Internships

Summer Internships

The Institute for Women’s Policy Research (IWPR) conducts rigorous research and disseminates its findings to address the needs of women, promote public dialogue, and strengthen families, communities, and societies.

IWPR is committed to assisting the professional development of students and graduates interested in economic justice for women. IWPR’s internship program is designed to provide participants with challenging work experiences under the guidance and supervision of researchers with extensive knowledge of women’s policy issues and social science research.

The Institute will offer internships in four areas for the Summer of 2012.

Research Internship (7 positions available). Interns will provide administrative and research support to researchers. Duties include: assisting with literature reviews and data collection; designing charts, graphs and tables; answering phones; and filing. Qualifications: Strong organizational skills, good interpersonal skills, interest in policy research and women’s issues; and experience with statistics, economics or social sciences through coursework. Familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel required; knowledge of STATA, SPSS, SAS, and graphics software a plus. Qualitative research skills also a plus.

Research areas for the summer of 2012 include:

• The quality of women’s jobs, including wages, access to health insurance, paid sick leave, and workplace flexibility.
• The work and welfare experiences of low-income women at the state and national levels.
• Increasing access to higher education and non-traditional jobs for low-income women.
• Strategies for improving child care access, affordability, and quality.
• Older women's economic issues, including social security and pensions.
• The economic status of women and girls, women of color, and immigrant women across the United States.

Communications and Outreach Internship (1 position available). Intern will provide administrative and editorial support to the communications team. Duties include: assisting with proofreading; distributing e-newsletters and new releases; updating IWPR blogs and social media; building media lists and managing databases; tracking news clips; assisting with layout and design of IWPR products; answering phones; and filing. Qualifications: Creative, innovative, and detail-oriented individual with good writing and computer skills; knowledge and experience with Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn; knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Quark Xpress, or other desktop publishing software preferred; layout and web design experience with content management systems (CMS) a plus.

Development Internship (1 position available). Intern will help development team with direct mail, grant-writing, funder research, and other elements of nonprofit fundraising. IWPR receives support from foundations and government agencies, as well as individual and organizational supporters. Qualifications: Should have an interest in fundraising and nonprofit management; prior experience with fundraising at any level is desirable, but not required; basic computer skills required and prior experience working with donor databases preferred.

Accounting Internship (1 position available). Intern will provide support to the Finance Director. Duties include: expense allocations, accounts payable tasks, bank deposits and reconciliations, and data entry; filing and tracking and organizing financial records.  Qualifications: Strong organizational skills; attention to detail; good interpersonal skills; experience with or interest in nonprofit accounting through coursework or previous internships. Familiarity with Microsoft Word and Excel required; knowledge of Quickbooks or other accounting software a plus.

All IWPR interns must have good computer skills, excellent writing and communication skills, and an interest in women’s issues.  Prior office experience is desirable, as interns are responsible for a certain amount of general office work, such as photocopying, answering phones, filing, and maintaining the library. 

IWPR is committed to diversity and encourages people of all ethnic, cultural, economic, and sexual orientations to apply.  

Summer internships run for a period of 10 weeks, beginning in May or June and ending in July or August. Starting and ending dates are flexible. Interns receive a stipend of $150 per week.

Persons interested in applying should submit a cover letter specifying the internship for which they are applying, a resume, and one confidential (sealed) letter of recommendation. Those applying for the Research, Communications and Outreach, and Development Internships should also submit a writing sample of 3-5 pages. Applicants may mail their materials to:

Internship Coordinator
Institute for Women's Policy Research
1200 18th Street NW, Suite 301
Washington , DC  20036

Applicants may email the above materials to yi@iwpr.org. However letters of recommendation must be emailed or sent by mail to the Internship Coordinator directly by the recommender.

Applications for Summer 2012 Internships are due by March 1, 2012. Please note that only complete applications will be considered.  Applicants will be contacted only if selected for an interview. Questions may be addressed to the Internship Coordinator via E-mail at yi@iwpr.org.

No phone calls, please.

Fall and Spring Internships

Fall Internships run from September to December, and the Spring Internships run from January to May.  Starting and ending dates are flexible.  These are unpaid, part-time positions.  The internships require a minimum commitment of 10 hours p/week.

Information about the 2012-2013 Fall and Spring internship program will be posted in the summer of 2012. Applications for the Fall will be due by mid-August, and applications for the Spring will be due by mid-December. Questions may be addressed to the Internship Coordinator via e-mail at yi@iwpr.org.

No phone calls please.