The MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC) was established in 1984 to meet the needs and concerns of the Korean American community through our five program areas: Community Organizing and Advocacy, Social and Legal Services, Civic Participation, Youth Empowerment, and Culture. Since our founding, we have made a profound presence in the Korean American community through various grassroots initiatives that address issues including immigration policies at the national, state and city levels; voter rights; and culture awareness. The MinKwon Center places a special emphasis on meeting the needs of marginalized community members, including youth, elderly, recent immigrants, low-income residents, and limited-English-proficient residents.
The Advocacy & Organizing Intern would support our Advocacy and Community Organizing Program to engage in advocacy campaigns on issues such as comprehensive immigration reform, fairer allocation of city and state budgets and other social justice issues. The internship responsibilities include:
Internship Description
- Engage in advocacy efforts on behalf of immigrants, low-income community members, and communities of color, in coalition with other organizations and groups.
- Draft letters to elected and appointed officials, press releases for local media, and advocacy updates for MinKwon Center's Facebook and Twitter feed.
- Plan, coordinate, prepare materials and participate in coalition member workshops, trainings and one-on-one meetings.
- Track coalition member contacts in our membership database.
- Participate in community organizing efforts to engage community members, such as door-knocking and street outreach.
Details of Internship
- Supervision: Intern is supervised by the Advocacy & Organizing Associate.
- Compensation: While internships are not paid positions, academic credit has been arranged in the past.
- Hours: Interns are expected to work part-time for a minimum of 10 hours a week.
- Duration: The internship runs from September to December 2013 with the possibility of an extension. Specific internship dates will be discussed in person.
Requirements
- Proficiency in either the Korean language or Mandarin language is preferred.
- Intimate knowledge of the Korean and Asian American community in NYC is highly preferred.
- Have the desire to empower the Asian American community and work on immigrant rights issues.
- Communicative, team player, creative, works well under time pressure.
- Strong administrative, research and note taking skills.
- Excellent verbal and written command of English.
