Remote Youth-led Intern in Environmental and Social Justice

Roots & Routes IC is seeking a Remote Youth-led Intern for its Youth Visionary Collective (YVC) program, focusing on environmental and social justice. This unpaid internship offers practical experience and skill development in a global intercultural community, working alongside the Executive Director and other interns. The organization promotes justice for Indigenous and Afro-descendant communities, particularly in the Chocó Rainforest region of Ecuador.
Join the Youth Visionary Collective (YVC) at Roots & Routes IC!

Want to form part of a worldwide intercultural community? Want to learn important skills for collaboration? Curious about what roles exist in the nonprofit sector or diverse ways to meet the needs of the Environmental and Indigenous/Black justice community?

We invite you to join a special remote opportunity, gaining practical experience in social and environmental justice while also strengthening your resume substantively and experientially.

About Roots & Routes IC

Roots & Routes Intercultural Collaborations is a U.S.-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. At R&R, we recognize that we are in a moment of global ecological crisis–climate change, deforestation, pollution of vital resources–and we believe that intercultural knowledge-sharing is critical to any path forward. We are bridge builders between Indigenous and Ancestral communities and elders, activists, researchers, and youth. Connecting people from all different ages and cultures through education, action, and re-storying the relations between us, we facilitate compassion and share knowledge among diverse cultures en route to responsibly stewarding a flourishing Living World.

Instagram Page: @rootsroutesic

Website:

R&R’s Partner Communities

Since its conception, the organization has fought for the rights of nature and the visibility of the ancestral communities in the Choco Rainforest region of Ecuador.

Current Campaign

Currently, most of R&R’s efforts are concentrated on promoting our film. Together for Water: Defending the Chocó Rainforest is a Spanish-language film about elders’ life stories and their 20-year struggle for water. It is the product of a collective and intercultural process to preserve ancestral knowledge and is narrated by the communities’ youth. An Indigenous Awá young woman and Afro-descendant young man reflect on the footage that shines a light on their struggle for the Rights of Nature in the Chocó Rainforest in Esmeraldas. The film relays the ongoing violence caused by the oil palm industry and the abandonment of the indigenous and afro-descendant populations by the Ecuadorian state.
• Check out the film here:

About the YVC Program

The Youth Visionary Collective (YVC) is a program at the heart of Roots & Routes IC. Youth from around the world come together across cultures and achieve collective goals that support the organization. This is both a collective work experience and an educational experience. It is remote and without pay.

As a YVC intern, you will work directly with Roots & Routes Executive Director Dr. Juli Hazlewood. A University of California Santa Cruz college professor, filmmaker, and activist, she has worked across the world in universities and social movements for environmental and Indigenous/Afro-descendant justice. Although based in the U.S. and Ecuador, Roots & Routes IC welcomes interns worldwide; over the past 4 years, we have worked with interns from over 45 countries. Many have gone on to intern with the UN, earn a Columbia Masters of Arts degree in Climate and Society, pursue a bachelor's in Earth Systems at Stanford University, and more.

By working directly with Dr. Hazlewood and other seasoned interns, the internship is an opportunity to hone professional and life skills and to learn how to grow an international and community-based NGO/nonprofit organization.

Internship Overview and Requirements

The YVC has four 10-week seasons each year. We are currently recruiting for our Summer season, which runs from July 14th to September 22nd.

During their 10 weeks, interns will work on various creative and promotional assignments: creating/translating social media posts and reels, writing blog articles, writing financial proposals and conducting financing research, conducting interviews, and crafting the season’s newsletter. Interns will be assigned to one or both of the following groups: Social Media and Blogs or Organizational Sustainability.
• Social Media interns will conduct research on marketing strategies, manage our three Instagram accounts, and execute weekly canva posts in alignment with our campaign, “We Are Water People”.
• Blog interns will work on weekly reports that align with the campaign, culminating in our end of season Newsletter.
• Organizational Sustainability interns will research funding opportunities and manage outreach.

Interns should possess or be willing to learn the following skills:
• Social Media & Marketing
• Graphic Design
• Outreach
• Newsletter Creation
• Blog Writing
• Time and Resource Management
• Drive Organization
• Leadership Skills

Each week, team-wide meetings will be held on Wednesdays from 1:00 pm PST to 2:00 pm PST. In addition, each intern will attend additional team meetings.

The YVC is about cultivating an environment of respect and compassion for one another, diverse cultural ways of being in the world, R&R’s work processes and people, and all our community partners. You must be able to commit to this culture.

Expectations
• Interns must be available for the scheduled meeting times.
• Interns must spend a minimum of 6 hours on their assignments weekly.
• Interns cannot miss more than 2 meetings during the season.
• Interns must swiftly respond to all communications.
• Interns must show up to meetings on time.

Next Steps

All accepted applicants will be messaged on June 6th over LinkedIn or Indeed. From there, they will be scheduled for group interviews. All interns will undergo onboarding from July 7th until the season starts on July 14th.

Job Type: Part-time

Pay: $10.00 per month

Expected hours: 6 – 10 per week

Schedule:
• Every weekend
• Monday to Friday

Work Location: Remote