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Internship Programs

Hands-on internships for Bay Area youth

About Our Internships

We offer paid, hands-on internships for youth through our two community shops: a bike shop and a boat shop. Our internships provide a safe, inclusive learning environment for youth to practice vocational skills and develop social and emotional skills, including curiosity, self-awareness, leadership, and problem-solving.

Youth are trained by Waterside’s supportive and caring staff members, gaining work experience that is applicable to a wide variety of careers in retail, customer service, and the trades. Upon completion of an internship, we support youth as they plan for independent employment and post-secondary education opportunities.

Street Level Cycles Internships

Street Level Cycles is our youth bicycle mechanics and bicycle reuse program. Interns learn professional bike repair by refurbishing used bicycles, which are redistributed back to the community as affordable, sustainable transportation. Youth also help community members fix their own bicycles in our free, do-it-yourself Open Shop workspace. We partner with local community-serving organizations to connect youth to paid opportunities. Some of our partners include: Bridges to Work, Berkeley High’s Workability, DOR (CA Department of Rehabilitation), NewDoor Ventures, SOAR, and YouthWorks in Berkeley and Richmond. We are not accepting direct applications at this time.

Graduates of our bicycle education programs have found employment in mechanical repair trades, including in the bike and automotive industries.

VISIT STREET LEVEL CYCLES

Berkeley Boathouse Internships

Berkeley Boathouse helps youth develop vocational skills in the areas of woodworking and construction, while providing a real-world application for product design, physics, and geometry. Youth interns regularly take the boats that they have built out on the Berkeley Aquatic Park, and they provide boat rentals to the general public.

Graduates of our boat program have found employment in the construction industry and in union training programs.

Visit Berkely Boathouse

GreenWorks Youth Internship Program

Hands-on experience. Real skills. Real impact.

GreenWorks is a paid internship for youth ages 14–24 who want real-world experience in climate, environment, and green infrastructure. A new project of Waterside Workshops’ Climate Action Program, GreenWorks is offered in partnership with Berkeley YouthWorks. This fall, we’re welcoming 5 interns to work alongside Waterside Workshops staff and mentors, building skills you can’t learn from a textbook and gaining a front-row seat to what a career in sustainability could actually look like.

What you’ll do:

  • Landscaping and gardening
  • Farm-to-table cooking and food system education
  • Parks, gardens, and public space improvements
  • Community engagement

What you’ll get:

  • $19.61/hour
  • 4 hours of work per week
  • Professional development workshops
  • Career mentorship and guidance

Program dates: September–January

Whether you’re curious about gardening, food systems, environmental science, or just want to do something meaningful with your time, GreenWorks gives you the chance to build skills, make an impact, and explore what’s next.

Applications are due September 14. Spots are limited, so apply today.

Apply here