BKLVLUP // FLATBUSH · EAST FLATBUSH · FLATLANDS // SUMMER 2026

EcoPower '26. — Paid Brooklyn summer internship for high schoolers

A mini resilience hub.

The power is local. The future is collective.

A paid 9-week summer internship for Brooklyn high schoolers and college students in the Flats. No experience needed — just curiosity, follow-through, and the willingness to show up.

Apply now See why it matters
9
Weeks
4
Tracks
Paid
Stipend Every Intern
0
Experience Needed
02 / Why this exists

We started this
because we had to.

You know that feeling when it floods on your block and nobody fixes it? When they break ground on something new and nobody asked the people who live there? Yeah. We see it too.

The problem
The Flats get talked about — not talked to.

Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands. Policy decisions get made about our neighborhoods by people who don't live here. Climate plans, transit plans, housing plans — we hear about them after they're written. That's been the story for decades.

Our move
Build the people who change that.

EcoPower trains Brooklyn high schoolers to do the work — environmental data, civic policy, community tech, storytelling — so the next generation of decisions get made by people who actually live here. Real work. Real impact. The neighborhood in their hands.

What you'll be part of

A mini resilience hub.
Built by young people.

EcoPower is one summer of work that plugs into something bigger: BKLVLUP's long game of building a permanent community resilience hub across the Flats. The work you ship lives on after you leave. The maps, the films, the tools, the briefs — they get used. Your name stays on them.

03 / Pick your lane

Four tracks.
Pick one.

Every track does real work happening in the Flats right now. Tap to see what you'd actually be doing — and what you'd ship by September 3.

What you'll do
  • Deploy air-quality and stormwater sensors on Flatbush blocks
  • Collect and test soil samples to document contamination patterns
  • Turn raw data into something a neighbor can actually use
What you'll ship
  • Rain Activation flood-readiness dashboard
  • Soil testing map (From the Ground Up)
  • Sensor install report + community data walk
What you'll do
  • Build AI tools that actually help the neighborhood
  • Test what works (and what's hype) for community use
  • Make tech accessible to people the industry forgets
What you'll ship
  • Community-facing AI tool for BKLVLUP programs
  • Digital access map of the Flats
  • AI tools audit for community organizations
What you'll do
  • Document the Flats through video, photo, and audio
  • Interview neighbors holding this community together for decades
  • Build content that sounds like the neighborhood it's for
What you'll ship
  • Neighborhood portrait series
  • EcoPower '26 mini-doc (your name in the credits)
  • Oral history archive for BKLVLUP
What you'll do
  • Contribute to real civic campaigns (not simulations)
  • Learn how budgets, land trusts, and transit decisions get made
  • Sit in rooms where policy gets written — and speak up
What you'll ship
  • CEC People's Money community brief
  • IBX Coalition transit equity research
  • Flats CLT Community Land Trust outreach
04 / What you get

Three things
we promise you.

01 / The Work
You'll ship something real
Every intern leaves with a portfolio artifact — a map, a video, a tool, a brief — your name on it, your idea behind it. Not a participation certificate. Something you can point to.
02 / The Pay
You get paid for your time
EcoPower is paid. Always. Your time is worth something — we don't do "volunteer opportunities" or unpaid labor dressed up as exposure.
03 / The People
Mentors who do this for real
Your mentors are practitioners — organizers, data scientists, filmmakers, policy researchers. People doing the actual work, not just supervising it.
You might be a fit if

You see yourself somewhere in this list.

✓ You notice things in your neighborhood that bother you — and you've thought about why
✓ You finish what you start (most of the time)
✓ You're curious about how things actually work, not just what they're called
✓ You'd rather make something than just talk about making something
✓ You can ask for help when you need it (this is bigger than it sounds)
✓ You want this summer to count for something
05 / How the summer works

9 weeks.
Here's the arc.

Now → June 19
Apply

Submit your application. Tell us what you see broken in your neighborhood and what you'd do about it.

06 / EcoPower '25 cohort

Last summer.
In their words.

The first EcoPower cohort presented at the September 2025 Community Report Back. These are their words — and what you're walking into.

