National Office Internship Program Details

PEN’s internship program offers learning opportunities through work within a particular area of PEN, along with a set of shared and common experiences designed to highlight major trends in education, providing an overview of the various elements of public education advocacy. Interns will understand the role of citizen participation in the legislative, policymaking, program implementation, and grassroots campaigns.
 

Common experiences include the following:
1.	Participation in PEN’s staff and divisional meetings;
2.	Attending and covering meetings on the Hill, the executive agencies, other organizations, and press conferences, depending on the time of the year;
3.	PEN seminars (usually conducted by a PEN staff member) related to the various public policy issues, trends, and insights about public education policy, advocacy and legislation;

Work Experiences include the area of the organization (and in some cases, more than one) where they will be assigned. Interns provide program support to the professional staff by drafting memoranda; developing issue analysis and fact sheets; performing research and administrative assistance; planning conferences and meetings; attending hearings and meetings; working on grassroots campaigns; assisting with membership development, or tracking relevant legislation.

Categories, or combinations of categories, where interns may be assigned could be:
 

•	Program and Policy focus on specific issues related to advocacy efforts, including: teacher quality; middle and high school reform; math, science and technology; school leadership and governance; and youth development.
•	No Child Left Behind and Legislative Issues would focus on monitoring, writing fact sheets and action briefs, developing grassroots training material, PowerPoint presentations, Hill and agency coverage, and disseminating information to the LEFs and the general public through online advocacy, with a special emphasis on NCLB.
•	Give Kids Good Schools is a national campaign to guarantee a quality public education for every child in the nation.  Through national activities and online resources, the campaign seeks to provide Americans with the information and tools they need to take action in their communities and improve their public schools.  It uses both a national media strategy and grassroots organizing activities. A national campaign intern would assist with national activities, online resources, and general campaign support.
•	Interns in Communications will help PEN’s communications staff implement the organization’s internal and external communications goals.  Tools used to achieve these goals include:  media relations, publications, branding, and the PEN Weekly NewsBlast.
•	Legal internships engage law students in substantive research and analysis that relates to education law issues, 501(c)(3) issues, and other legal issues related to PEN’s mission.
•	The Member Development Services Intern provides administrative, program and research support for the Public Education Network (PEN)’s Member Services and Development division, and supports PEN’s strategic plan goals as assigned. The Intern assists the Senior Associate in managing the internal operations of the organization, specifically in conducting research on public education reform and assisting in member development.