Internship: Search USA

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.

Search USA
The mission of Search for Common Ground-USA is to foster cooperative approaches to resolving public policy issues. We bring diverse stakeholders together to build consensus solutions to specific, important issues at the national, state and local levels; and we build institutions that foster cooperation and consensus-building over time. We also make use of complementary approaches, such as citizen engagement, so that the views of the public can be actively considered and better inform public policy dialogue.

Summary of Position:
Search USA seeks candidates for a part-time internship beginning in Summer '09 to support operations in our Washington, DC office. The Search USA intern will, among other tasks, assist the program director Jonah Wittkamper on substantive aspects of national consensus building initiatives including: project coordination, publicity, outreach, and researching funding opportunities.

Start Date: Summer '09.
Hours: Part-Time (15+ hours per week).
Minimum length of internship: 2 months.
Full time, full-year volunteers are also encouraged to apply.

Duties for this unpaid internship position may include but are not limited to:

• Researching domestic policy issues
• Assisting with website and program literature
• Conducting outreach to participants and attending meetings
• Researching various funding opportunities
• Coordinating on-going projects
• Assisting with general administrative tasks

The ideal candidate will possess:

• Familiarity with new media
• Fundraising experience
• Demonstrable interest in domestic policy
• Excellent writing and communication skills
• A self-starting, enthusiastic and flexible approach
• 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 Jonah Wittkamper at jwittkamper@sfcg.org.

* 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/us/programmes_us.html