Bob Graham Center for Public Service

What Bob Graham Center for Public Service does

The Bob Graham Center for Public Service is a non-profit academic center housed within the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, named after former Florida Governor and U.S. Senator Bob Graham. It serves UF students and the broader Florida civic community through a portfolio of academic, experiential, and research programs that include the International Studies Major (approximately 275 students), the Public Service Minor, the Washington and Tallahassee legislative internship programs, the CiviGators applied internship program (launched Spring 2025), the Askew & Haskell Scholars research fellowship, the Gulf Scholars Medallion, and the Global Interns Fellowship. The Center also runs the Gators Vote civic engagement initiative in partnership with TurboVote.

The Center's core product is an educational programs and experiential-learning platform for civic engagement and public service training, delivered through for-credit coursework, faculty-mentored research, paid and unpaid internships, and cohort-based scholar programs. Operational technology is administrative rather than proprietary: scheduling, applications, and program coordination are handled through standard university systems, with no disclosed AI/ML infrastructure, proprietary models, or data products. Programmatic differentiation rests on the institutional brand of Bob Graham, the political and policy networks of its faculty and staff, and the multi-year relationships with host offices in Washington, Tallahassee, Tampa Bay, and Florida local government.

The business model is non-commercial: the Center does not sell a product or service and has no disclosed revenue. Funding flows from UF College of Liberal Arts and Sciences allocations, named endowments (including a new 2025 endowment from the Bob Graham Family), and donor contributions. Program-level economics are modest — e.g., $2,000 per Askew & Haskell Scholar award — and the Center is not independently incorporated. As such, sustainability depends on continued institutional support from UF, donor health, and the ongoing participation of host offices that supply internship placements.

Name

Bob Graham Center for Public Service

Legal name

Bob Graham Center for Public Service

Website

https://bobgrahamcenter.ufl.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2006

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Bob Graham Center for Public Service is a University of Florida academic center that delivers civic-engagement education, internships, and research fellowships — including an International Studies Major, Public Service Minor, Washington and Tallahassee internship programs, and scholar cohorts — to UF students.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Civic and Public Service Education

NAICS

Colleges, Universities, and Professional Schools (6113)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

General Liberal Arts Colleges (EDAHACAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Volunteerism, Service-Learning & Community Service (EDALAHAG), Community Engagement & Service-Learning Partnerships (EDALAOAI)

Keywords

• Civic engagement education
• Public service training
• Experiential learning programs
• Academic internship programs
• Political science research

Headquarters

HQ city

Gainesville

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Bob Graham Center for Public Service is an academic center within the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that delivers academic programs and experiential learning opportunities focused on civic engagement, public leadership, and public service. It offers the International Studies Major and Public Service Minor for academic credit, alongside internship programs in Washington D.C., Tallahassee, and Gainesville, undergraduate research fellowships, and the Gulf Scholars Medallion program.

Product overview

The Bob Graham Center for Public Service is an educational center within the University of Florida's College of Liberal Arts and Sciences that provides a portfolio of academic programs and experiential learning opportunities focused on civic engagement, public leadership, and public service. The center operates as a hub connecting academic training with practical experience through its core offerings: the International Studies Major and Public Service Minor (academic foundation), complemented by multiple internship programs (Washington D.C., Tallahassee, and CiviGators local placements), research fellowships (Askew & Haskell Scholars, Global Interns Fellowship), and the Gulf Scholars Medallion. The center also offers featured courses and civic initiatives like Gators Vote, creating a comprehensive pipeline from undergraduate education through hands-on public service experience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Washington Internship Program: Program placing UF students in congressional offices, federal agencies, and UF's Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C.
• Tallahassee Internship Program
• CiviGators Internship Program
• Global Interns Fellowship
• Askew Scholars Program
• Haskell Scholars Program
• UF Gulf Scholars
• Gators Vote

