Youth Summer Internship in Community Organizing

Are you passionate about social justice, civic engagement, and making a difference in your community? Join us this summer as a Youth Community Organizing Intern, where you'll gain hands-on experience in grassroots organizing, advocacy, and leadership development. This is a unique opportunity to build real-world skills, connect with changemakers, and support powerful campaigns across our community.

Overview:

The Youth Community Organizing Intern will work closely with community members, faith-based organizations, and elected officials while supporting key initiatives throughout the summer, focused on engaging youth in organizing. By the end of the internship, the intern will have developed core skills in community organizing, strategic research, and political advocacy, while gaining deeper insight into movement-building and civic engagement. This experience will provide a strong foundation for future work in advocacy, organizing, or public policy.

Schedule:

• June 9–13: Part-time onboarding (20 hrs/week)
• June 16–August 22: Full-time (40 hrs/week)
• August 25–29: Part-time offboarding and reflection (20 hours/week)
• Location: NYC-Hybrid, with some travel to Corona, NY

About Faith in New York

Faith in New York (FINY) is a multifaith, multicultural organizing network of over 100 faith communities throughout New York City. We are committed to the work of social justice through faith-rooted community organizing in order to influence policies and systems that will create a more just and equitable New York for all New Yorkers. Faith in New York is a member-based organization. We are the New York City affiliate of Faith in Action, the largest faith-based social justice community organizing organization in the country.

Key Responsibilities Include

Community Outreach & Relationship Building

• Conduct outreach to engage community members in organizing and mobilization efforts.
• Spend at least 50% of internship time in the field, conducting one-to-one meetings, building relationships with congregations and community members.
• Maintain regular communication and follow-up with community contacts.
• Identify and cultivate new leaders and ally organizations to support ongoing campaigns.

Community & Voter Engagement: Get Out the Vote (GOTV)

• Support voter engagement efforts around the June primary, including voter registration drives, education workshops, and outreach tabling events.
• Educate community members about the importance of voting and the logistics of early voting, absentee ballots, and voter registration.
• Assist with organizing Juneteenth celebrations, summer outreach activities, and a community Day of Action centered on budget advocacy.

Youth Organizing & Leadership Development

• Join youth strategy team meetings and contribute to the planning and execution of youth-led campaigns.
• Provide logistical and outreach support for youth events and trainings.
• Help recruit youth ages 18–25 to participate in a summer restorative justice training program.

Strategic Planning & Research

• Contribute to post-summer strategy development by analyzing past campaigns and community feedback.
• Assist with issue research, data gathering, and planning for fall advocacy initiatives.

Member Congregation Engagement

• Highlight the advocacy work of faith-based member congregations through written profiles, interviews, or multimedia storytelling.
• Strengthen ties between congregations and organizing efforts through outreach and relationship-building.

Legislative & Policy Advocacy

• Attend advocacy meetings and events with elected officials (when possible).
• Support preparation, note-taking, and follow-up efforts for legislative engagement activities.

What You’ll Gain

• Core skills in community organizing, civic engagement, and advocacy
• Experience working on electoral and issue-based campaigns
• Deeper understanding of grassroots strategy and faith-based organizing
• A strong foundation for future work in organizing, public policy, or nonprofit leadership

Qualifications

• Aged 18–24 by start of internship
• Strong commitment to social justice and community power-building
• Haitian Creole fluency or proficiency strongly preferred
• Strong communication skills and comfort talking with new people
• Ability to work independently and as part of a team
• Availability for full internship period, including some evenings and weekends
• Ability to listen well, speak effectively, and build relationships with people from diverse backgrounds, including within faith communities.

Preferred but not required:

• Experience working with Zoom, EveryAction, and Canva
• Comfortable with social media platforms
• Knowledge of social justice moments in New York

Equal Opportunity Employer

Faith in New York is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from all qualified individuals, including women, minorities, persons with disabilities, and LGBTQ+ individuals.