Our Activities

We support students with our Two Pillars

Members of the NEED community gain access to career opportunities as well as a vibrant peer community and learning experiences focused on evidence-based development.

Career Development Community & Learning

Career Development

What We Do

NEED makes opportunities accessible through our relationships in the evidence-based development field, especially as due to capacity constraints NGOs may hire through candidate referrals, semi-closed application processes, or trial-to-offer arrangements. We co-create internships with organizations we believe in, surface roles in our WhatsApp group while referring where possible, and contact hiring managers to set up informal info sessions.

Activities We've Piloted

NEED Internship Board

In 2025-2026, we placed 19 students in internships at 11 organizations. These placements would not have happened without our efforts: either the internship role did not exist until we approached the organization for collaboration, or (in a few cases) an existing internship was going to go unfilled.

This program was successful in helping students build career capital while providing high-impact organizations with much-needed capacity. In 2026-2027, facilitating internships will be one of NEED's biggest areas of focus.

Career & Job Chats

In 2025-2026, we piloted virtual career conversations with organizations like The Agency Fund, GiveDirectly, Precision Development, the Clinton Health Access Initiative, IDInsight, Charity Entrepreneurship, and Coefficient Giving. We wanted to help students learn more about evidence-based careers. This year, we plan to convene smaller, targeted events with employers who are actively looking to hire. We think the opportunity to get on an employer's radar and ask targeted questions will be more useful for our community, especially as closer virtual conversations are more likely to help with recruitment.

WhatsApp Channel

We've been running a group chat that posts open roles about once per week and have gotten good feedback: individuals have found jobs and internships that they say they wouldn't have heard about otherwise. And if NEED has a specific connection or can make an introduction, we say so.

Community & Learning

What We Do

One of NEED's greatest areas of potential is in bringing people together. Students across universities are working toward the same social goals, and the development sector is highly collaborative: fellow students today become coworkers, collaborators, or mutual resources tomorrow. We look for opportunities to bring our community together, while developing our skills or learning in the process.

This year, we hope to convene an in-person workshop to allow attendees to build their skillsets and get to know each other. Stay tuned!

Activities We've Piloted

Conference Delegations

We've funded and coordinated members of the NEED community to attend EA Global conferences together, giving students a chance to learn and network.

This year, we are looking to expand beyond EAG to other conference events.

Member Meet-ups

We host casual gatherings where members can get to know one another outside of formal programming and build the kind of relationships that last beyond school. Our first full meet-up, at Cambridge Commons Bar in Boston, was a great experience and brought together around 50 students as well as professionals from J-PAL and Evidence Action. We also had a smaller Happy Hour gathering in NYC around EA Global last October. In addition to students, it was attended by folks from GiveDirectly, IPA, and Weiss Asset Management Foundation.

Free Book Program

We previously sent members free books on topics central to evidence-based development. Previous choices included Doing Good Better and The Life You Can Save. We may do so again in the future, but are not certain.

Join NEED