2025 Tech Ethics and Policy Summer Fellowships

The Tech Ethics and Policy (TEP) Fellows are officially on their way to summer internships.

The program matches Stanford undergraduates from all disciplines with technology companies, government agencies, and civil society organizations. Prepped by a spring quarter course on ethics, technology, and public policy, students have the opportunity to apply what they’ve learned over the summer in full-time paid positions.

“The fellowship has been transformative for both our students and our organization,” said Marlena Wisniak, senior legal manager at the European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL) which will host two students this summer. “This represents just the beginning of what we envision as a continuous relationship of mentorship and support.”

Ever-growing, the program has expanded this summer to add a pathway into trust and safety as well as several new host organizations, including Frontier Model Forum, Patreon, Dataspires, Block Party, Prosocial Protocol, and the California Department of Technology.

“It's exciting to see our program expanding,” said Ashlyn Jaeger, director of Ethics, Society, & Technology Initiatives at the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society. This year, four new placements at the California Department of Technology will give fellows the chance to work directly on “some of the state's most pressing tech policy challenges.”

Two fellows will help to develop a strategic framework for how California can use emerging technologies responsibly and what safeguards the state should put in place. Others will experiment with how California could provide services using machine learning and Gen AI.

“Their ethics and policy work can have a real impact on how California approaches responsible technology implementation,” said Jaeger.

Angela Nguyen, one of this year’s fellows, will join Avanade this summer to explore integrating responsible AI into business goals and managing innovation with ethical risks.

“I'm excited about working under Chris McClean, a great leader in the AI ethics space,” said Nguyen. “I had no idea there was a possibility to do this work as an undergraduate intern until I found out about the fellowship, so I am extremely grateful to be given this opportunity!”

The undergraduate program is sponsored by the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, and the Stanford Institute for Human-Centered Artificial Intelligence (HAI) sponsors the track for graduate students. Fellowships are made possible in part by Frank McCourt in association with Stanford’s partnership with the Project Liberty Institute.

Summer 2025 Placements:

California Department of Technology:

Katie Heffernan

Avey Etaghene

Lillian Sanders

Shelby Boulware-Johnson

Patreon:

Abhi Boda

Sean Lester

European Center for Not-for-Profit Law (ECNL):

Cole Ford

Amari Porter

Atlantic Council:

Akshay Badlani

Frontier Model Forum:

Aliyah Lipsky

Prosocial Protocol:

Steven Diaz

Block Party:

Arshya Gaur

Mozilla Foundation:

Prince Nwalozie

Dataspires:

Breanna Burke

Claire Birge

Graphika:

Raiyan Haque

Javokhir Arifov

Consumer Reports:

Sohrab Hassibi

Avanade:

Angela Nguyen