3-month internship Program

The Lost Valley Internship

Lost Valley is a community land trust and bioregional learning center that seeks to provide affordable and free learning opportunities that support people in transitioning toward community-focused and ecologically oriented livelihoods.

Lost Valley’s 3-month Internship Program is our most robust learning opportunity that is designed to be accessible, and provide participants with skills and experience in regenerative farming, ecological forestry, land stewardship, and sustainable living. Whether participants apply for an internship in Permaculture, Building & Maintenance, Marketing & Outreach, or Administration, all interns have the opportunity to engage with the dynamic living systems of our community land trust, which are based upon permaculture, equitable governance, and nonviolent communication. Interns spend 20 hours per week learning and gaining hands-on experience while receiving meals and accommodation.

The most popular internship that we offer is the Permaculture Internship, in which cohorts participate in 4 guided experiential learning opportunities that offer training in regenerative farming and forestry. Interns spend 6-8 hours per week learning from Lost Valley Land Steward, Brian Byers, through hands-on practice in ecological restoration, agroforestry, and wildfire mitigation. 6-8 hours per week are also spent learning from Lost Valley Garden Steward, Kelson Gorman, growing/processing food and learning about regenerative gardening for community food sovereignty. The remaining internship hours are spent on independent projects and facilitated weekly meetings to offer a holistic learning experience. Weekly meetings integrate additional practice in topics including conflict resolution, equitable governance, community and climate resilience.

We also offer internships in marketing & administration and maintenance, which provide the opportunity to learn through guided practice for career development in social media management, outreach, nonprofit administration, construction, and maintenance.

This is a great option for you if you are in a transitional or learning period & are looking to:

• Learn about ecological stewardship, wildfire mitigation, food sovereignty, and regenerative agriculture

• Gain marketable skills for career development

• Develop social skills to engage in conflict resolution, nonviolent communication, meeting facilitation, inclusive group decision making, and non-heirarchical governance

• Practice mutual aid and cooperative living while learning from a 36-year-old ecovillage

Interns are temporarily joining our Meadowsong Ecovillage community. This provides education through immersion into an intentional community, an understanding of our Sociocracy-inspired governance system, practice in Non-Violent Communication, and an opportunity to study how the principles of Permaculture permeate all processes and procedures within the community. You will have a chance to participate in educational offerings and join community meetings so you can learn about our decision-making processes. Together, we will cultivate the knowledge, skills and experience to help you successfully navigate community living while contributing to the creation of a socially and ecologically regenerative future.

Minimum age to participate is 21.
Meals, lodging and educational classes are provided in exchange for 20 hrs per week in your chosen circle with a 3-month commitment.

If you have questions before submitting an application, please reach out to: internshipcoordinator@lostvalley.org.

Please familiarize yourself with our community before applying.

Community Living Agreements, Non-Violent Communication, Consent Culture, Sociocracy-Inspired Governance

Our community values safety, and we hope it gives you a sense of safety as well that we require a background check for all interns and residents. The total fee is $57 and is to be paid prior to application submission.

A $300 refundable Security Deposit is required after acceptance. This deposit will be returned within 30 days of completion of the program, with consideration of any deductions for damages or fees.