Overview

The Renew Democracy Initiative (RDI) is a non-partisan, not-for-profit organization dedicated to renewing and advancing the values of liberal democracy in the U.S. and around the world. We promote intellectual humility and an empathetic approach to disagreement. 

We have a small, tight-knit executive team, so interns will have the unique opportunity to learn all aspects of how to run an organization and make a personal impact on America’s democratic landscape. Because we are a start-up organization, interns should also be ready to play multiple roles as we have an “all hands on deck” mentality. All roles will have a mix of substantive and administrative responsibilities.

Interns will have unprecedented access to our Board of Directors through our lunch & learns and other events—including renowned chess grandmaster & Putin critic Garry Kasparov, Senator Heidi Heitkamp, Lt. Col Alexander Vindman, Pulitzer Prize winner Bret Stephens, former head of the Republican National Committee, Michael Steele, and many others. Check out our website for more info!

Academic Credit: Offered upon the school department’s approval

About the role

This role will involve working on some combination of the below. Please review our social media presence (Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and YouTube)  and website to get a sense of our existing content, especially our videos.

• Working on video conceptualization with our video team, executive team, and members of the Board of Directors;
• Assisting with video editing and production. This will involve a number of tasks, including but not limited to: splicing video clips together, locating b-roll, as well as placing b-roll within videos during production, finding appropriate music for videos, and subtitling videos;
• Working with the marketing team to create video content for social media campaigns;
• Assisting with the promotion of RDI video content;
• Creatively strategizing ways to generate positive publicity for RDI videos;
• Working on other special projects as needed.

Qualifications of an ideal candidate:

• Exceptional undergraduates, graduate students, recent grads; or those with relevant & commensurate work experience are encouraged to apply;
• Knowledge of video editing and production is a must;
• Experience editing with Final Cut Pro and/or Premiere is required;
• Detail-oriented to a fault;
• Strong belief in RDI’s mission and values;
• Experience thinking through effective distribution of video content is a plus;
• Animation skills (e.g. Adobe Animate, Powtoon) is a plus;
• Knowledge of graphic design is a plus;
• Open-minded and willing to interact with those whom they may disagree with;
• Social, articulate, and a self-starter unafraid to take initiative.

Logistics & Benefits

• An ability to work remotely due to the current crisis and, if/when it’s safe to return to the office, an opportunity to work at an exciting start-up with unlimited snacks, coffee, and other perks.
•  Our internships last 3-6 months. Interns can either work full time (40 hours/week) or part time (25+ hours/week); but can be flexible depending on applicant’s circumstance;
• Hours are flexible and we are willing to work around your academic schedule;
• An opportunity to work closely with senior organizational leadership, including the Executive Director, as well as access to members of the Board of Directors, and other individuals from RDI’s extended network;
• This is an unpaid internship;
• A typical day could include spending a few hours executing on a video project; participating in a lunch-and-learn with a prominent political figure, a world champion poker player, or a business leader;  coordinating with the Executive Team to edit a new project; and attending team meetings to conceptualize new video ideas.

We are recruiting on a rolling basis. Please send a resume, brief cover letter (optional), and a portfolio of your video/creative work to [email protected]. Only complete applications will be reviewed.