The Latino Heritage Internship Program (LHIP), created by the National Park Service (NPS) and administered in partnership with Environment for the Americas, is designed to provide internship opportunities to young adults in diverse professional fields in the National Park Service. The program helps raise awareness of our national parks and historic sites, their accessibility, and the need for the Latino community’s involvement in their preservation and in meaningful and relevant science-based internships.

For this purpose, highly motivated undergraduate and graduate students will be selected to work alongside NPS historians, interpreters, archaeologists, architects, researchers, biologists, communicators, and other professionals in different national  parks, offices, and historical sites throughout the nation. Students will have substantive assignments in their areas of study, work closely with NPS staff day-to-day, and receive additional mentoring and support through the program partners.

LHIP, working in collaboration with conservation partners like Environment for the Americas, allows the NPS to invest in cost-efficient strategies geared toward recruiting and developing entry-level talent to potentially to help build a more diverse and inclusive workforce.

Program goals and objectives:
The Latino Heritage Internship Program supports a number of the Department of the Interior priorities.

• Introduces employment opportunities in the NPS with an emphasis on cultural and natural resource stewardship, interpretation, and community outreach to Latino young adults.
• Develops mission critical internship projects that support the NPS goals and objectives at national parks and offices.
• Collaborates with Latino conservation organizations to help expand NPS outreach into Latino communities nationally and develop deep and sustainable relationships.
• Establishes a pipeline for converting talented Latino students into career positions in the NPS.