|
|
|
|
|
CAIR is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization. The organization's mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding. Internships at CAIR-Chicago offer students and activists a great opportunity to learn, interact, and grow in a friendly and diverse environment. Here are just some of our previous interns.
FALL 2008 INTERNSHIP OPPORTUNITIES AT CAIR-CHICAGO
CAIR-Chicago, the local chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), is currently offering 18 new internship opportunities. CAIR is the nation's largest Muslim civil rights organization. The organization's mission is to enhance the understanding of Islam, encourage dialogue, protect civil liberties, empower American Muslims and build coalitions that promote justice and mutual understanding.
All internships and externships are unpaid. Positions last one academic term and include a minimum 12-hour/week commitment. Applicants should email a resume and cover letter to Gerald Hankerson, Outreach Coordinator, at:
internships@cairchicago.org or
externships@cairchicago.org if you are at least a graduate student.
APPLICATION GUIDELINES:
Clearly indicate which internship opportunity you are applying for in your cover letter. If you are applying for more than one position (up to three positions), please list in order of preference. All Fall 2008 applications are due by September 19th (please note: fall positions usually run from September through December). Applications that do not list the above information will not be processed. If you have any questions, please email all inquiries to internships@cairchicago.org, or to externships@cairchicago.org if you are at least a graduate student. Students interested in receiving class credit, should indicate so in their cover letters. Credit will be arranged during the first week of the academic term.
Listing of all internships by department:
Civil Rights:
CIVIL RIGHTS INTERN
LAW CLERK (Open to Law Students Only)
LEGAL TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER
Communications:
COMMUNICATIONS INTERN
CHURCH PROJECT INTERN
FAITH CORE ONLINE MAGAZINE INTERN
PHOTO JOURNALIST INTERN
Governmental Affairs:
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS INTERN
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMUNITY ORGANIZING VOLUNTEER RECRUITER
VOTER EDUCATION PROJECT INTERN
POLICY RESEARCH INTERN
Operations:
GRANT RESEARCH INTERN
TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER
Outreach:
PUBLIC RELATIONS INTERN
PUBLIC EDUCATION INTERN
HUMAN RESOURCES INTERN
MUSLIMS CARE PROJECT INTERN
CIVIL RIGHTS DEPARTMENT
Our Civil Rights Department handles cases that range from prejudiced gestures to full blown discrimination. Our clients are Muslims as well as non-Muslims who have had Islam imputed upon them.
Interns and Law Clerks may work on any of the following projects:
Citizenship Delay project - seeks to address the lengthy delays Muslims are facing in applying for citizenship
Police Misconduct project - addresses incidents where police officers have discriminated or used excessive force against Muslims
Prison project - secures the rights of Muslim inmates to practice their religion freely, and ensures that inmates are treated humanely
Airport Profiling project - helps Muslims who have been discriminated against at airports
Employment Discrimination project - helps Muslims discriminated against based on religion at the workplace.
CIVIL RIGHTS INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Civil Rights Coordinator and staff attorney on resolving cases of discrimination reported to CAIR-Chicago.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Assist in documenting incidents of religious discrimination by counseling and interviewing complainants regarding their incidents
- Research laws and policies on employment, student conduct, and immigration procedures, as well as criminal offenses and other areas as seen fit
- Assist in maintaining the Civil Rights Online Center
- Updating databases containing information about abuses reported to CAIR-Chicago
Qualifications:
- Organized and demonstrate the ability to follow through the various on-going and newly assigned tasks
- Excellent written communication skills and a commitment to serving the community
back to top
CIVIL RIGHTS LAW CLERK (Open to Law Students Only)
Extern will work closely with the Civil Rights Coordinator and Staff Attorney on resolving cases of discrimination reported to CAIR-Chicago. Applicants interested in the Law Clerk Externship should email a resume and cover letter to: externships@cairchicago.org
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Assist in documenting incidents of religious discrimination by counseling and interviewing complainants regarding their incidents
- Research laws and policies on employment, student conduct, and immigration procedures, as well as criminal offenses and other areas as seen fit
- Legal writing: drafting arguments, memos and complaints
- Participate in representing complainants in dispute resolution, EEOC mediation, filing complaints and law suits
- Assist in maintaining the Civil Rights Online Center
- Updating databases containing information about abuses reported to CAIR-Chicago
Qualifications:
- Organized and demonstrate the ability to follow through the various on-going and newly assigned tasks
- Excellent written communication skills and a commitment to serving the community
back to top
LEGAL TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER
The extern will work with the Civil Rights Director and Staff Attorney to translate legal documents and interpret for clientele during counsel or other legal sessions. Applicants interested in the externship should email a resume and cover letter to: externships@cairchicago.org
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Participate in translating for complainants in dispute resolution, EEOC mediation, filing complaints and law suits
- Translate department documents and communications to clients
Qualifications:
- Skilled in reading, writing, and speaking one of the following languages (formal and colloquial): Arabic, Urdu, Spanish, Farsi or other languages spoken by Muslim populations in the greater Chicago area
- Familiar with legal terminology and functions of the United States judicial system
- Able to perform consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, and conduct analytical research
- Proficient with Windows XP and Microsoft Office
back to top
COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT
Our Communications Department monitors the local media closely and flags coverage of issues relating to Islam and Muslims. The Department also holds Press Conferences and issues press releases, media advisories, and story pitches in order to ensure that Muslim perspectives on pressing issues and current events are represented in the mainstream media.
