Clerkships and Internships

Asian Americans Advancing Justice | AAJC (“AAJC”), based in Washington, DC, works to advance human and civil rights for Asian Americans, and to build and promote a fair and equitable society for all. We’re a leading national expert on issues important to the Asian American community, including the Census, immigration and immigrants’ rights, media diversity, anti-profiling, and voting rights. Since our founding in 1991, AAJC has enacted a sweeping range of programs to address issues critical to enhancing and serving our communities across the country.

AAJC hosts interns seeking experience in civil and human rights advocacy. Our program requires a commitment of at least 8 weeks at 16-20 hours per week during the spring or fall semester. Summer internships are generally full-time (40 hours per week) over a 10-week term. All internships and clerkships at this time are virtual.

Advancing Justice | AAJC will work with interns to ensure the position satisfies any course credit or curriculum requirements. Please note that applicants are eligible to apply for a modest stipend based upon demonstrated financial need.

Internships with Advancing Justice | AAJC are open to college students, graduate students, and law students. We are seeking interns for four departments:

1. Communications: The communications department seeks an intern to work on communications, media relations activities, and social media tasks. The communications department is responsible for activities that seek to promote and brand Advancing Justice | AAJC. The department conducts public relations outreach, develops digital assets, and seeks to promote agency programs, material, and national campaigns.
2. Development: The development department seeks an intern to work on its fundraising and donor engagement work. This is an ideal opportunity for students interested in cultivating and stewarding donors, fundraising, event planning, and other development-related activities. Development interns have the unique opportunity to learn about Advancing Justice | AAJC’s programming while understanding the fundraising initiatives taken in nonprofits to ensure program backing.
3. Policy and Programs: The policy and programs department seeks interns, including graduate students and law students, to support its civil rights advocacy. The policy and programs department is responsible for policy analysis, advocacy, litigation, and community engagement. Law students are encouraged to specify whether they are interested in policy work or supporting Advancing Justice | AAJC’s impact litigation work.
4. Human Resources: The human resources department seeks a graduate-school-level intern to help develop a structured internship/clerkship program. This will include: establishing outreach directories, developing welcome and orientation processes, designing uniform mentorship and training opportunities; creating relationship-building opportunities, establishing means to elicit participant feedback for program improvement, and documenting each component for consistent application each season, among other responsibilities.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES:

Communications

• Draft blogs, press releases, pitch letters, and other communications documents as assigned
• Research journalists for potential outreach
• Review editorial calendars for press opportunities
• Write fact sheets or issue briefs
• Review major newspapers daily for related stories
• Assist with research; respond to requests for information
• Monitor news trends and events to identify opportunities
• Create and maintain media lists
• Participate in strategy meetings with the communications team
• Draft general correspondence and other administrative tasks as assigned
• Assist with maintenance and creating content for the website
• Assist with the development of new materials for Advancing Justice | AAJC’s social media sites
• Assist with the execution of the department’s communications plan

Development

• Conduct individual and organizational prospect research and prepare individual and organizational profiles
• Undertake a variety of writing and editing projects including acknowledgement letters, donor solicitations, promotional materials, etc.
• Carry-out large mailings to the Advancing Justice | AAJC donor base, including direct mail solicitation letters, reports and publications, and invitations
• Assist with planning of the American Courage Award reception and other special events
• Research and assist in development of letters of inquiry and grant proposals for Advancing Justice | AAJC’s various program areas
• Support general development department operations through administrative duties and other duties as assigned

Human Resources

• Research best practices of basic internship programs to apply to AAJC’s program.
• Assist with developing/strengthening relationships with local academic organizations’ internship/clerkship contacts.
• Develop a contact directory of schools, student organizations, and others to promote available AAJC internship and clerkship opportunities.
• Lay out initial intern/clerk “alumni” potential networking/outreach contact directory.
• Develop welcome/orientation process to brief interns on AAJC and its procedures – with team-specific components – to create onboarding efficiencies in scheduling for administrative activities, department introductions, meetings with leadership, full staff introductions, etc.
• Help establish on-the-job internal mentoring, guidance, and advice-sharing opportunities.
• Design effective relationship-building opportunities between interns and staff, as well as with fellow interns/clerks in a remote workplace environment.
• Other associated duties.

Policy and Programs

Policy

• Assist with policy and legislative research, and drafting memoranda, public comments, and testimony for Congressional and agency hearings
• Support staff members in preparing for hearings, briefings, and meetings with policymakers, community groups, and civil rights organizations.
• Draft community outreach, education, and advocacy materials

Litigation – for law students only

• Assist with legal and factual research for Supreme Court amicus briefs and other legal briefs
• Analyze cases and pending litigation for potential Advancing Justice | AAJC involvement
• Write legal memoranda and draft portions of briefs where appropriate
• Monitor the Supreme Court docket and track other federal and state civil rights litigation

QUALIFICATIONS AND PREFERRED SKILLS:

• Strong interest in Advancing Justice | AAJC’s work
• Ability to handle multiple projects and work efficiently to meet deadlines
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to work with a diverse group as well as part of a team
• Computer skills, knowledge of MS Word, Excel, Outlook, and Internet research skills
• If applying for Communications, major in journalism, public relations, marketing, or communications is preferred.
• If applying for Development, familiarity with Canva and Raiser’s Edge is preferred.
• If applying for Policy and Programs, prior policy or research experience is preferred for college students, and prior experience with civil rights litigation or appellate practice through a law school clinic, internship, or summer job is preferred for law students.

HOW TO APPLY:

To apply, please send a cover letter, resume, and brief writing sample to hiring@advancingjustice-aajc.org.

In your cover letter, please note which department (Communications, Development, Human Resources and Administration, or Policy and Programs) is your interest. If you are applying for an internship with the Policy and Programs department, please detail if you have interest in working in one or more specific issue areas. Law students, please specify whether you are interested in policy work or impact litigation.

Incomplete applications will not be considered.

Applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis