We live in a time of upheaval and disruption. Against this backdrop, where can we find inspiration, connection, and pathways for outward movement? How are we to navigate this shifting ground — and perhaps even embrace its potential for transformation?

 

Widening Circles offers social impact internships with grassroots organizations around the world and an online learning community focused on critical reflection to advance ethical global engagement and social change. This program foregrounds relationships and will support and deepen your learning through mentorship and digital storytelling.

 

 

This program is meant for anyone, anywhere in the world, but would especially suit people who are:

  • Looking to volunteer abroad, but are skeptical of the dominant "voluntourism" paradigm
  • Students looking for internships (online or in-person) to support and broaden their studies
  • Gap Year students looking for a unique opportunity to join a program that offers support but is also flexible and self-directed, with the possibility to earn college credit

 

 

What Is Widening Circles?

 

We created Widening Circles in 2020, prompted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the overlapping crises of health, inequality, and injustice it illuminated. While many of our previous EdGE programs explicitly focused on global travel as a mode of engaging across differences, the pandemic invited us to develop a new program model which advances global learning and relationships without requiring participants to leave home. 

 

This program combines two main elements: 

 

1) Our EdGE online learning platform, where you will:

  • Engage in an online classroom exploring the complexities of ‘doing good’ and striving for justice while crossing differences of culture and power. To see a preview of classroom content, check out our Widening Circles Syllabus. 

  • Work 1:1 with a member of our EdGE Mentor team who will support and deepen your learning and reflections throughout the EdGE classroom and during your internship experience.

  • Benefit from peer-to-peer learning and shared dialogue through periodic discussion groups and webinars to support community-building and critical reflection.

  • Have the option to take a deeper dive into a topic of interest by engaging in one of our Curriculum Concentrations to supplement the core content you’ll be exploring in the main classroom. 
     

2) Opportunities to pursue social impact internships (online or in-person), where you will:

  • Use our platform to browse and apply for internship opportunities with Omprakash Partners. Omprakash Partners are vetted, grassroots organizations located in over 50 countries around the world and working in diverse fields including education, health, human rights, migration, sustainability, and social enterprise.

  • Continue your 1:1 work with an EdGE Mentor with whom you can share your experiences, reflections, and questions as you navigate your internship experience.

  • Experience all the independence of a solo traveler with the support and guidance of Omprakash’s experienced global education professionals and resources when you need them.

Throughout your engagement in both the EdGE classroom and your internship experience, you will engage in the practice of digital storytelling to document your learning and reflections. Your digital storytelling posts will culminate in a Digital Portfolio that you can share with loved ones as well as future employers or admissions officers.

 

 

How Does It Work?

 


 

Program Enrollment and Timing 

 

Widening Circles is open for enrollment on a rolling basis. All are welcome to register below (free of cost) to learn more. Once you’re ready to enroll, you’ll then pay the program deposit (or apply for financial support; read below for more details) at which point you will gain access to the EdGE Classroom and can begin browsing and applying for internship positions.

You define your own program structure, timeline, and pace. In other words, it’s up to you to decide if you’d like to complete all or some of the EdGE Classroom before beginning your internship position, or participate in both concurrently. Likewise, you can decide the pace at which you would like to move through the EdGE Classroom. You may, for example, compress your engagement into just a few weeks, or extend it for an entire gap year. 

The EdGE Logistics section will guide you through next steps. Once enrolled, you’ll be able to view a list of logistics items to complete that are meant to help you prepare for your engagement in both the EdGE Classroom and in your internship experience.

Ongoing support from the Omprakash team. Over the weeks and months that follow your enrollment, we will support you as you chart your own course through the program elements described above. 

Optional college credit available. If you are an enrolled university student, it is possible for us to work directly with your college or university to help you earn credit for your participation in our program. Please contact us if you would like to discuss this option.

Upon completion of the program, you will be eligible to receive a certificate in Critical Global Engagement.

 

 

Social Impact Internships

 

We provide a platform through which you can browse and apply for internship positions with Omprakash Partner organizations. The Omprakash Partner network currently includes 250+ social change organizations in over 50 countries around the world. Our Partner organizations work in a variety of fields and many are recruiting for both online and in-person positions. 

We offer tons of support and guidance as you browse and apply for internship positions with Omprakash Partners. This includes individual support from a member of the Omprakash team should you have any questions, as well as access to all our tips for browsing and applying for internship positions once you are fully enrolled in the program.

Here are a few examples of internship opportunities currently available with Omprakash Partners:

This is not an exhaustive list — please register below to browse more opportunities! If desired, it is also possible to join Widening Circles and complete an internship with an organization outside the Omprakash Network.

 

Costs and Scholarships 

 

When it comes to program cost, we strive to be thoughtful and intentional about making this program financially accessible. Two ways we attempt to do this is by offering sliding scale tuition and generous scholarships. 

One of the main goals of the Widening Circles program is to help participants situate themselves within broader contexts of power and privilege. We believe this interrogation of our own positionality in the world should include an understanding of how economic class strongly shapes our values, beliefs, and expectations and deeply informs ways of thinking and acting throughout our lives. Our decision to offer sliding scale tuition and generous scholarships for participants is informed by this understanding of class as a system of power.

 

Sliding Scale Tuition

We offer two sliding scale tuition options of $450 or $750. When you register for the program, we ask that you take some time to reflect on your own class background (using this resource from Resource Generation). If your life experiences and current financial situation align with the upper class experiences, we encourage you to consider paying the full tuition price of $750. If your life experiences don’t align with those classes, we encourage you to select the $450 option, or apply for a scholarship (see more details about our scholarship program below).  

If you choose to enroll with one of the sliding scale tuition options, your deposit payment of $150 will be due within ten days of your registration. The remainder of the program fee will be due after thirty days. 

Scholarships

If neither of the sliding scale options are accessible to you, we offer generous scholarships that may cover much of the cost of the program. You can learn more and will be able to submit a scholarship application from your EdGE Dashboard after completing the initial registration at the bottom of this page. If you apply for a scholarship, your deposit deadline will be waived until your application is reviewed.

 

A note about our stance on "placements"

Should you decide to intern with an Omprakash Partner, there will be no additional "program fees." Omprakash does not sell "placements" (read more here); instead, we curate a platform through which individuals can apply to work with our Partners (vetted grassroots social impact organizations around the world), and Partners can autonomously post opportunities and recruit interns who can learn from and support their work. If you choose to pursue an in-person position, you will be responsible for your own travel and living expenses, and can choose to apply for a travel grant from Omprakash to help defray these costs. Omprakash supports all participants with planning their travel logistics and living arrangements.  

 

 

Who are we?

 

Omprakash has been building relationships across differences and supporting critical global learning for more than fifteen years. We support a global network of 250+ social impact organizations (our Partners) in 50+ countries and provide online training, mentorship, and support through our EdGE program.

To learn more about our work, visit omprakash.org

 

 

Student Testimonials

 

 

Read more testimonials about EdGE...

 

 

 

How Do I Get Started?

 

Register below with Cohort Code: 

 

26CIRCLES