ORGANIZATION
The Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service seeks a creative, thoughtful intern interested in helping us tell stories of democracy in action. From leadership training to consulting with local governments to providing research for informed policymaking, the Cooper Center works behind the scenes to make sure public officials of all kinds are prepared to lead with confidence.
MENTOR
Alexandra Rebhorn, Communications Director of the Weldon Cooper Center, and Claire Downey, Digital Media Manager
CAREER DEVELOPMENT
This internship will prepare interns for careers in any of the following:
- Communication, Outreach, and Public Relations
- Digital Media
- Project Management
- Social Media Management
- Marketing
SKILLS DEVELOPMENT
This internship will provide experiences to develop and polish the following skills:
- Communication to diverse audiences
- Interdisciplinary team collaboration
- Problem-solving and analytical skills
- Project management and leadership
- Thought leadership and innovation
- Marketing
MENTORING PLAN
The Communications Director will mentor the intern in collaboration with the media team. Mentoring will emphasize effective and strategic communications, including the prioritization, development, and creation of campaigns; identifying and segmenting audiences; and creative trends. Claire Downey and Amy Muldoon will assist in onboarding the intern to understand the Center’s organization, goals and priorities. Claire will also provide mentorship on the use of media editing software or use of media equipment if needed. A degree of self-direction and initiative is highly desired.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
The ideal intern will be creating and placing content that helps the Cooper Center communicate its public service impact to a wide and diverse audience. Depending on the existing skills of the intern and/or capacity to add new skills, the position focus could be:
- Digital media design
- Public relations/media engagement
- Social media marketing
The team manages multiple social media channels on LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook. The Center has in-house capacity for video and audio intended both for social and other multimedia use.
RESPONSIBILITIES
The intern will contribute to a broad variety of content, depending on skills, including social media posts, newsletters, websites, and videos. Interns will be invited to participate in communications strategy meetings to help shape Center's priorities in this area. They would participate in content strategy meetings to identify audiences, establish a message, and plan content creation. Interns may be asked to travel with the media team for event coverage, but this is not a requirement.
DESIRED QUALITIES
The Communications and Media team is open to students from a variety of disciplinary backgrounds. A broad understanding of any of the following is desired but not essential.
- Communication
- Social Media
- Digital media
- Working with nonprofits
- Writing and journalism
- Project management
A sense of humor, enthusiasm, and flexibility are all appreciated.
DURATION AND EFFORT
In order to meet the goals outlined above, this internship may span multiple terms. The department will work with the student on setting a weekly schedule that is mutually agreed upon and meets the PhD+ internship expectation of up to 200 hours per semester.