Lin Yang and Sid Gupta propose City Hall internship for high school students

Sammamish City Council candidates Lin Yang and Sid Gupta have announced a joint effort to start a public service internship program at City Hall as part of their commitment to provide more opportunities for youth to gain professional experience while in high school.

Modeled after capstone experiences that are common among college and graduate public policy programs, the Sammamish Public Service Internship Program will give high school students a chance to learn about how their own local government works. 

This internship will be paid, and includes three components:

• Capstone Project: Each intern will be assigned to one of the city’s departments, and will work on a policy-related project with the goal of presenting their findings to Sammamish City Council.

• Learning Series: Each cohort of interns will get a chance to conduct site visits and hear from guest speakers about major issues that impact Sammamish and the Puget Sound region.

• Mentorship: Each intern will be paired with a mentor from city council or city staff who can provide guidance on project and career-related questions. 

Yang, 42, and Gupta, 33, are two of the youngest candidates to ever run for Sammamish City Council. Both of them have a strong record of youth advocacy. 

Yang founded the Sammamish Youth Board during his senior year at Eastlake High School in 2001, providing young people a platform to shape policies at City Hall. He later earned a Master’s in Public Policy from Harvard University. 

In 2024, Gupta championed the effort to open up seats for youth board members on each of the City’s six commissions, including the Planning Commission and the Arts Commission. 

“We have very talented youth in Sammamish, but not enough local opportunities for them to explore their career interests,” Yang said. “We can change that by providing a world-class internship experience for those who want to pursue careers in public service.”

“Giving our youth a voice now is the best way to ensure they remain engaged in their community going forward,” Gupta said. “We want to make sure they get a chance to make a meaningful impact and have real-world experience for their college applications.”

Yang is the first City Council candidate to have grown up in Sammamish, and is running for Position 5. Gupta is currently on City Council, and is running for re-election to Position 3. Both of them will be on the Nov. 4 General Election ballot.