Products and services

• International Studies Major An interdisciplinary major at the University of Florida providing cross-cultural training that prepares students for international careers in relations, development, media, education, business, government foreign service, and research.
• Public Service Minor An undergraduate minor for students across all majors aspiring to be effective and ethical leaders in public and private sectors.
• Washington D.C. Internship Program A program placing UF students with congressional offices, federal agencies, and UF's Office of Federal Relations in Washington, D.C. for experiential public service learning.
• Tallahassee Internship Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 126 students placed in Washington D.C. internships since 2020
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• UF Office of Government and Community RelationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOngoing collaboration to place UF students in government internship positions. Works jointly on CiviGators local internship program, Tallahassee legislative internships, and student support including housing and scholarship provisions for interns.
• UF Office of Federal RelationscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for Washington D.C. internship program placements, providing intern positions within UF's federal lobbying and relations operations in the nation's capital.
• Tampa Bay Estuary ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative partnership for the Addressing Bay Area Challenges with Science and Communications course, engaging students with real-world environmental policy and communication challenges facing the Tampa Bay region.
• UF Samuel Proctor Oral History ProgramminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership through the Gulf Scholars program, connecting students with oral history methodologies for documenting community memories related to environmental issues, such as the Pensacola Environmental History Project.
• University of Florida College of Liberal Arts and SciencescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdministrative home of the Bob Graham Center, providing institutional support, faculty affiliations, and integration with UF's academic mission and student body.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Tisch College of Civic Life (Tufts University): Tufts' Jonathan M. Tisch College of Civic Life is among the most established university-based civic engagement and public service centers, offering co-curricular programs, research, and faculty-led initiatives. Directly comparable to Bob Graham Center in mission (civic engagement + public service education for undergraduates) and structural position (university-embedded center, not a standalone school).
• Harvard Kennedy School Institute of Politics (IOP): The Harvard IOP is the canonical university-embedded political and civic engagement center for undergraduates, with fellowships, study groups, and a strong D.C. internship tradition. Highly comparable in mission and student-facing programming, albeit at a private university with substantially greater resources.
• University of Chicago Institute of Politics: The University of Chicago's IOP hosts undergraduate programming, civic engagement research, and career programs around public service. Comparable as a public-service-focused institute embedded within a R1 research university and serving a politically engaged undergraduate cohort.
• Georgetown Institute of Politics and Public Service (GU Politics): Georgetown's GU Politics offers undergraduate fellowships, speaker series, and career programs for students pursuing public service. Closely mirrors Bob Graham Center's blend of academic programming, experiential learning, and a D.C.-based internship-adjacent network.
• UVA Center for Politics: Founded by Larry Sabato at the University of Virginia, the Center for Politics runs civic engagement, leadership, and youth-voting programs (e.g., the American Democracy Film Challenge). Comparable in combining political/civic education with hands-on student programming and a public-service mission at a top public university.
• McCourtney Institute for Democracy (Penn State): Penn State's McCourtney Institute for Democracy focuses on civic engagement, deliberation, and democratic participation research and programming. Comparable in centering civic and democratic engagement at a large public research university, with similar audience of undergraduate and graduate students.

Broad incumbents

• Hubert H. Humphrey School of Public Affairs (University of Minnesota): The Humphrey School at UMN is another graduate public affairs school with a mission focused on preparing public service leaders and policy professionals. Overlaps with Bob Graham Center in cultivating public-service career pathways, though materially larger and primarily graduate-level.
• Princeton School of Public and International Affairs: Princeton SPIA offers an undergraduate certificate (SPIA Minor) and MPA program with a strong public service pipeline and named fellowships. Comparable in connecting undergraduate public-affairs education with experiential and internship placement, but operating as a full school within a private university.
• LBJ School of Public Affairs (UT Austin): The LBJ School is a graduate public affairs school at UT Austin named after a former U.S. president, with comparable mission orientation toward public service careers and policy leadership. Broader institutional scope than Bob Graham Center, but overlapping target outcomes for students entering government and policy work.
• Duke Sanford School of Public Policy: Duke's Sanford School is a full graduate public policy school offering MPP, MPA, and undergraduate majors in public policy. Broader than Bob Graham Center (which is an undergraduate-focused center), but operates in the same public-affairs education space with similar experiential learning commitments.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses3 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/GrahamCenter
• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/BobGrahamCenter/videos
• Facebookfacebook.com/grahamcenter
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/bob-graham-center
• Instagraminstagram.com/bobgrahamcenter

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Bob Graham Center for Public Service