Internship: Leadership Wisdom Initiative

Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and a European Office in Brussels, Belgium, SFCG’s mission is to transform how individuals, organizations and governments deal with conflict—away from adversarial approaches and toward cooperative solutions. SFCG seeks to help conflicting parties understand their differences and act on their commonalities. With over 350 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects in 18 countries throughout Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. 

The Leadership Wisdom Initiative
Launched in 2006, the Leadership Wisdom Initiative (LWI) provides transformational leadership and conflict management development for political and civil society leaders worldwide. LWI combines deeply held values about our common humanity with SFCG's trademark ability for practical, on-the-ground application. LWI is a high leverage program built on sustainable principles with the goal of institutionalizing leadership wisdom development practices where it matters—with political leaders, with the leadership of high impact global agencies, and with emerging leaders worldwide.

The world is in crisis, and there is a concomitant crisis of leadership. Our vision is of:

• Authentic leadership that synthesizes the inner and outer arts of leadership;
• Leadership for the whole, not just for “my” party, faction, tribe or group, that is rooted in a profound sense of our common humanity and the interconnectedness of all beings; and
• Compassionate leadership that facilitates problem solving and heals societal divisions

Summary of Position:
LWI seeks candidates for a part-time internship beginning in Summer '09 to support operations in our Washington, DC office. The LWI intern will, among other tasks, assist the program director on most aspects of the initiative including: project coordination, development of program curricula, and researching funding opportunities.

Start Date: Summer '09.
Hours: Part-Time (15+ hours per week).
Minimum length of internship: Six months.

Responsibilities: This internship is part-time and involves lending support to various projects at the direction and under the supervision of the Washington Program Director, Shawn Dunning.
Intern duties are wide-ranging and may include, but are not limited to:

• Contributing to various research and writing projects
• Researching the developments in leadership approaches
• Assisting in the creation of program curricula
• Researching various funding opportunities
• Coordinating several on-going projects
• Miscellaneous clerical work (faxing, mailing, printing, database entry)
• Assisting staff on various other projects

The ideal candidate will exhibit:

• Excellent writing and communication skills
• A self-starting, enthusiastic and flexible approach
• Ability to work independently with entrepreneurial attitude
• Interest and knowledge in leadership and innovative approaches to leadership training
• A deep and creative interest in conflict transformation
• Computer proficiency in Microsoft Office applications and experience with advanced Internet research

To Apply: 
Please fax or email a cover letter and resume or CV to Shawn Dunning at sdunning@sfcg.org / (202) 232 6718 (fax). * Please note that no compensation or benefits are provided. In your cover letter, please clearly state why our program is of interest to you, what you can bring to it, and what you hope to gain from the experience. Also, please include the dates of your availability and the number of hours per week to which you can commit.

For more information on our project, please visit: http://www.sfcg.org/programmes/lwi/programmes_lwi.html