Richard F. Riley, Jr. Internship Program

Eligibility:

§  College juniors and seniors in good academic standing; Masters students preferred

§  Minimum 3.0 GPA (on 4.0 scale), or equivalent from a non US institution

§  Backgrounds in politics, campaign work, policy and/or development preferred, but not essential

Highly Desired Skills:

§  Entrepreneurial and proactive

§  Highly organized and attentive to detail

§  Complete proficiency with computers, especially PowerPoint, SalsaLabs, and LexisNexis

§  Good sense of humor

§  Passionate about building the progressive national security movement.

Important Information: 

§  Full time preferred, part time internships available

§  This is an unpaid internship.

To Apply: 

Contact jobs@trumanproject.org with a cover letter addressed to Emmett Bloom, resume, and two or three references (at least two from former employers or professors). Also please indicate in the subject line which of the 4 internships you are most interested in.

Please note that only those individuals whose qualifications match the current needs of the organization will be considered applicants and receive responses from the Truman Project.

Please visit our website: www.trumanproject.org before being in touch. No calls, please.

Important Dates

We currently offer internships in four areas:

Political:  The political team builds political power for progressives who care about national security.  Work with our Political, Advocacy, and Campaign teams to train elected officials, candidates, and other political leaders on national security and foreign policy topics, and to help our community members in building their political profiles.  Interns will gain hands-on experience organizing press events, educational panels, communication based campaigns, and executing advocacy campaign plans in target states and districts. 

Political interns are the type of people that have run for student government or ran the class president's campaign; they would rather make 20 phone calls and make 20 friends than write a paper.  We are looking for tenacious, energetic and dedicated interns that are interested in the political arena of progressive national security.

Communications: The communications team creates award-winning, compelling, persuasive communications strategies and products for a variety of national security issues.  Interns work directly with the Communications Director, Media Relations Director, and other Communications and senior staff.  Communications interns are an integral and substantive part of a fast-paced, exciting operation that is setting the progressive national security agenda.

Interns maintain Truman’s social media and online presence, in addition to important special projects that are part of pushing Truman’s message in the media. Interns will also learn first-hand how to write talking points, op-eds, and other press materials, as well as assist staff in pitching to media outlets. Previous interns have both written and helped produce radio and television ads.

Great Communications Interns have been reporters for their school newspapers or developed creative advertisements for campus elections.  Interns must be enthusiastic and creative, write well, have strong knowledge of excel, and be able to think on their feet.

**In addition to other application materials, please include two writing samples, neither of which should be more than 3 pages.  Persuasive writing is preferred, but academic work is accepted.

Policy:  The policy team develops and pushes for cutting edge 21st century progressive security policies.  Interns work directly with the Policy Director, Fellowship Director and the Congressional Liaison by researching and developing curriculum for several different Truman Project programs; researching national security related legislative issues; strategic planning and management consulting; and coordinating security, defense and media trainings.

The intern will meet emerging and top-tier foreign policy and national security experts.

Policy interns are the type of people who may have participated in a Simulated Congress seminar, or organized group discussions on headline news topics.

This intern must be computer savvy, especially with Microsoft Power Point, and Google Docs; and have superior research and analysis experience.

Management: The management team is responsible for the nuts-and-bolts of one of the best-run progressive organizations in America.  The Management intern will be exposed to the action-packed world of non-profit management and strategic fundraising.  

Interns will support the Senior Leadership Team and the Director of Development by assisting with all aspects of the Truman Project's day-to-day operations and long term strategic planning.  Interns will research prospective donors and write grant proposals; help plan fundraisers and other events in DC and around the country; and opportunities to assist with other tasks at all levels of the organization. Interns will also be responsible for meticulous, rapid-response research on complex national security issues for senior staff.

The Management internship is the perfect opportunity for those interested in learning how non-profit organizations function or have plans for a career in non-profit management.  The intern should be comfortable working as a part of a team and enjoy helping their peers succeed.  

Successful Management interns are people with strong leadership potential (perhaps they were a team captain or started a school club), a can-do attitude, excellent organizational skills, and an eye for detail who are interested in playing a role in the success and growth of the Truman Project.