One of Antigua and Barbuda’s most active environmental nonprofits is turning the summer months into an opportunity for young people to build real careers while helping protect the island they call home — opening applications for a Summer Internship Programme that spans administration, operations, and marketing and communications.
Beyond the Classroom
Good Humans 268 Inc. says the programme is designed to give students practical, real-world experience that complements what they are learning in school — preparing them for careers while directly supporting environmental initiatives across Antigua and Barbuda.
Founder Joshuanette Francis was candid about why classroom learning alone is not enough.
“Real-world experience builds confidence in ways that textbooks cannot,” Francis said. “It teaches problem-solving, accountability, adaptability, and professionalism.”
Built on Three Years of Proven Impact
The internship builds on Good Humans 268’s Student Community Service Recycling Project, which has engaged thousands of students over the past three years and helped divert millions of recyclable items from the nation’s landfill while developing participants’ leadership, teamwork, and organisational skills.
Francis used those results to illustrate a point often overlooked in environmental advocacy: that the back-office work — the emails, the spreadsheets, the photographs, the social media posts — is as essential to the mission as the fieldwork itself.
“Every email answered, every spreadsheet updated, every recyclable item catalogued, every photograph taken, and every social media post published contributes to a larger mission of building a cleaner, more sustainable Antigua and Barbuda,” she said.
A Small Island Under Growing Pressure
Francis noted that Antigua and Barbuda, as a small island developing state, faces growing environmental pressures — including climate change, stronger storms, rising temperatures, and increasing waste generation — and argued that preparing young people to respond to those challenges cannot wait until after they graduate. “The answer cannot be after graduation. It must begin now,” she said.
What Interns Can Expect
The programme will expose participants to nonprofit management, environmental stewardship, project coordination, and communications while helping them explore potential career paths. Francis said participants may leave with stronger professional skills, increased confidence, or a newly discovered interest in environmental management and community leadership. “Perhaps the next great climate leader, nonprofit executive, environmental educator, or community organiser is simply waiting for an opportunity to begin,” she said.
Good Humans 268 said the initiative reflects its belief that investing in young people is one of the most effective strategies available for strengthening climate action and building more resilient communities in the face of the environmental challenges ahead.
Good Humans 268 recently sent representatives to Paris and Uzbekistan for global environmental meetings — among them the 8th Global Environment Facility Assembly — bringing Antigua and Barbuda’s voice into international conservation conversations. The Summer Internship Programme brings that global ambition home, giving the next generation of environmental leaders their first seat at the table.
Young people interested in applying can follow Good Humans 268 on social media at @goodhumans268 for further details on how to apply.
