Advocacy Department Internship

Founded in 1972 as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, Latino Justice PRLDEF (LJP) has been a leading civil rights and social justice organization for five decades. LJP’s core issue areas include voting rights and redistricting, economic justice, immigrant rights, criminal legal system (policing and prison) reform, racial justice, leadership development, and issues related to Puerto Rico. LJP uses impact litigation, advocacy, and community education and engagement, among other strategies, to protect and advance the rights of Latinx and other communities of color.

LJP is headquartered in New York City and has staff throughout California, Florida, Texas and Washington, D.C.

Working under the direct supervision of the Chief of Advocacy, the Advocacy Intern will report to our New York Headquarters (HQ) and will play an important role supporting the Advocacy Department in increasing legislative and administrative initiatives in advocacy and community engagement campaigns. The Advocacy Intern will be passionate about bringing reforms meant to transform the criminal legal and immigration systems, expand voting and immigrant rights, and support economic justice campaigns.

The intern will have basic knowledge of criminal, legal, and voting rights issues; and will be a strong communicator with a collaborative spirit.

• Provides support to the Advocacy Team on issues relating to voting rights, criminal legal, economic justice and immigrant rights.
• Helps identify policy reforms that will benefit the Latinx community directly.
• Research laws and legislative amendments and proposals across a range of issue areas.
• Assists with drafting comments and memos of support or opposition across a range of issues.
• Provides administrative support for staff-run training and workshops, especially during legislative sessions, about how the legislature works, to lobby the legislature, how to testify, how to write policy, and other related topics.
• Helps identify new coalition and stakeholder partnerships for criminal legal, immigrant, voting and economic justice rights.
• Collaborates with the Communications Department as needed to support Advocacy campaigns.
• Assists, where feasible, with community engagement efforts across our regions.
• Regularly participates and supports LJP’s efforts in coalition meetings across a range of issues.
• Regularly participates and engages in internal Advocacy team meetings

• Strong communications skills
• Knowledge of Microsoft Suite, Outlook, and Teams
• Ability to support in all aspects of community engagement meetings, including public speaking and administrative support
• Ability to communicate, write, speak, and create communications for the community we serve strongly preferred
• Formerly incarcerated individuals and other systems-impacted individuals are strongly encouraged to apply.

• An interest in criminal justice, voting rights or immigration rights advocacy required.
• Strong writing skills, for community education, legislative advocacy and policy, required.
• Ability to follow a Hybrid schedule, to be discussed at time of internship offer.

This Internship requires a commitment of 15 hours a week for ten weeks (January-April) which may be divided between in-office/in-person and remote work as mutually agreed upon by the intern and the Chief of Advocacy. We are happy to support applications for academic course credit and will provide a stipend of $3,750 for the entirety of the internship.