1. Context
About Search for Common Ground
Search for Common Ground (SFCG) is an international non-profit organization that promotes peaceful resolution of conflict. With headquarters in Washington, DC and 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 a total of approximately 600 staff worldwide, SFCG implements projects in 34 countries, including in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, and the United States. The organization is an exciting and rewarding place to work, with dedicated and enthusiastic staffs who loves their work.
About the Children & Youth Division
In conflict, the world typically looks at young people as either victims or villains. As victims, children lack power and must be protected; as villains, young people are blamed for violence and instability. But around the world, many children and youth are partners for peace. We work to empower children and youth to be true agents of conflict transformation in their communities. Investing in young men and women enables them not just to create a brighter tomorrow for themselves, but also to help build peace today for all of us. Our Children and Youth Programs employ an innovative, multi-pronged approach, incorporating elements of education, voice, action, partnerships, and policy. Our programs range in topic from peace education, youth-focused TV and radio shows, leadership training, and sports clinics. In all of our youth projects, we help young people show the world that they are leaders for peace.
2. Objectives of the internships
The Children & Youth division has three internship tracks available for the Spring 2015 semester. The open positions are: C&Y New Initiatives Intern, C&Y Programs Intern, and C&Y Communications & Design Intern.
New Initiatives Intern: This intern will be responsible for supporting new initiatives within the Children & Youth division, such as global- or regional-level projects with new donors. Some of the tasks the intern will complete are as follows: drafting concept notes; drafting budgets; researching project contexts and writing one-to-two page reports; building partnerships; fundraising; and following-up on submission progress.
Programs Intern: This intern will assist with managing the main operations of the Children & Youth division’s open and ongoing initiatives, including 2 small grants in Africa, a storytelling project, Disruptive Innovations summits in 3 countries, toolkits, and others. The main tasks will include: tracking activities and implementation; tracking finances; coordinating with field staff to generate shareable lessons from projects; supporting story creation from the field; and facilitating the Washington Network on Children in Armed Conflict (WNCAC).
Communications & Design Intern: This intern will help develop and enact a strategic communications and visibility plan for the C&Y division’s communications outputs (including written stories, short videos, case studies, and toolkits), and will manage the C&Y team’s social media presence. This intern will also assist with document design and with creation of infographics. Tasks will include: assisting with creation of a content management, social media, and communications strategy for the division; managing C&Y Youtube and Facebook pages; generating and/or curating blog posts (including stories, articles, pictures, infographics, etc); designing documents; creating infographics and one-pagers.
For more details on the Terms of Reference, kindly click the link below.
HOW TO APPLY:
Applications
To apply for any of these positions, submit your information in one document through our application system athttps://sfcg.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=153 . Include your cover letter, resume, and samples of your work(explained below):
To apply for any of these positions, submit your information in one document through our application system athttps://sfcg.bamboohr.com/jobs/view.php?id=153 . Include your cover letter, resume, and samples of your work(explained below):
New Initiatives & Programs Intern applicants: You must submit a short writing sample. The writing sample should demonstrate your ability to write clearly and concisely on a topic that is relevant to the mission of the C&Y division. The sample should be no more than 500 words, and it should be written in a professional tone. All applicants are also encouraged to submit a second writing sample in a more conversational or narrative tone, such as a blog post, but this is not a requirement.
Communications & Design intern applicants: You must also submit a sample of your design work (for example: a graphic, a flyer, etc). A writing sample of any kind is also welcome, but not required.
Include the name of the internship position you are applying for in the first paragraph of your cover letter. You must specify either “New Initiatives”, “Programs”, or “Communications & Design” in your cover letter.
Include the name of the internship position you are applying for in the first paragraph of your cover letter. You must specify either “New Initiatives”, “Programs”, or “Communications & Design” in your cover letter.
The closing date for all three positions is December 5, 2014. The C&Y division will make final hiring decisions by December 19, and the interns will start in January
