idealist.org

1. Brief Description of Organization:

Planed Parenthood is America’s most trusted provider of reproductive health care. Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo (PPSD) provides over 100,000 individuals with health care and education services at more than 30 sites throughout Northern California.
The PPSD Public Affairs staff follows local, state and federal legislation in a number of public policy arenas and promotes education, counseling and clinical services in the fields of reproductive health care and family planning.
We also advocate for women’s access to affordable and comprehensive reproductive health care through political campaigning, grassroots organizing, and capacity building. Our mission is to promote and protect sexual health, reproductive freedom and social justice through services, education and advocacy.

2. Qualifications of Interns: Please provide any specific attributes, skills and academic preparation necessary for an intern to have a successful internship experience in your organization

• Commitment to goals and mission of Planned Parenthood: Shasta-Diablo
• Excellent communication skills – both written and oral
• Excellent organizational and interpersonal skills
• Ability to work independently and as a team member
• Interest in the legislative and electoral side of reproductive health issues
• Experience in grassroots organizing, volunteer recruitment, and/or community engagement


3. Internship Experience and/or Project Description: A key objective of the HCC Internship Program is to provide interns with a well-rounded educational exposure to the structure, roles, strategies, dynamics and challenges of health organizations. Please describe your initial thoughts on how this will be achieved in your organization (i.e. exposure to/networking with professionals within your organization, rotations of departments outside of the primary assignment, shadowing, attendance at diverse array of meetings or conferences, etc.
The Advocacy Intern will actively participate in community organizing and education campaigns aimed at ensuring women’s access to reproductive health care and family planning services on a local, state, and national level.

The Intern will gain experience in conducting internet research on current public policy and political initiatives and presenting findings to staff and community members.

The intern will also recruit health center and community volunteers to participate in our grassroots advocacy projects, foster relationships with community organizations by representing PPSD at meetings with coalition partners, and work to expand PPSD’s presence at local colleges.

The Intern will receive in-depth orientation to PPSD by attending a New Staff Orientation. In addition, the Public Affairs Coordinator and Grassroots Manager will work closely with the Intern to ensure she/he has an understanding of the agency’s advocacy efforts, the local, state and federal legislative process, and our organization’s relationship within the local community.

Please e-mail resume and cover letter to ajassawalla@ppshastadiablo.org and include "Public Affairs Intern" in the subject line.