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The Albany Field Office of the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants seeks an intern or volunteer to serve as Executive Assistant. The intern will work closely with the Field Office Director to coordinate essential services and develop community partnerships to help refugee families start new lives in the United States. The position includes outreach, administrative work, direct contact with clients and community members, and close collaboration with staff.

This is an opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of vulnerable families in your community, and to gain experience in managing programs in a fast-paced, multicultural environment. It is also an excellent opportunity to learn about the field of refugee resettlement.

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The U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants has been helping people flee war and persecution since 1911. USCRI addresses the needs and rights of persons in forced or voluntary migration worldwide by advancing fair and humane public policy, facilitating and providing direct professional services, and promoting the full participation of migrants in community life.

Through its network of resettlement field offices and partner organizations, USCRI provides refugees and immigrants across the United States with the support, services and opportunities they need to rebuild their lives and enrich their communities.

The USCRI field office in Albany opened in 2005 and now resettles hundreds of refugee families every year in the Capitol Region of New York State. The largest populations served by the Albany field office are Burmese, Iraqi, Afghan, Congolese, and Bhutanese refugees. The Albany field office also has an immigration and asylum services program that serves not only refugee clients and their families, but asylum seekers and immigrants from the wider community as well.


INTERNSHIP ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
The Executive Assistant will support the Field Office Director with a wide variety of tasks involved in managing a refugee resettlement agency. The intern will:

- Take charge of correspondence with a variety of stakeholders, including landlords, partner agencies, clients, volunteers, and community leaders.
- Assist the director with projects related to ensuring compliance with requirements of our funding agencies, including case file management
- Manage projects and delegate roles to other office volunteers
- Create and execute an independent project related to community involvement, program development, administrative system management, or another area of interest to the intern and the agency

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

• The internship is for a minimum of 10 weeks, with preference given to candidates who can work for 12 weeks or more. 8-20 hours/week.
• The internship is unpaid. Interns are responsible for all living expenses during the internship period.


EXPERIENCE AND QUALIFICATIONS

REQUIRED
• Acquiring or having already acquired a Bachelor’s Degree in a related field.
• Must speak, read, and write English fluently and at a university level.
• Must be proficient in Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, and other Windows applications and have experience with Internet research and databases.
• Must have excellent organizational, time-management, follow-up, and administrative skills with a strong attention to detail.
• Must have excellent communication skills on telephone, via email, and in person
• Must be capable of working in a fast-paced, multicultural office environment, take initiative, and be able to handle multiple assignments at once and meet deadlines.
• Commitment to the human rights and general welfare of asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants.

DESIRED, BUT NOT REQUIRED
• Strong candidates will have previous internship experience in non-governmental or inter-governmental organizations.
• Strong candidates will be fluent in a second language in addition to English. Preference will be given to speakers of: Arabic, Farsi/Dari, Burmese, Karen, Nepali, and French.
• Solid understanding of international relations, immigration law, refugee law, human rights and public interest legal work.
• Experience with victims of torture or torture-related issues.

Please submit a cover letter and resume to Jen Barkan, Resource Manager, at info@uscri-albany.org.

Please indicate in your cover letter the time frame and number of hours per week you would be available for the internship.

If you are interested in being considered for more than one internship with USCRI Albany, please indicate this in your cover letter; there is no need to submit multiple applications.