The MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC)
Summer 2013 Internship
Advocacy & Community Organizing Intern
The MinKwon Center for Community Action (formerly YKASEC) was established in 1984 to meet the needs and concerns of the Korean American community in New York through our five program areas: Community Organizing and Advocacy, Social and Legal Services, Civic Participation, Youth Empowerment, and Culture. Since our founding, we have made a profound presence in the Korean American and Asian American community through grassroots organizing, education, and advocacy initiatives that address important community issues, including immigration policies at the national, state and city levels, voter rights, tenant rights and cultural awareness. The MinKwon Center places a special emphasis on meeting the needs of marginalized community members, including youth, elderly, recent immigrants, low-income residents, and limited-English-proficient residents.
The Advocacy & Organizing Intern would support our Advocacy and Community Organizing Program to engage in campaigns on issues including immigration reform, language access, affordable housing, government resource allocation to the Asian American community and other social justice issues. The internship responsibilities include:
Internship Description
- Support 13% and Growing Coalition, a collaborative of over 45 Asian led and Asian serving organizations fighting for an equitable share of the New York State and City budget.
- Draft letters to elected and appointed officials, press releases for local media, and advocacy updates for MinKwon Center’s Facebook and Twitter feed.
- Participate in community organizing efforts to engage community members, such as door-knocking, phone-banking and street outreach.
- Support summer Youth Empowerment Program which educates high school students on social justice issues and provides them with the opportunity to develop and lead advocacy campaigns.
Details of Internship
- Supervision: Intern is supervised by the Advocacy & Organizing Associate.
- Compensation: While internships are not paid positions, academic credit has been arranged in the past.
- Hours: Interns are expected to work full-time for a minimum of 40 hours a week.
- Duration: The internship for the duration of the Summer. Specific internship dates will be discussed in person.
Requirements
- Have the desire to empower the Asian American community and work on immigrant rights issues.
- Communicative, team player, creative, works well under time pressure.
- Strong administrative, research and note taking skills.
- Excellent verbal and written command of English.
Desirable
- Proficiency in either the Korean language or Mandarin language is preferred, but not necessary.
- Multimedia skills, e.g. knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite products.
- Experience in using social media for advocacy purposes.
Internship applications are accepted on a rolling basis. Volunteer positions are also available. Please submit a cover letter and resume by Monday, April 8th, 2013 via email to:
Christina Chang
Advocacy & Organizing Associate
christina.chang@minkwon.org