceptional and more accessible health care.
The Nisqually Land Trust was established in 1989 to acquire and manage critical lands to permanently protect water resources, wildlife, natural areas, and scenic vistas in the Nisqually River watershed. Today the Land Trust protects and manages over 7,800 acres. Stewardship activities on these properties include monitoring, maintenance, and habitat restoration. The Nisqually Land Trust is seeking interns to assist with these activities.
Northwest Immigrant Rights Project promotes justice by defending and advancing the rights of immigrants through direct legal services, systemic advocacy, and community education.
The Pierce County Library System is a resource to help communities and families succeed, aimed at being the community's choice for the discovery and sharing of ideas. A staple of the Pierce County community since 1946, PCLS is a well rooted part of life in Tacoma.
The mission of Second Cycle, a nonprofit organization based in Tacoma, WA, is to demystify and normalize bike riding as a part of daily life while realizing the bicycle as a tool of personal and community empowerment. We do this through our community tool space, through youth bike programs, and by providing an open, supportive, accessible, and inclusive environment. We work to diversify participation in the cycling community and are working toward a world where the joy of riding a bicycle is accessible to everybody.
Spaceworks emerged in 2010 as a creative response to vacant storefronts in downtown Tacoma. What began as art installations and pop-up retail shops has grown to a fully formed program of the Tacoma-Pierce County Chamber, which now includes a business incubator, coworking studios, microloans, a Black Business Accelerator, and public art projects. We have become an integral pillar of support for Tacoma’s creative economy. Through strategic partnerships and community-oriented programming, we help achieve our mission: to make Tacoma culturally vibrant and economically strong through training and support for artists and creative entrepreneurs.
The Tacoma Arts Live Education Program is one of the largest arts education programs in Washington State, serving more than 40,000+ students, teachers, and parents each year.
Tacoma Art Museum (TAM) is an anchor in the city’s downtown area and a gathering place for connecting people through art via thoughtful exhibitions, exciting events, and enriching programs.
As leaders and participants in Tacoma’s food system and business community, we commit to investing in social and racial equity. We recognize that sustainable agriculture and small business ownership are historically connected to communities of color, migrants, and indigenous groups. Meaningful partnership with these communities is essential in the creation of equitable marketplaces. Our markets help achieve equity by confronting bias and discrimination, and prioritizing opportunities that promote justice and fairness for communities of color.
Tacoma Little Theatre is a national award winning organization that has been offering quality theatre for the Pacific Northwest since 1918.
TLT is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, and is managed by a small professional staff. TLT hires professional directors and contracts designers and other production leadership positions from among those with professional or other significant experience. The actors, crew, ushers, and all other theater functions are accomplished by over 250 volunteers from a four county area giving over 10,000 volunteer hours a year to provide their friends, family, neighbors, co-workers and community with some of the best amateur theater this area has to offer. This puts Tacoma Little Theatre among the largest volunteer driven organizations in Pierce County.
Through community partnerships, advocacy, and regard for the whole person, Neighborhood Clinic will be there for those who cannot afford or access health care while we partner to improve the health care system so that it meets the needs of all people.
At Tacoma Public Library, our mission is to empower our community by bringing people together to discover, connect, create, learn, and thrive. We are radically welcoming: a trusted community hub where all people can find joy, compassion, and inspiration. The ideal candidate is passionate about developing strong community relationships, working collaboratively with others, and is committed to racial equity and social justice to respond to Tacoma’s diverse communities’ needs and opportunities.
Tacoma Tool Library
Tacoma Tool Library (TTL) is a sustainable, community tool lending library in Tacoma that is accessible to residents regardless of income. The library provides low cost access to shared tools and other durable goods, and encourages re-use, repair, and reduced consumption. In addition, it provides a safe community space for learning how to use household tools, and empowers Tacoma residents to care for their homes and neighborhoods, house by house and block by block.
United Way of Pierce County has served our community since 1921. Our history is rooted in partnerships—bringing people from different walks of life together to improve conditions for children, families and individuals. While that will never change, our role as a community fundraiser has shifted as the United Way movement has sharpened our focus to solve key community issues that are preventing people from meeting their full potential. Today we are leading change by breaking the cycle of poverty in Pierce County
Write253 is a literary and printmaking non-profit located in Tacoma that serves teen and young adults in Pierce County.
Our programs include Disclaimer Magazine, Line Break Press, Remann Hall Book Club, and various workshops and publishing opportunities for youth in our region. We also host an annual summer camp, which traditionally has focused on poetry. Dubbed “Downtown Poets,” our camp features poetry writing workshops for between 12-19 youth from Pierce County.
This internship will be with the Arts branch of the City of Tacoma, Office of Arts & Cultural Vitality in collaboration with Pierce County Department of Economic Development focusing on the arts. In particular, the internship will support the public art program. Our offices manage an Art Collection of around 700 pieces of publicly owned artwork as well as the City’s & County’s 1% for public art program, which dedicates 1% of construction costs of capital projects to the creation of public art. The City of Tacoma also manages public art projects for local and regional partners such as Metro Parks Tacoma, Tacoma Housing Authority, Pierce Transit, Sound Transit and others.