Jim Nickoff Internship at Equality California

Organization Description: Equality California (EQCA) and its sister organizations (Equality California Institute, Equality California PAC) share a common mission to ensure and promote dignity, safety and equality for all lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Californians. For more information about EQCA, visit our web site: www.eqca.org.

Internship: The Jim Nickoff Internship was founded in 2007 as an annual program to provide LGBT, questioning and allied youth an opportunity to connect with the community and gain hands-on experience in LGBT rights advocacy. This part-time Summer internship will be based in Sacramento, California under the direction of the Government Affairs Director. The position will be paid with a stipend.

Requirements:
Applicant must be a high school student
A strong commitment to EQCA’s mission of achieving equality for LGBT Californians
Experience with or desire to learn about LGBT issues and the legislative process
Excellent verbal and written communication skills
Proficiency in Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook)
Web design and/or multimedia skills are a plus but not required

Responsibilities:
Assist EQCA Government Affairs Department with advocacy activities, including:
Researching and helping to develop legislative ideas
Meeting with members of the Legislature and their staff
Monitoring and attending legislative sessions and hearings
Helping to prepare fact sheets and sample support letters
Working with coalition partners to gain support of EQCA-sponsored legislation
Helping to plan and implement press conferences
Handling EQCA member inquiries
Developing web, blog and social networking content on legislative issues
Assist in the day-to-day operations of the Capitol office and complete special projects as assigned

To Apply:
Please submit a personal statement of no more than 500 words about your personal experiences as an LGBTQ youth or ally and why you are interested in the Jim Nickoff Internship to nickoffinternship(at)eqca(dot)org.
Please put “Jim Nickoff Internship” in the subject line of email.

Posted by Betty Zhao