EcoPower '25 cohort group portrait at BKLVLUP
EcoPower '25 · Full cohort
EcoPower '25 student presenting at the community report back
Community Report Back · Sept '25
EcoPower '25 students together at BKLVLUP
Cohort portraits · 2025
"

Being able to immerse myself in a community that was completely separate from what I was usually accustomed to taught me in a way that can't be described in words. I found a group of people that I can rely on.

A
Andrew — Brooklyn Tech HS, '26
Soil Testing · Rain Activated Art · Digital Media
★★★★★
"

Being able to compile everything into a montage — the faces, the stories of East Flatbush residents — I did not expect it would be that emotional. I learned that this neighborhood has a story that deserves to be told.

J
Jeffery — Brooklyn Tech HS, '26
Soil Testing · Story & Media
★★★★★
"

The EcoPower internship was truly inspirational! From soil testing to flood mitigation, it was amazing to see as an aspiring environmentalist that there was a program like this right in my community. Plus, without this, I wouldn't have gained the courage to participate in both direct community and civic engagement. It was exactly what I was looking for, all while being a challenge, and right in my backyard.

K
Khadesha — Hunter College, B.A. Environmental Studies '29
Digital Media · Rain Activated · Soil Testing · Returning College Intern
★★★★★
07 / Apply

Don't sleep
on this.

00
Days
00
Hours
00
Mins
00
Secs

Deadline: Friday, June 19, 2026 · 11:59 PM ET. Takes about 12 minutes. No essays — just real answers to real questions.

Key dates

  • Apply by Friday, June 19, 2026 · 11:59 PM ET
  • Interviews Late June 2026
  • Offers Before July 6, 2026
  • Program July 6 → Sept 3, 2026
  • Showcase Wednesday, Sept 3, 2026

Who's eligible

  • Brooklyn high schoolers, ages 14–19
  • Any school — public, charter, private, homeschool
  • Priority for Flatbush, East Flatbush, Flatlands residents
  • Available weekdays, July 6 – Sept 3, 2026
  • No prior experience required

How to apply

  1. Open the application (Google Form, ~12 min)
  2. Pick a 1st and 2nd choice track
  3. Answer the short questions honestly
  4. Submit by June 19 · 11:59 PM ET
  5. Watch your inbox for an interview invite
Start your application

Questions? ecopower@bklvlup.org

08 / FAQ

Tap to find
your answer.

Brooklyn high schoolers, ages 14–19. Any school — public, charter, private, homeschool. Any Brooklyn neighborhood, with priority for residents of Flatbush, East Flatbush, and Flatlands. You need to be available July 6 through September 3, weekdays. That's it.
No. Zero. The '25 cohort came in not knowing each other or their tools — and left having made a film, built data maps, and presented to the community. We care about curiosity and follow-through, not what you already know.
We have a separate graduate track for EcoPower Summer. Spots are very competitive — we only accept 2 people each year. To learn more and apply, visit ecopowergrad.bklvlup.org . If you want to work with BKLVLUP in any other way, feel free to email ecopowergrad@bklvlup.org.
Yes. We accept Brooklyn high schoolers from any neighborhood. Residents of Flatbush, East Flatbush, and Flatlands are prioritized, but we look at the whole application.
On the application, list a first and second choice. We'll match you based on what you wrote, a quick conversation, and cohort balance. You'll be placed in one primary track — but all four converge at the September showcase.
9 weeks: July 6 to September 3, 2026. Weekdays. Specific hours will be confirmed before the program starts — expect a mix of group sessions, track-based work, and 1:1s with your mentor. Treat it like a real job, because it is one.
Yes. Every intern receives a stipend. Stipend details will be shared with finalists during the offer process. We don't do unpaid "volunteer opportunities" — your time is worth something.
You'll hear back by late June. Finalists are invited to a short conversation — Zoom or in person. Offers go out before July 6. Onboarding materials follow within a week of accepting.
A finished project with your name on it. A certificate of completion from BKLVLUP. Your final stipend. And a connection to the BKLVLUP ecosystem that doesn't end on September 3.
We'd love to hear from you. Email ecopower@bklvlup.org with the subject line 'Partnership for EcoPower' and we'll set up a conversation.
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