Join Cartwheel to help tackle the student mental health crisis.
Kids spend most of their days in the classroom. And teachers and staff, who play a vital role in their development, are often the first to notice when something is off. But with 1 in 5 young people struggling with mental health, schools are getting crushed by a downward spiral in student crises and staff burnout.
With large increases in state and federal funding for healthcare innovation, schools are reimagining what mental health support can look like for their students, staff, and families.
Cartwheel is an early-stage startup building technology-enabled mental health services that put schools at the center. We see our role as supporting both families and the on-campus school staff who see kids every day. This means:
- Earlier intervention
- Higher student and family engagement in care
- Better coordination among the trusted adults in a student’s life
Kids shouldn't just aspire to get out of bed and drag themselves to class. They should be able to experience joy. They deserve to envision and build a life they’re excited to live. If you join Cartwheel, you’ll help make this vision a reality for millions of students across the country. We’re backed by top investors including Menlo Ventures, General Catalyst, Reach Capital, and A Street Ventures, and we're looking for mission-driven teammates to join our team.
LOCATION: Remote
START DATE: September 2026
ROLE TYPE: Paid Internship
COMPENSATION: Paid per project, typically $500–$2,000 depending on scope and complexity (roughly 10–30 hours of work)
ABOUT THE ROLE
Cartwheel is the nation's largest mental health provider working with K-12 schools — more than 375 districts across 16 states and growing fast. In 2026, billions of dollars in new state and federal funding will reshape how America invests in youth mental health, and Cartwheel is at the center of that conversation.
We're looking for an extraordinary writer to help us make the case — to governors, legislators, agency leaders, and school district decision-makers — that Cartwheel is the partner that turns those investments into real outcomes for kids and families.
This is not a grant writing role. This is a storytelling and persuasion role. You'll take the messy, complicated reality of what it looks like to deliver mental health care inside schools — the data, the policy constraints, the clinical outcomes, the parent who finally got her kid help — and turn it into writing that moves people to act. The audiences range from state legislators to cabinet secretaries, and the work ranges from a polished proposal responding to a statewide RFP to a two-page briefing that lands on a governor's desk.
The best candidate for this role may not have a background in government contracting. You’re someone who learned to write by writing — as a reporter, a freelance journalist, or in a role where you had to pitch and persuade, like running a company or a team. You know how to make complex ideas clear, how to build a narrative arc, and how to write for an audience that doesn’t share your vocabulary. You care about the craft and you want to point it at something that matters.
WHAT YOU’LL DO
Write a piece of the proposals
- Draft a section of a statewide RFP response or sole-source justification package — a case study, an outcomes narrative, a program description
- Turn a rough summary of outcomes data or an implementation story into a page or two of clear, compelling prose
Write for a policymaker
- Draft a short briefing, leave-behind, or one-pager aimed at a specific legislator, agency, or governor's office audience
- Turn a family's story or a school's results into a short, honest narrative that could sit inside a real leave-behind
Sharpen existing content
- Take an existing draft and tighten it — cut what's bloated, surface what's buried, sharpen the ask
- Help build out a piece of the team's reusable content library — a case study, a proof point, a model description
WHO YOU ARE
Must have…
- Currently enrolled in a strong journalism or writing program, or equivalent independent experience — able to take on individual writing projects (typically 10–30 hours each) on a rolling basis throughout the term
- Strong raw writing talent, demonstrated through a portfolio of published writing (student newspaper, campus publication, journalism coursework, internship clips, or independent writing) that shows clear, narrative-driven storytelling for a general audience
- Experience writing for or communicating with audiences that are busy, skeptical, and not experts in your subject area
- Sharp editorial instincts: You can look at a piece of writing and tell what’s missing, what’s bloated, and what’s buried
- Ability to tailor written content by audience and political or institutional context
- Coachable and eager to learn quickly in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment with multiple concurrent deliverables; developing strong self-editing instincts
- Genuine interest in youth mental health, education, or public policy — you don't need deep domain expertise on day one, but you need to care enough to build it quickly
- Open to flexible work arrangements, including hourly, project-based, or fellowship-style
Nice to have…
- Experience writing government-facing content: RFP responses, grant proposals, legislative briefings, policy documents, or equivalent
- Familiarity with K–12 education, school-based mental health, or pediatric behavioral health
- Familiarity with state-level Medicaid, RHTP, or education funding mechanisms
- Experience supporting government affairs, public affairs, or policy teams in a growth-stage company
- Experience building or managing a content or asset library for a sales or partnerships team
- Prior work in healthcare technology, edtech, or mission-driven organizations
— Sarah J.
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Marketing Manager
★★★★★
Verified
