Congress Watch, a division of Public Citizen, is seeking interns. Public Citizen is a national, non-partisan, public interest group with over 300,000 members and activists. The Congress Watch division engages in public education, grassroots organizing, and advocacy before the Congress and administrative agencies on money in politics, open government, corporate accountability, financial regulation, health and safety, and access to justice.
The online organizing internship provides students hands-on experience doing public interest advocacy and grassroots organizing. The intern works as a full-fledged member of the staff, developing professional online and grassroots organizing skills while working with our lobbyists and research department to challenge corporate corruption in Congress, and to promote reforms to amplify the people's voice in government and in our legal system.
Public Citizen hires interns for the fall, spring, and summer semesters with flexibility regarding start and end dates. Please note that course credit can be arranged, but all internships are otherwise unpaid.
RESPONSIBILITIES
- Implement online campaigns on blogs and social media networks; assist in the support of grassroots activists and local advocacy groups.
- Raise awareness about current priorities using blogs and other social media tools; conduct outreach to and discuss issues with activists on the phone and at local events.
- Provide administrative support, including building and maintaining web pages, performing data entry, copying, database management and other tasks as assigned.
REQUIREMENTS
Knowledge: Strong online communication skills, basic understanding of online research, and some basic HTML knowledge and familiarity with social media preferred. Familiarity with public policy issues.
Work and Volunteer Experience: Demonstrated organizing experience, either online or with grassroots groups; previous public interest work preferred.
Skills: Strong writing and communication skills; proficiency in Internet research; some familiarity with databases (preferably Access) desirable.
Capabilities: Self-starter with a can-do attitude and commitment to standing up to corporate power required; ability to quickly to respond to new developments.
