Field Intern - Immigrant Justice - Miami-Dade

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida (ACLU of Florida or ACLU-FL)

seeks a Field Intern that works within the Field Department to achieve the organization’s goal of

protecting the liberties that define our democracy. This position is based in Miami-Dade or

Broward County, FL requiring transportation for in-person community events.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida is an affiliate of the national ACLU,

a national public interest organization devoted to the defense of the Bill of Rights. For

over 100 years, the ACLU has served as the nation’s primary protector of the liberties that define

our democracy. The organization implements its vital civil liberties mission in all 50 states in

large part through affiliate entities such as the ACLU of Florida.

The ACLU of Florida, the state’s largest civil rights and civil liberties organization,

employs litigation, public policy advocacy & organizing, and public education to protect

and promote a broad range of constitutional values and individual rights, such as

freedom of speech, racial justice, right to privacy, religious liberty, criminal justice

reform, voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, and immigrants’

rights. The ACLU of Florida litigates a broad range of constitutional cases in federal and state

courts through direct representation, amicus briefs, and by submitting administrative complaints

to state and federal agencies.

ORGANIZING APPROACH

The ACLU of Florida has adopted a “campaign” approach for its work. Work is focused

on pursuing specific integrated advocacy campaigns to achieve measurable objectives that will

expand civil liberties and civil rights, while building the long-term power of the ACLU and the

civil liberties movement.

At the moment, the ACLU of Florida is focused on four campaigns: voting rights, reproductive

justice, free speech, and immigrants’ rights. The campaigns in which the organization engages

are about integrated advocacy, and include lobbying, communications, and litigation in addition to

grassroots organizing.

As a result of this campaign approach, the ACLU of Florida’s organizing model focuses on

developing volunteer leaders for the civil liberties movement, mobilizing grassroots support for

campaign objectives, and educating Florida residents about campaign objectives through

person-to-person field contact. The ACLU of Florida organizing is intended to engage both existing

ACLU members/supporters/volunteers in the movement, as well as to reach new constituencies.

Organizing at the ACLU of Florida centers the experiences and leadership of directly

impacted people and engages directly impacted people in the work, while also ensuring that

non-impacted allies engage in effective and substantive action.

The Field team works with Florida residents to influence decision-makers, through direct

contact of decision-makers by residents and by holding events/actions. The Field Department

focuses on identifying and supporting volunteer leaders willing to work to mobilize contacts with

their own networks, in order to expand the size, reach, and power of the movement.

Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is intended to complement the approaches

used by other groups—especially those that connect individuals to resources, build

community/social capital, primarily react to unanticipated or emerging community

concerns, or educate the public about important issues—but not to replicate those

approaches. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is instead oriented towards systemic

change and policy action—moving people to take strategic actions that lead to

decision-makers making different decisions, ones that result in the advancement of

specific campaign objectives. These strategic actions can take place in the electoral, legislative,

legal, and community education contexts. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is also

designed to build long-term political and community power for the civil liberties movement, so that

civil liberties and civil rights are better protected and strengthened.

INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW

Under the direction and supervision of the Field Director and in collaboration with the ACLU-FL

organizing team, the Field Intern will work with the Immigrant Justice Organizer to support

volunteer engagement and recruitment by hosting team meetings and events, having a presence at

community events and college campuses, building relationships with volunteer leaders, phone

banking, text banking, inputting data, and designing flyers and presentations. While this position

entails work in a range of tools/softwares, we do not expect the Field Intern to have previous

training on these and will train them accordingly.

• Time Commitment: The internship requires a part-time commitment of 20 hours per week.
• Internship Dates: August 25th - December 5th (14 weeks total, holidays excluded)
• Compensation: $15 per hour for those students who do not receive course credit. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit.
• Additional Information: Interns will be reimbursed for any mileage incurred for pre-approved travel.

PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Participate by tabling at community events, fairs, and college campuses to reach new supporters.
• Conduct Know Your Rights trainings virtually and in-person.
• Help coordinate volunteers for a rapid response raid network in Miami-Dade under the direction of an Organizer.
• Organize and conduct other volunteer trainings and events under the direction of an Organizer.
• Develop and maintain relationships with ACLU-FL volunteers and activist leaders.
• Phone bank volunteers and supporters on a weekly basis, and text bank as needed.
• Work with NGPVAN, Scale to Win/SPOKE, Google Suite, Outlook, Asana, Slack, Mobilize, Canva, Mailchimp and the suite of ACLU Florida tools.
• Design flyers and training materials in support of Field team events and trainings.
• Support organizers with community research projects like power mapping within different

communities.

• Center the voices and leadership of directly impacted people in all organizing programs.

DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS

While no one person will have all the qualities enumerated below, the successful candidate will

bring many of the following qualifications and attributes:

• Willingness to learn and think creatively.
• Strong communication skills, and confidence to interact with community members of all

backgrounds.

• A willingness and ability to speak in public and to facilitate meetings and trainings.
• Displays a high level of empathy.
• Experience managing multiple projects and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
• A history of working collaboratively and successfully with people from diverse racial and

ethnic backgrounds and a broad range of ideological positions and religious views.

• A flexible team player who works collaboratively and shares responsibility and credit.
• Fluency in Spanish or Haitian Creole is preferred.
• Unwavering commitment to the mission and goals of the ACLU of FL, including a demonstrated commitment to racial justice and civil rights, and a familiarity with civil rights issues that are currently confronting Floridians.
• Reliable transportation to get to and from community events.
• Must live in the Miami-Dade County area.
• Willingness to work a flexible schedule, including some evenings and weekends.