HANNYS’ interns can work in three primary areas: public policy, food security programs and public education/community organizing. It is very important to us that the internship be designed around the interests and strengths of the student. Therefore, depending upon these factors, the intern may work in only one of the three areas or may do a little work in all three areas. A description of the work in these areas follows.

For the public policy advocacy, the intern will attend policy strategy meetings focusing on welfare reform and economic security, the two main ones being the Welfare Reform Network and the Economic Security campaign meetings. The intern will be expected to contribute innovative ideas to move the planning forward, to report back to the staff person regarding what went on at the meetings, and take on any tasks assigned at the meeting (i.e. draft flyer for event or draft information sheet). HANNYS will provide training so that the intern can get up to speed on the initiatives.

The intern will also need to research and draft reports on specific issues, such as survey reports or policy summaries. The intern will also devote time to meetings with legislators and agency staff (i.e., the city’s welfare agency) and to train HANNYS members to attend these meetings and speak out on the issues.

For the food security advocacy, the intern will assist with two main projects: Hunger Awareness Day and Thanksgiving Action Against Hunger. The intern will assist the anti-hunger coordinators to go to schools and get children involved with the anti-hunger poster project. There will also be a rally or other type of public action on this day and the intern will need to assist with the logistics of such an action (distributing flyers, making phone calls, drafting fact sheets, signing up speakers, etc.). Similar work is entailed for the Thanksgiving Action, as well as work on our survey accessing demand for emergency food.

For the public education/community organizing, the intern will work mainly on setting up teach-ins/welfare presentations in local communities. This involves outreach to community centers, churches, housing projects, daycares, etc. to set up the welfare presentation and training. HANNYS will train the intern to present the teach-in and work with and empower low-income individuals to have a voice on the vital economic issues affecting their lives. In addition to the teach-ins, HANNYS has numerous actions such as rallies, phone call and fax campaigns targeted at bringing about progressive policy changes. The intern will be needed to plan and coordinate these actions and to make sure our members are informed and get involved.

If you are interested in being an intern, please contact our Albany or NYC office.