The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights is currently accepting applications for their Summer 2021 Undergraduate/Recent Graduate Volunteer Internship Program. Although assignments for each intern vary, most students are asked to draft documents, track news, and policy changes, write legal research memoranda, conduct factual investigations, participate in conference calls, and complete some administrative work. Each undergraduate student intern is assigned to work primarily, but not exclusively, in one of the following areas: Communications/Development, Educational Opportunities (+ PREP), Economic Justice, Public Policy, Stop Hate, or Voting Rights (+ Election Protection). For descriptions and more information, visit Lawyers' Committee Career Opportunities or view below.
To apply for an Undergraduate/Recent Graduate Volunteer Internship, please fill out the application form and submit a resume, cover letter with expected start and end date, and a 2-3-page writing sample here.
For questions about the internship program, please email internship@lawyerscommittee.org. Application materials that are sent to this email are not accepted - please submit all application materials through the link above. The deadline to apply for the Summer 2021 internship is Friday, March 19th. Decisions will be made on a rolling basis, so early applications are encouraged.
The Communications and Development Departments‘ internship offers a unique opportunity to engage in all of the Lawyers’ Committee’s civil rights project areas. Interns will work with staff on press releases, op-eds, speeches, scripts and testimony. They will learn how to build media lists and track news coverage using a highly in-demand public relations and marketing software. Interns will gain valuable experience in creating and posting web content and desktop publishing. Interns will also assist with management of donor files, foundation research and the planning of upcoming events.
The Educational Opportunities Project strives to guarantee that all students receive equal educational opportunities in public schools and institutions of higher learning by promoting school integration; supporting the mission of the No Child Left Behind Act, and challenging discriminatory discipline and classroom assignment practices as well as school finance inadequacy. The Education Project’s Parental Readiness and Empowerment Program seeks to improve K-12 student performance, retention, and access to equal educational opportunities. PREP serves low-income and minority children in targeted communities (currently San Diego, CA and Arlington, VA) by increasing parental engagement in education and ensuring that parents become successful advocates for their children. PREP is particularly interested in candidates with near or complete Spanish fluency.
The Public Policy Department leads and coordinates the organizational policy agenda through the development, analysis and support of all Lawyers’ Committee projects by providing policy leadership, advocacy, visibility and materials for the Hill and in coalitions on substantive priorities as they arise on the legislative calendar. Public Policy interns engage in research and writing, producing issue briefs and policy statements. They attend and report on coalition meetings, as well as briefings and hearings taking place on the Hill, and may prepare testimony and talking points for Lawyers’ Committee staff members. Interns are likely to work on a wide range of issues related to any of our substantive projects, such as Voting, Education, and Fair Housing, as well as perform duties related to Public Policy core initiatives, such as the Judicial Diversity Program and Criminal Justice reform efforts. Interns placed in this project should expect a collegial but fast paced and demanding work environment.
The Voting Rights Project strives to achieve equality and protect advances in voting rights for racial and ethnic minorities and other traditionally disenfranchised groups through an integrated program of litigation, voter protection, research, advocacy, and education. The project is currently active in battles to defend the Voting Rights Act, combat voter ID laws and voter suppression activities, and ensure that eligible voters are able to cast a meaningful ballot on Election Day. The Voting Rights Project leads the Election Protection Coalition, which administers the 1-866-OUR-VOTE voter assistance hotline, analyzes data on existing electoral problems, and supports positive election reforms and advocacy efforts to ensure that all eligible citizens have the right to vote.
The Economic Justice Project seeks to address persisting inequality and high poverty rates faced by African American and other minority communities. EJP brings challenges to all forms of racial, national origin, and sex-based discrimination in the workplace, both private and public, including discrimination by federal, state, and local agencies. EJP also brings litigation seeking to lift the employment barriers faced by individuals with criminal histories who are seeking to reintegrate into their communities.
The Stop Hate Project works to strengthen the capacity of community leaders, law enforcement, and organizations around the country to combat hate by connecting these groups with established legal and social services resources. Hate incidents across the United States are surging, devastating individuals and entire communities. To help combat this trend and support those organizations, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law launched the Stop Hate Project in March 2017. Individuals and organizations that call the hotline receive resources they need as we leverage our national network of pro bono attorneys, connect callers and individuals targeted by hate to community organizations, mental health services, and in appropriate cases, provide access to counsel. Interns will gain knowledge about hates crimes and incidents and the laws and policies that are already in place to combat them and the community resources that are available, along with hands-on legal research experience.
The Social Science intern will gather, clean, document, and verify election results and election geographies for compilation in a GIS database. The data will be used by the Lawyers’ Committee and its partners to create and evaluate redistricting proposals with the aim of protecting the voting rights of communities of color. Tasks may include any of the following: collect county level election results and geographic boundary data (precincts, districts) in a number of targeted regions across the US, check data for accuracy and edit as necessary, manipulate data in a variety of formats, which may include delimited, Excel, XML, JSON; shapefiles, KML, geoJSON, etc., digitize print maps, write processing routines to automate steps where possible, including data conversion, API access, geoprocessing, etc., document data sources, processing steps, errors, and missing data, and analyze the level of racially polarized voting in elections using the Ecological Inference method.
