Indigenous Communities Initiatives (ICI)

ICI applications opened on August 25th, and close on October 17th.

The program duration will be from January 5th – January 30th 2026. 

Both! Students will work with their host sites virtually, however, portions of the program involve on-campus reflection activities with peers and PKG staff. If you have any mitigating circumstances that limit your ability to participate in the on-campus portions of the program, please note so in your application. 

Although it is preferred that students participate in on-campus programming in-person, we wish to make this an accessible opportunity for all students and will take mitigating circumstances into consideration.

You will be provided a grant stipend of $2500 by MIT PKG Public Service Center for your participation in the internship.

ICI host sites are comprised of Indigenous Communities Fellows whose work is focused on supporting the social, economic, and climate goals of their communities by harnessing both modern and ancestral technologies. The initiatives are a mixture of for-profit, nonprofit, and hybrid enterprises working across fields related to energy, food, data, and tribal sovereignty. 

Learn more about the Fellows and their work here! 

Program participants are expected to attend 2 – 3 orientation sessions between late-November and mid-December. These sessions are typically held in the evenings with dinner provided. During IAP students are expected to be working a minimum of 30 hours a week with their host sites and no more than 40 hours per week on the program overall. 

In addition to work hours associated with their host-site obligations, students are expected to complete weekly reflections and participate in hybrid weekly sessions with their cohort.  

Although we strive to pair students with all of their top choice host sites during the interview process we cannot guarantee so. Students should expect to interview with at least one of their top choice host sites. Additionally, students should expect to interview with host sites outside of their top choices as well.  

Born from a call to action by the Water Protectors of Standing Rock in 2017, Solve’s Indigenous Communities Fellowship was developed to support Indigenous-led solutions that use traditional knowledge and technology to meet the social, economic, and climate goals of Indigenous communities across the United States and Canada. 

Each year Solve selects six to eight Fellows who participate in a 9-month program of support in the service of their critical work. Learn more about the program here!

Solve is an initiative of MIT. We believe that to achieve a more sustainable and equitable future for all, we need new voices and ideas. We launch open calls for exceptional and diverse solutions to the most pressing global challenges, from anyone, anywhere in the world. Selected innovators get the backing of MIT and our community of supporters to scale their impact and drive lasting change. 

Learn more about Solve here!