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Issue Advocacy Intern Spring 2025

Washington, District of Columbia, United States

If you are interested in further information about the internship program, please join us on Friday, January 3 from 11:30 am to 12:00 pm EST for our Prospective Intern Event. The event will feature an overview of the program as well as a Q&A session with intern managers and former interns. Register here to attend. 

Organization Description 

Vital Voices Global Partnership is a leading international non-profit organization. We invest in women leaders who are tackling the world’s greatest challenges – from gender-based violence to the climate crisis, economic inequities, and more. We are “venture catalysts,” identifying leaders with a daring vision for change and partnering with them to make that vision a reality. What sets Vital Voices apart is that we make long-term, holistic investments in leaders with bold ideas for change — providing them connections, capacity, a network of their peers, financial support, and visibility for their work. We have provided early support for leaders who went on to become Nobel Peace Laureates, US Youth Poet Laureates, Prime Ministers, award winning innovators and breakthrough social entrepreneurs. Over the past 24 years, we have directly invested in more than 20,000 change-makers across 184 countries, who in turn have improved the lives of millions of people in their communities and countries. 

Today, Vital Voices has a staff of nearly 100 headquartered in Washington, DC. We’ve recently been working to dramatically scale our impact in accordance with our bold vision. In early 2022, we opened the first ever Global Headquarters for Women’s Leadership, a 30,000+ sq. ft. historic building just blocks from the White House on 16th Street. It is a hub of activity, events, and collaborations — bringing together women leaders and their allies to tackle the world’s greatest challenges.

Mission

Vital Voices invests in women leaders taking on the world’s greatest challenges and accelerates collective action towards an equitable and sustainable world. 

Organizational Goals 2030

  1. Scale our proven investment model from 20,000 to 50,000 women leaders - who together will positively impact the lives of one billion people.
  2. Make a measurable impact on 1-2 of the greatest challenges as defined by the Vital Voices Global Network - proving the power of collective action. 

Summary

The Issue Advocacy Intern will work directly under the supervision and guidance of the Program Coordinator, Sara Hallam. This position will be responsible for supporting Issue Advocacy programs and research needs. This role is based in Washington, DC with the option of a hybrid work schedule.

Additional responsibilities include:

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.  

  • Researching and preparing program content and materials
  • Participating in and supporting webinars and educational sessions with program participants
  • Managing applications and fellow information in Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software, such as Salesforce
  • Drafting social media content and tracking social media activity related to fellowships
  • Supporting local, domestic and international development and advocacy efforts and opportunities
  • Analyzing survey data and preparing reporting materials as necessary
  • Assisting with the logistics and implementation of local, domestic and international programs
  • Administrative tasks are necessary
  • Translations of program materials as necessary
  • Other related duties as assigned
  • DE&I Commitment:  Embrace and model the Vital Voices guiding principles, values, investment, and leadership models with the goal of supporting Vital Voices’ organization culture and success;
  • Other duties as assigned.  

Professional Qualifications:  

  • Currently enrolled in an undergraduate or graduate program; majoring in public policy, political science, government, foreign/international affairs, gender studies, or other related fields preferred 
  • Ability to work independently 
  • Interest in and knowledge of global women’s issues, international development, climate change, and/or women’s leadership
  • Strong work ethic and attention to detail
  • Strong research, writing, analytical and editing skills
  • Strong organizational skills and ability to balance multiple tasks
  • Excellent communications and digital media skills
  • Strong computer skills including MS Office applications (esp. Excel, Word, and PowerPoint), social networking tools, and database software (i.e., Salesforce). 
  • Excellent communications and digital media skills
  • Language proficiency in additional languages preferred 

The stipend for this 12-week position is $3,500 based on a 30-40 hour work week and will be paid in 3 increments throughout the program. For part time interns, the stipend is $1750 and based on a 15-20 hour work week. This role will begin on February 4 and run through April 26, 2025.
 
The internship program is a hybrid position and requires at minimum 2 days in our DC office per week (1 day for part-time interns). Remote interns may be considered on a case by case basis.

Vital Voices provides equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, or genetics. In addition to federal law requirements, Vital Voices complies with applicable state and local laws governing nondiscrimination in employment in every location in which the company has facilities. This policy applies to all terms and conditions of employment, including recruiting, hiring, placement, promotion, termination, layoff, recall, transfer, leaves of absence, compensation, and training.  

Vital Voices expressly prohibits any form of workplace harassment based on race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, national origin, age, genetic information, disability, or veteran status. Improper interference with the ability of Vital Voices’ employees to perform their job duties may result in discipline up to and including discharge.  

Staff may experience secondary trauma due to exposure to descriptive and/or graphic gender-based violence content in their work on the urgent assistance program. Vital Voices does not provide work visa sponsorship or relocation assistance for this position.  

Applications will be accepted and reviewed on a rolling basis until the position is filled. Only short-listed candidates will be contacted. 

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