Summer 2026 Graduate Intern, Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives - Organizational Management, Equity & Inclusion

The ACLU seeks a Graduate Intern for their Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives Department's (ASNI) Organizational Management, Equity & Inclusion (OMEI) Team of the National ACLU Office in Washington D.C. This internship can be hybrid or remote.

Qualifying applicants must currently be matriculated Graduate students and must be based in the U.S. for the entire duration of the internship.

The Team:

The ASNI department builds state capacity and strengthens the connections between the ACLU and its network of 54 state affiliates and their 1,500 staff members across the country. The affiliates’ work constitutes an unparalleled bulwark defending and advancing our civil liberties and civil rights. ASNI staff lead efforts to build program, build organizations, and drive resources to key battles across the country, positioning the nationwide organization for future challenges. The Organizational Management, Equity & Inclusion (OMEI) team is a crucial partner to ACLU affiliates and other leaders in change management, leadership development and organization capacity-building.

Our team (OMEI) strengthens affiliates’ organizational health and impact by providing training, coaching, resources, and learning communities that advance strategic and financial management, governance, leadership, and EDIB-centered culture—while helping affiliates effectively leverage multi-year investments to build long-term capacity and belonging.

What You’ll Do:

The intern will be responsible for collaborating with the OMEI team to ensure that the needs of the affiliate staff are met through learning programs, tools, and resources.

This internship supports the following Focus Areas:  Affiliate Organizational Management, Equity, and Inclusion (OMEI)/Affiliate Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging (EDIB) Trainings/departmental goals, "Affiliate Equity Pipeline" (Recruitment and Talent Attraction), Southern Legal Internship Program (SLIP). In this internship you will engage in strategic discussions on a nationwide scale, contributing to our commitment to fostering equity, diversity, inclusion, and belonging. You will research and share cutting-edge learnings to support a culture of learning and growth in the realm of Organizational Management, Equity, and Inclusion (OMEI)

Your Day to Day

• Resource Creation and Management: Create, edit, organize and maintain resources for effective communication of OMEI/SLIP programs and tools. Maintain and update content on "the HUB," our intranet platform. 

• Administrative Support: Assist in coordinating learning calls and webinars, support virtual workshops administration. Support administrative tasks, such as taking notes for and assisting with the coordination of meetings related to working groups, learning communities, and other initiatives.

• Communication: Draft preliminary language for deliverables, such as internal communications, brief summaries, and PowerPoint presentations, for different audiences. Written correspondence to stakeholders across the nationwide organization.

• Virtual Meeting Involvement: Attend critical meetings with ACLU affiliate staff and board members, Draft follow-up summaries and communications, documenting key learnings. 

• Data Analysis and Reporting: Identify and synthesis relevant data Excel and PowerPoint reports, analyze and report on priority programming and learning community effectiveness, support survey data collection and analysis of results.

What You’ll Bring:

• Graduate student in related field

• Word, PowerPoint and Excel proficiency

• Interest in organizational management, equity, inclusion, and belonging

• Experience with project management and building resources

• Ability to take initiative, think creatively, contribute innovative ideas, problem solve, work well under pressure, and take ownership of projects and assignments

• Experience assisting with administrative tasks in an office setting, preferably a nonprofit

• A commitment to civil liberties, civil rights, and social justice 

Future ACLU-ers Will:

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU

• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion and belonging in their work by demonstrating commitment to diversity with an approach that respects and values multiple perspectives

• Be committed to work collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflict

Internship Logistics:

• Location: Our internship program offers a limited number of remote or hybrid intern positions. This internship is full-time, remote or hybrid from our Washington D.C. office.

• Time Commitment: Full-time (35 hours/week)

• Internship Duration: Full-time internships span 10 consecutive weeks. This internship has a start date of: May 26th or June 8th

• Stipend: A stipend is available for students who are lawfully authorized to work. Arrangements can be made with educational institutions for work/study or course credit.

• Below is the stipend rate:

• $24/hr for graduate and law students or equivalent experience

Why the ACLU:

For over 100 years, the ACLU has worked to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s ending mass incarceration, achieving full equality for the LGBTQ+ community, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people.

Our Commitment to Accessibility, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

Accessibility, equity, diversity, and inclusion are core values of the ACLU and central to our work to advance liberty, equality, and justice for all. For us diversity, equity and inclusion are not just check-the-box activities, but a chance for us to make long-term meaningful change. We are a community committed to learning and growth, humility and grace, transparency and accountability. We believe in a collective responsibility to create a culture of belonging for all people within our organization – one that respects and embraces difference; treats everyone equitably; and empowers our colleagues to do the best work possible. We are as committed to anti-oppression and anti-racism internally as we are externally. Because whether we’re in the courts or in the office, we believe ‘We the People’ means all of us.

With this commitment in mind, we strongly encourage applications from all qualified individuals without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, national origin, marital status, citizenship, disability, veteran status and record of arrest or conviction, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

The ACLU is committed to providing reasonable accommodation to individuals with disabilities. If you are a qualified individual with a disability and need assistance applying online, please email [email protected]. If you are selected for an interview, you will receive additional information regarding how to request accommodations for the interview process.

In order to be considered for this position, all candidates must formally submit an application. The ACLU does not accept unsolicited calls or emails from candidates regarding their application status.