Youth Health Justice Training Internship: Fall 2025

Position Summary: The Health Justice Intern will work as part of a 6-person Advocacy Team (including the Executive Director, YHEP Program Manager, 2 Training Associates, Communications Coordinator, and two additional interns) and 125 youth educators-organizers. Fall interns will contribute to four areas of work; 1) Train and engage youth through weekly training on mental health & wellness, sexual health, educational equity & school safety; 2) Develop curricula, training materials, and planning documents on these topics; 3) Conduct research on models, policies, and best practices in one program area involving school based mental health, reproductive justice, sexual violence, or other issues; and 4) Increase the visibility of youth as health experts, trainers, advocates and educators in DC through social media, video projects, and other communication. Because this internship focuses on youth work and engagement, the Health Justice Intern must be available to work with youth 2 nights a week from 3:30-6:45 to work with youth. YWP is currently operating on a hybrid schedule with two days of in-person office time and 4-12 hours of in-person youth training time (depending on the position). YWP’s core operating hours are 1030-645 (M-TH) and 10-430 on Friday. Youth trainings are conducted in person at libraries and the YWP office located at Dupont Circle.

YWP Mission: The Young Women's Project (YWP) builds the leadership and power of young people so that they can transform DC institutions to expand rights and opportunities for DC youth. YWP programs engage youth on three levels – as organizers (educating, engaging, mobilizing their peers, working as teams to make decisions), as advocates (presenting testimony to city Council, advocating with Agency leaders, developing and passing policies) and as system rebuilders (developing programs, creating new peer-led systems, integrating youth into decision making). Our work engages under-resourced BIPOC youth ages 14-21 from all DC Wards and most public high schools. The vast majority of your youth identify as women, 20% identify as LGBTQ. Last year, we hired and trained 242 young people from 25 DC public and charter schools. All YWP youth staff work 5-6 hours a week, develop a portfolio of products, build cross-neighborhood friendships, earn $10-17.95/hr and receive more than 100 hours of training & work management. Founded in 1994 as a Collective, YWP has a staff of 6 adults and 150 youth and a budget of $650,000. We are value-driven, anti-racist, feminist, grounded in youth development and partnership, and work every day to dismantle oppression and rebuild institutions.

YWP Program: YWP's work is organized into two program areas, driven by long-term-system-change-focused goals. The Youth Health Educator Program (YHEP) develops youth as sexual health advocates and educators who work to expand reproductive rights, reduce unintended pregnancy, distribute condoms, and connect youth to sexual health services. Recent projects include the 2023 Sexual Education Centers that provide sexual health information, resources, and services, conducting a Youth Sexual Health Survey taken by 650 youth across 24 DC High Schools (Results are here) and presenting 22 testimonies to DC Council. The Youth Justice Campaign (YJC) develops youth as advocates and organizers to advance a bold agenda and leverage their power through collective action. In response to the youth mental health crisis and the need for school based services, YJC youth started the Mental Health Campaign, aims to strengthen school-based mental health programming, connect youth to services, reduce stigma, expand access to mental health education, and advocate for stronger school based programming and funding. Since 2019, YJC Youth Advocates conducted 3 Annual Youth Mental Health Surveys with more than 2,000 students, presented 72 Performance Oversight and Budget Testimonies to DC Council, helped create the School-Based Behavioral Health Student Peer Educator Pilot (P2P Pilot) that codifies the essential role of peer educators into law, and created the Student On-line Support (SOS) Virtual Wellness Centers in 16 schools (and in Spanish). connect youth to services, reduce stigma, and expand access to mental health education.

Responsibilities: Responsibilities will include but are not limited to the following:

Youth Staff Training & Support Main objective: Increase the capacity of our youth staff and the ability to serve as trainers, advocates, educators on a range of issues.

1. Prepare for and deliver weekly trainings and working sessions for youth staff on health issues and related campaign work including research, organizing, social media, and advocacy
2. Develop lesson plans and other training materials that support youth work on social media message development and network building
3. Contribute to the recruitment, support, and management of youth educators on 3 campaign teams focused on reproductive health and mental health & wellness.
4. Provide support and resources to individual youth sites, and community based resources
5. Prepare youth to develop and present testimony at hearings, participate on coalitions, working groups, advisory board, speak at events and meetings, and other opportunities.
6. Curriculum Development: Update, expand, and create lesson plans, curricula, and training materials
7. School-Based Program Implementation: Working with youth leaders, develop and implement school-based projects that address mental health-wellness needs at that school. Projects are likely to include peer wellness coaching groups, peer-to-peer resilience building training, virtual education and service links (see SOS VWC as an example), and other projects.

Campaign Development & Research: Main objective: Working with youth leaders, develop and implement youth-led campaigns that address specific assist in the data collection, analysis, and policy research for YJC.

1. Conduct policy research including primary data collection, collection state models, and policy analysis on a range of issues and develop materials for use in education, outreach, and advocacy including reports, briefing papers, and testimony
2. Work with youth to design and implement the campaign
3. Work with youth staff to tell stories through written and visual means, develop testimony, and present testimony at meetings, hearings, and other events
4. Work with youth to educate decision makers (legislative, executive, agency, DCPS, and community based policy work) including meetings, testimony, and other work;

Communications & Social Media

Main objective: Increase the visibility of youth as health experts, trainers, advocates and educators in DC through social media, video projects, website management, and other avenues

1. 1. Contribute to communications planning, strategy, and calendar development,
   2. Train youth staff in social media; develop LPs and other training material to support this work
   3. Track youth social media posts and Contribute to website and social media content including info graphics, video, photos, Google slides, and other content
   4. Write, proofread, format, and publish content on our website and blogs
   5. Organize archived media (photos, videos, testimony, etc.) in master Google Drive
   6. Work with Communications Coordinator to create quarterly e-newsletters, announcements and other email messages sent to our electronic mailing lists

Qualifications

• BA level work in education, public health, youth development, social work, social justice, or related fields.
• 2 years of experience working with youth, women, and with communities of color;
• Experience facilitating and training groups in person and through Zoom; understanding of experiential learning, popular education, youth-adult partnership
• Experience creating engaging digital content, personally or professionally in multiple platforms; proficiency in Canva and Microsoft Office.
• Demonstrated knowledge of and experience in mental health and wellness, school safety, sexual health, and comprehensive sexual health education;
• Demonstrated commitment to building youth power and working with youth as partners to improve youth serving institutions
• Strong problem-solving & critical thinking skills, and written and verbal communication skills;
• Flexible, diverse skill set and work approach