Community Engagement Internship

Equality Virginia Community Engagement Internship 

Introduction:

At Equality Virginia, we are committed to our mission of advancing LGBTQ+ protections for all Virginians. In order to support this mission, we are offering an 8-week programming internship to provide meaningful learning opportunities to those interested in further developing their community engagement skills. 

We strongly encourage people of color, transgender and non-binary people to apply. Equality Virginia is an equal opportunity employer and welcomes everyone, including non-LGBTQ+ people, to join our team.

 

Internship Dates:

June 3, 2023-July 31, 2023

 

Program Overview:

The programming internship at Equality Virginia spans 8 weeks, with the following components:

Orientation: An introduction to the organization, our mission, and the programming at Equality Virginia.

Training: 2 weeks of structured outreach training, which covers current and past community partners. Interns will build experience with these groups and develop real-world skills identifying possible partnership opportunities through active participation.

Projects: 5 weeks of working on community engagement projects and team projects, with technical oversight and mentoring from our professional programming team. 

Learning and Growth: During this final week of the internship, interns are provided additional resources and tools to help them grow their community engagement skills and understand the professional development opportunities they can pursue going forward.

 

Equality Virginia seeks a Community Engagement Intern to support the organization’s statewide public education and outreach efforts.

• Support in writing, developing, maintaining and distributing program publications and outreach materials, website pages, memos, issue briefs, and other publications and newsletters.
• Assist with ongoing and routine communications to program stakeholders, including responding to inquiries from current and potential participants in our program activities.
• Conduct research on various topics to support program projects and resources.
• Assist with internal processes and provide team administrative support (i.e. maintaining database records of stakeholders and contact information, responding to constituent phone and email inquiries, maintaining resource inventory, etc.)
• Attend and participate in regular program, departmental and cross-team meetings when appropriate.

Qualifications:

• Demonstrated knowledge of and/or interest in LGBTQ+ and social justice issues; including issues LGBTQ+ families and/or youth face, LGBTQ+ health, HIV & AIDS, racial justice, transgender equality, and LGBTQ+ workplace issues.
• Strong attention to detail, strong written and verbal communication and time-management skills, strong research abilities, experience with qualitative, quantitative research and interest in public health, education, or social work a plus.
• General computer skills including experience with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc.) and G-Suite (Google Docs, Sheets) etc. Experience with social media, and web-based database management a plus.
• Ability to work independently in a fast-paced, dynamic and collaborative work environment.

Outcomes

• Enhanced written and verbal, analytical, research, communication, and editing skills, including experience drafting a variety of assignments for internal or public consumption, i.e. memos, newsletters, issue briefs, etc.
• Expanded understanding of and familiarity with Equality Virginia’s educational and community empowerment work, and deepened understanding and broader knowledge of the myriad of issues and challenges facing LGBTQ+ people, from health and aging, to HIV, faith and workplace issues, and more.
• Opportunity to build meaningful relationships with seasoned non-profit advocacy professionals, access to mentoring and support.
• Experience working in a high-energy, fast-paced environment at a statewide progressive/LGBTQ+ civil rights organization and concrete, transferable experience with administrative management skills that are applicable to entry-level employment.

Expectations:

• Interns must commit at least 30 hours a week to their programming work.
• Interns must be organized and detail-oriented, with good communication skills.
• Interns must collaborate with our programming team in order to complete their tasks.
• Interns must be able to learn quickly and demonstrate initiative and creativity.

Compensation:

Interns participating in the program will receive a stipend of $3,600 for the duration of the program. This will be paid every 2-weeks. 

We look forward to welcoming a new class of interns to Equality Virginia and helping them develop and grow their community engagement skills!

 

To apply:

Email resume (including names and contact information of 3 references) and cover letter to [email protected]. Please be sure to put “Community Engagement Intern” in the subject line of your email.