Advocacy Research Intern
About La Casita Center
La Casita Center is a grassroots non-profit located in Louisville, KY accompanying families in the Latinx community. Our mission is to empower these families, providing a foundation for systemic change with long-term effects. We build and support the community through education, empowerment, advocacy, and wellness. La Casita Center works intentionally to build a thriving community based on mutual support and respect.
We accompany Latinx residents of Louisville, Southern Indiana, and other parts of Kentucky with a holistic model of accompaniment and community building. La Casita accompanies over 4,000 people each year with low incomes from over 35 countries, speaking English, Spanish, Mam, and Quiche.
Our work includes:
- Hospitality & Solidarity: meeting basic needs and addressing food insecurity with a culturally competent food pantry, diaper distribution, and give-and-take closet
- Education & Empowerment: weekly bilingual preschool, summer camp for ages 6-13, programming for teens, social-emotional support of children for parents being accompanied.
- Legal Services: accompany folks with various legal processes including asylum, DACA renewal, work permits, U and T visas, outreach to ISAP office
- Accompaniment & Advocacy: support for families with children with special needs, programming for women experiencing domestic violence
- Health Empowerment: Empowering families to advocate for their well-being and health by making health promotion accessible and meaningful to the Latinx community, regardless of their literacy level and digital access.
Job Summary
The Advocacy Research Intern will work with the Engagement Coordinator to conduct research on current public affairs that directly affect the immigrant and Latinx community, with the goal of developing educational materials, and other visuals to be used in online campaigns. The intern will also provide meaningful accompaniment to families from the Latinx and immigrant communities, providing support during the community events. The intern will gain experience in community engagement, event organizing, and cross-cultural content development. This intern position supports the consulting team of La Casita Center to promote systemic change through the knowledge share of the organization's practice and work model.
Reports
This position is part of the Capacity Building Team and will report to the Business and Strategic Development Coordinator (Engagement Coordinator)
Essential Duties and Responsibilities, per Spanish ability:
- Assist the Engagement Coordinator with research on civic engagement topics.
- Create presentations to the Latinx and immigrant communities regarding their rights and civic engagement opportunities.
- Support the Engagement Coordination in developing educational materials in Spanish to promote through La Casita platforms.
- Collaborate with the Communications Team to design infographics, short videos, and other visuals to accompany educational materials and presentations.
- Assist with the organization and coordination of community events.
- Report to the organization funding the Advocacy Youth Project
- Attend team meetings required for this position
- Collaborate with other departments to ensure consistency in messaging across all organization platforms.
- Provide meaningful accompaniment to families from the Latinx and immigrant communities during the Resource Day events at La Casita Center
- Supports during outreach events to educate the community on available services
- Supporting in other daily Center activities, as needed. Guidelines and expectations can be discussed further during an interview.
- Supports with data entry after community and outreach events
Qualifications:
- Available to work for at least 8 weeks
- Fluency in Spanish and English.
- Enroll in the programs of international studies, public affairs or related fields
- Strong research and analytical skills.
- Ability to work collaboratively with others.
- Ability to work with Gmail, google drive, and Zoom
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills
- Experience working with the Latinx Community
- Positive attitude and willingness to learn
Preferred Qualifications
- Knowledge of Canva for video editing and design skill
- Basic knowledge of Wix website editing
- Experience with project management
- Experience with event organizing
- Experience with budget tracking and reporting
- Comfortable with public speaking
Remuneration
- This position is an unpaid internship position. As part of our Latinx hospitality spirit and values, La Casita Center offers daily meals that feature the amazing flavors of Latino America.
- We recognize that decolonizing and dismatailing systems can be overwhelming, especially when the work is personal to our own stories. Therefore La Casita Center offers community care with counseling support for all staff members including interns.
- Professional development opportunities may be available upon discussion with the support person and depending on available resources