Visit Rural Alaska

Each year, the Legal Services Center of Harvard Law School and BTHC Volunteer Income Tax Assistance partner with the Alaska Business Development Center to send Harvard students to rural Alaska.

For most of their spring break, these students provide free tax preparation services to geographically isolated indigenous communities.

Requirements

Each trip participant must complete approximately 40 hours of pre-trip training.

Pre-trip training includes obtaining the Advanced VITA Certification and completing the Alaska Business Development Center’s state-specific training.

Participants may work long hours during the trip. For some communities, ABDC volunteers serve as the only in-person tax preparers for the entirety of the tax season.

Unpredictable weather may delay participants’ return to Harvard University. There’s a chance that you may not return to Harvard before the resumption of classes after Spring Break. The Alaskan winter regularly delays and cancels travel plans.

Student participants will be selected from BTHC VITA Members.