Spring 2020 Undergraduate/Graduate Intern, Advocacy Department - Distributed Organizing
For nearly 100 years, the ACLU has been our nation’s guardian of liberty, working in courts, legislatures, and communities to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBT community, advancing racial justice, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties and civil rights cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach. With more than one million members, activists, and supporters, the ACLU is a nationwide organization that fights tirelessly in all 50 states, Puerto Rico, and Washington, D.C., for the principle that every individual’s rights must be protected equally under the law, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, and record of arrest or conviction.
The National Political Advocacy Department of the ACLU’s National Office in Washington DC has an opening for a Distributed Organizing Spring 2020 Internship starting in January of 2020. Interns will have the opportunity to support the ACLU’s organizing operations, including national and state-specific campaigns. We seek to provide students with the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of distributed organizing, peer-to-peer texting, grassroots leadership development, script writing, and campaign planning and execution. Interns will work with the distributed organizing pod within the National Organizing Team, and be deeply involved with the national texting team. There will be opportunities to attend and observe substantive meetings, events, and conversations on organizing, political campaigns, and broader ACLU work.
INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW
The Spring 2020 Undergraduate Internship requires a full-time 35 hours per week commitment. A stipend is available for those students who do not receive outside funding and/or course credit. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit.
ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Interns will gain valuable experience by working with the Distributed Organizing team on a wide variety of issues. Responsibilities may include, but are not limited to the following:
- Learn more about organizing, particularly distributed organizing
- Playing an integral role in the distributed texting team
- Writing texting plans and scripts Learning to use the peer-to-peer texting software Thru Text (formerly Relay) and Action Kit (CRM software)
- Working closely with volunteers and volunteer leaders
- Assisting with digital campaigns that elevate civil liberties and rights issues
- Developing organizing training and curriculum content
- Working collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and/or conflicts
- Taking initiative and identify projects that you want to tackle
- Other duties as assigned
EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS
The internship is open to students who have completed their first year of an undergraduate degree. Applicants should demonstrate a commitment to the mission of the ACLU. Applicants should possess:
- Interest in civil liberties and social justice work
- Interest in community organizing and systems change
- Proficiency in Google Sheets, Google Docs, Excel, previous work with VAN/VoteBuilder or a CRM is a bonus, but not required
- The ability to work independently and to complete projects
- Highly motivated and organized
- Any experience doing campaign work and/or work that builds the power of impacted communities
Applications will be considered on a rolling basis and accepted until the position is filled.
This posting provides a general but not comprehensive list of the opportunities of the internship. It does not represent a contract of employment. The ACLU reserves the right to change the posting at any time without advance notice.
The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please e-mail benefits.hrdept@aclu.org. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request an accommodation for the interview process.