Summer 2027 External Affairs Internship

If you're passionate about being part of a diverse organization that enables a Fortune 100 company with nearly $70 billion in annual sales to deliver innovative business solutions with excellence, then Nationwide's Legal team could be the place for you! At Nationwide®, “on your side” goes beyond just words. Our customers are at the center of everything we do and we’re looking for associates who are passionate about delivering extraordinary care.

Job Description Summary

Nationwide’s Associate Giving & Volunteerism (AGV) team helps associates and leaders connect with communities through meaningful giving and volunteer experiences. We partner across Nationwide and with community organizations to make engagement easier and more impactful.

As an External Affairs intern, you’ll gain hands-on experience at the intersection of community engagement, strategic research, program enablement, and continuous improvement. You’ll help strengthen the resources, processes, and playbooks that support Community Engagement Council (CEC) participation and associate giving and volunteerism programming across Nationwide.

Job Description

As an External Affairs intern, you’ll work with AGV Consultants to understand how corporate giving and volunteer engagement programs are supported from planning through execution. You’ll review current practices, conduct targeted research, identify points of friction, gather feedback from the field, and turn what you learn into practical recommendations and reusable resources.

You’ll have the opportunity to contribute to projects such as:

• Conducting research on community needs, volunteerism trends, associate engagement practices, and external organizations to inform AGV strategy and program planning.

• Helping identify what is working, what is creating friction, and what can be scaled across CECs.

• Preparing simple summaries of feedback, participation patterns, and improvement opportunities to support AGV recommendations and planning.

• Reviewing CEC onboarding materials, templates, and frequently asked questions to identify opportunities to improve clarity and ease of use.

• Supporting standardization of giving and volunteer-program workflows and service pathways.

Qualifications

• Students pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration, Communications, Public Relations, Nonprofit Management, Community Development, Social Impact, Human Resources, or a related field, within 2–3 semesters of graduation.

• Academic excellence; a minimum 3.0 GPA is preferred.

• Interest in community engagement, corporate social responsibility, associate experience, program delivery, strategic research, or process improvement.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to turn research, feedback, and information into clear recommendations.

• Demonstrated ability to organize work, manage multiple priorities, conduct thoughtful research, and follow through on commitments.

• Critical-thinking and problem-solving skills, with an interest in understanding root causes, evaluating information, and improving processes.

• Experience working collaboratively on projects, student organizations, volunteer activities, or other team-based initiatives.

This internship will be based out of our Columbus, Ohio office throughout the 12-week experience.

Nationwide does not participate in the Stem OPT Extension program. At its sole discretion, Nationwide determines whether to offer sponsorship for qualifying positions based on business need and budget. However, it is not usually available for entry level roles.

Nationwide pays on a geographic-specific salary structure and placement within the actual starting salary range for this position will be determined by a number of factors including the skills, education, training, credentials and experience of the candidate; the scope, complexity and location of the role as well as the cost of labor in the market; and other conditions of employment.

The national hourly pay range for Nationwide Internships is: $23 - $50