The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Florida seeks a Field Intern that works within the Field Department to achieve the organization’s goal of protecting the liberties that define our democracy. This position is remote but will require some in-person for community events, location is flexible within the state of Florida.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Florida is an affiliate of the national ACLU, a national public interest organization devoted to the defense of the Bill of Rights. For over 100 years, the ACLU has served as the nation’s primary protector of the liberties that define our democracy. The organization implements its vital civil liberties mission in all 50 states in large part through affiliate entities such as the ACLU of Florida. Operating out of six offices—Miami (main), Tampa, Pensacola, Orlando, Tallahassee and Jacksonville—the Florida affiliate has a budget of over $8 million and 55 staff members, placing it among the larger ACLU affiliates in the nation.
The ACLU of Florida, the state’s largest civil rights and civil liberties organization, employs litigation, public policy advocacy & organizing, and public education to protect and promote a broad range of constitutional values and individual rights, such as freedom of speech, racial justice, right to privacy, religious liberty, criminal justice reform, voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, and immigrants’ rights. The ACLU of Florida litigates a broad range of complex constitutional cases in federal and state courts through direct representation, filing amicus briefs, and submitting administrative complaints to state and federal agencies.
ORGANIZING APPROACH
The ACLU of Florida has adopted a “campaign” approach for its work. Work is focused on pursuing specific integrated advocacy campaigns to achieve measurable goals that will expand civil liberties and civil rights, while building the long-term power of the ACLU and the civil liberties movement.
At the moment, the ACLU of Florida is focused on three campaigns: voting rights, criminal justice reform, and immigrants’ rights. The campaigns in which the organization engages are about integrated advocacy, and include lobbying, communications, and litigation in addition to grassroots organizing.
As a result of this campaign approach, the ACLU of Florida’s organizing model focuses on developing volunteer leaders for the civil liberties movement, mobilizing grassroots support for campaign objectives, and educating Florida residents about campaign objectives through person-to-person field contact. The ACLU of Florida organizing is intended to engage both existing ACLU members/supporters/volunteers in the movement, as well as to reach new constituencies. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida centers the experiences and leadership of directly impacted people and engages directly impacted people in the work, while also ensuring that non-impacted allies engage in effective and substantive action.
The Field team works with Florida residents to influence decision-makers, via direct contact of decision-makers by residents and by holding events/actions. The Field Department focuses on identifying and supporting volunteer leaders willing to work to mobilize contacts with their own networks, in order to expand the size, reach, and power of the movement.
Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is intended to complement the approaches used by some other groups—especially those that connect individuals to resources, build community/social capital, primarily react to unanticipated or emerging community concerns, or educate the public about important issues—but not to replicate those approaches. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is instead oriented towards systemic change and policy action—moving people to take strategic actions that lead to decision-makers making different decisions, ones that result in the advancement of specific campaign objectives. These strategic actions can take place in the electoral, legislative, legal, and community education contexts. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is also designed to build long-term political and community power for the civil liberties movement, so that civil liberties and civil rights are better protected and strengthened.
INTERNSHIP OVERVIEW
Under the direction and supervision of the Field Director, and in collaboration with the ACLU-FL organizing team, the Field Intern will work with organizers across all three campaigns (Voting Rights, Criminal Justice Reform, and Immigrant rights) to support volunteer engagement by hosting team meetings and events, building relationships with volunteer leads, phone banking and text banking, inputting data, designing flyers and presentations, leading research projects, and depending on location, participating in some community events.
- Time Commitment: The internship requires a part-time commitment of 20 hours per week.
- Internship Duration: Flexible from 4 - 6 months
- Compensation: $15 per hour for those students who do not receive course credit. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit.
PRIMARY RESPONSIBILITIES
- Organize and conduct volunteer trainings and events under the direction of an Organizer.
- Develop and maintain relationships with ACLU-FL volunteers.
- Phone bank and text bank volunteers and voters on different campaign goals and objectives.
- Input data into NGPVAN as needed.
- Work with NGPVAN, Scale to Win, Google Suite, Outlook, Asana, Slack, Mobilize, Canva and the suite of ACLU Florida tools.
- Design flyers and training materials in support of Field team events and trainings as needed.
- Support organizers with research projects like power mapping within different communities.
- Center the voices and leadership of directly impacted people in all organizing programs.
- Depending on location, participate in community events to reach new supporters and volunteers.
DESIRED QUALIFICATIONS
While no one person will have all the qualities enumerated below, the successful candidate will bring many of the following qualifications and attributes:
- Willingness to learn and think creatively.
- Experience managing multiple projects and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
- A history of working collaboratively and successfully with people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and broad range of ideological positions and religious views.
- A flexible team player who works collaboratively and shares responsibility and credit.
- Excellent communication skills. A willingness and ability to speak in public and to facilitate meetings and trainings.
- Fluency in a language other than English is a plus but not required.
- Unwavering commitment to the mission and goals of the ACLU, including a demonstrated commitment to racial justice and civil rights issues.
APPLICATION PROCEDURE
Please send cover letter, resume, by email to jobs@aclufl.org. All inquiries should include Field Intern in the subject line and all attachments should be in Microsoft Word or PDF format. Please include location information in your application.
Applications will be accepted until the position is filled. Please indicate where you learned from this job posting. No phone calls, please.
This job description provides a general but not comprehensive list of the essential responsibilities and qualifications required. It does not represent a contract of employment. The ACLU of Florida reserves the right to change the job description and/or posting at any time without advance notice.
The ACLU of Florida is an equal opportunity employer. We value a diverse workforce and an inclusive culture. The ACLU of Florida encourages applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, or veteran status. We encourage formerly incarcerated individuals to apply. If selected for an interview, please inquire if financial assistance is needed to attend.
At the ACLU of Florida, we value diversity, equality, equity, and inclusion and embrace the uniqueness of everyone. We seek to create a place of belonging where candidates of diverse backgrounds will be included, represented, and heard.
The ACLU of Florida makes every effort to assure that its recruitment and employment efforts provide persons with disabilities with full opportunities for employment in all positions.
The ACLU of Florida undertakes affirmative action strategies in its recruitment and employment efforts to assure that persons with disabilities have full opportunities for employment in all positions.