About ECOnorthwest

ECOnorthwest is a public policy consulting firm headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with offices in Seattle, Bend, Eugene, and Los Angeles. For 50 years, policymakers and business leaders have trusted ECOnorthwest to inform the complex issues that shape communities. ECOnorthwest has worked with a diverse range of over 2,000 public, private, non-profit, and foundation clients in the United States and around the world to craft effective and feasible solutions. To answer the complex questions of our time, we integrate economic analysis with complementary disciplines to provide a more complete understanding of how policy choices affect peoples’ lives.

ECOnorthwest is pleased to announce a paid summer internship in honor of its founder, and longtime University of Oregon professor, Ed Whitelaw. This internship continues a long tradition of economics students in Oregon gaining early career experience at ECOnorthwest. The position is designed for rising seniors or recent graduates of an undergraduate economics degree program at an Oregon university. The ideal candidate will have a balance of strong analytical and communication skills. The intern will assemble and analyze sizable datasets and convey findings to project teams. ECOnorthwest is a premier policy consultancy, and is active in housing, transportation, economic development, natural resources, education, and social policy.

Under the guidance of ECO’s project teams:

• Conduct research in accordance with standard methods and research best practices
• Identify and organize data and sources of information appropriately assigned
• Summarize information into clear and understandable tables and charts.
• Proactively report concerns and progress to the project team on a weekly basis, unless more or less frequent reporting is requested.
• Complete work within project timeline as provided by the project team.
• Discuss findings with other staff to evaluate validity of findings and explore implications; raise any concerns about how a research process addresses issues of diversity, equity, and inclusion, or any other concerns or issues with research alignment with ECOnorthwest’s mission and statement of research integrity.

• Manage their time based on the deadlines of each project they are working on, coordinating with project teams when there are competing deadlines.

• Prepare sections of reports or memoranda under direction from the project team, including inserting tables and charts and writing narrative.
• Assist in developing presentations, as needed.
• Related duties, as assigned

• Student currently enrolled in an undergraduate economics degree program at an Oregon university and expected to graduate by July 2027, OR a recent graduate of an undergraduate economics degree program at an Oregon university who graduated with their Bachelor's degree on or after Spring of 2025.
• Coursework in any of the following subjects: econometrics, macro and microeconomic theory, land use planning, transportation planning, real estate development, or public policy

Other Desirable Qualifications

• Experience with Microsoft Word and Excel
• Experience with: R, Python, GIS, Stata, IMPLAN, and/or SQL

Required Competencies

Project Management and Collaboration Competencies

• Ability to meet deadlines and produce quality analysis in the form of tables, charts, and narrative.
• Ability to work collaboratively and respectfully in a team environment.
• Demonstrated ability and willingness to adapt appropriately to business culture.
• Ability to clearly communicate with staff, both verbally and in writing.

Personal aptitudes/interpersonal skills

• Interest in developing a network within ECOnorthwest.
• Proactively contribute to a collegial and inclusive work environment.
• Ability to self-assess and course correct.
• Ability to clearly communicate with staff, both verbally and in writing.
• Intellectual curiosity and the desire to seek out new ideas and solutions.
• Open-minded approach, flexible when needed.
• Adjust effectively to new information, shifting timelines, or revised project scope.
• Reliability, timeliness, and efficient management of time and workload
• Motivated to produce high quality, relevant work.
• Take responsibility for assigned work, including follow-through and ownership of results.

Technical Competencies

• Knowledge of and ability to appropriately apply principles of research, documentation and analysis of data, understanding and application of relevant theory, and use of database, spreadsheet, and statistical software.
• Ability to write clearly about technical information.
• Ability to learn and adapt new principles.
• Ability to produce clear and accurate data visualizations.
• Ability to understand appropriate use of data sources and their limitations, including how they may over- or under-represent specific populations.
• Ability to understand and help with formulating a research question.
• Ability to work in an interdisciplinary environment.
• Ability to incorporate existing knowledge into projects.

Physical Requirements: Ability to work for long periods at a computer.

Pay: $20/hour, non-exempt.

Location: Portland, Oregon. Onsite at our downtown Portland office Tuesday through Thursday; many people work remotely on Mondays and Fridays.

Time Commitment: This is a full-time summer internship of at least 10 weeks . Weekly hours can vary between 30-40 hours. We are flexible on start and end dates between May 2026 and September 2026.

Required Application Materials: Resume, cover letter, and letter of recommendation from a professor.

Deadline: Applications close March 29th, 2026 at 8pm PST. Interviews will be held via Zoom the week of April 7, 2026

ECOnorthwest will be hosting an information webinar for the Ed Whitelaw internship program on Tuesday, March 3rd at 12 pm. All interested candidates are encouraged to register and attend. A recording of the webinar will be made available after the event. Please register here.

Please direct any questions regarding this internship to humanresources@econw.com.

ECOnorthwest is committed to the work of improving its diversity and inclusiveness as a workplace. Our best work draws on teams within and beyond ECOnorthwest who have diverse backgrounds and experiences that reflect the multifaceted communities we work in. Thus, we encourage applications who would expand the diversity of lived experiences within our team and who share values and commitments to advancing equity through research and data justice.