COMMUNICATIONS INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Communications Coordinator on projects and/or daily tasks per CAIR-Chicago's organizational needs.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
-
Work on pieces that deconstruct sensational and biased coverage of issues pertinent to Muslims and Islam. The purpose is to flag such pieces, to highlight their inaccuracies, and to offer thoughtful analyses that diffuse misconceptions.
-
Students work will be published and featured in a variety of ways:
-
-
a. Published as letters to the editor and as perspective pieces in Chicago's main newspapers such as the Chicago Tribune, Sun Times, Daily Herald, and Daily Southtown, as well as community papers, Final Call and Muslim Journal
b. Submitted to fourteen community newspapers published by the Southwest News Messenger
c. Published on the CAIR-Chicago website as well as other well-traversed websites such as Media Monitors (archived by Google)
d. Featured in the upcoming Chicago Media Review Blog (to be launched)
The targeted audience of these pieces is the general American public readers of the main Chicagoland newspapers and web surfers. Journalism students preferred.
- Interns will work on long term research projects assisting with the development of qualitative and quantitative reports, such as the Chicago-Tribune Review, analysis of the Chicago-Tribune's coverage of Islam and Muslims over the year and the Barnes and Nobles Shelf Study, analysis of the proportion of books available on Islam and Muslims.
- Interns will participate in BLOG Watch, where major BLOGs are monitored and responded to, so as to address inaccuracies and misconceptions about Islam and Muslims.
Qualifications:
- Excellent written and oral communication skills
- Proficient with Windows XP, Microsoft Word, Excel, Access, Explorer
- Proficient with internet research
- Experience with general administrative support a plus
back to top
CHURCH PROJECT INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Communications Coordinator on this new initiative which seeks to build bridges of dialogue and understanding between the Muslim community and other Chicago religious communities.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Assist in public speaking engagements at different religious centers in Chicago
- Research Chicago religious communities and current religious and political issues on the international, national, and local levels
- Speech writing
- Community relations
Qualifications:
- Knowledgeable about international, national, and local religious and political issues, and comparative religion
- Experience and comfort with public speaking, engaging with diverse faith perspectives, and articulating a Muslim faith perspective.
back to top
FAITH CORE ONLINE MAGAZINE INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Communications Coordinator on Faith Core, a new biweekly journal, which seeks to provide an open forum for thinkers of diverse backgrounds to share faith-based reflections on a common theme.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Editing and soliciting articles to be published in Faith Core
- Community relations
Qualifications:
- Excellent written communication skills
- Knowledgeable about comparative religion and contemporary religious issues
back to top
PHOTO JOURNALIST INTERN
Intern will work with CAIR-Chicago's Executive Director, coordinators, and team members to create visual messaging for web display, campaigns, and presentations
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Provide photo coverage to document CAIR-Chicago's activities and events
- Coordinate schedule to ensure that events are covered from start to finish
- Capture proceedings, activities, and event highlights to convey event theme
- Upload pictures for organization and archiving purposes
- Take general photographs to portray routine, relevant organizational processes
- Identify key figure and themes to assist with captioning and photo layout
Qualifications:
- must have a flexible schedule to accommodate weekends and evenings
- access to appropriate equipment preferred
- a portfolio illustrating previous experience and work desired
back to top
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS
DEPARTMENT
Our Governmental Affairs Department seeks to organize, mobilize, and empower Chicagoland's Muslim community with long-term civic participation. Its educational initiatives help community members understand the political system and utilize it to work for their issues. Projects include voter registration drives, community workshops, "know your rights" educational campaigns, and training sessions at mosques and community centers on how to contact and engage local and national politicians. The department also systematically works to educate local political representatives about their Muslim constituents while ultimately engaging these representatives with the Muslim community's unique issues and concerns.
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Governmental Affairs Coordinator with projects and/or daily tasks within the scope of CAIR-Chicago's organizational needs.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Updating and maintaining departmental files
- Contributing written pieces to “The Mobilizer” (the Governmental Affairs Blogs)
- Running errands outside of the office as needed
- Update voter files
- Occasionally assisting in legislative and/or electoral research
Qualifications:
- Working knowledge of Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, and Power Point)
- Self starter and ability to multitask
back to top
GOVERNMENTAL AFFAIRS COMMUNITY ORGANIZING VOLUNTEER RECRUITER
Intern will closely with the Governmental Affairs Coordinator and Political Organizer to recruit volunteers for the 2008 voter mobilization effort.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Develop comprehensive strategy to recruit volunteers for political campaigns
- Assist the political organizer in coordinating volunteer activities in the Bridgeview area
- Develop a comprehensive plan to be used across Muslim communities for political volunteer recruitment
- Create a centralized database of volunteers to be used in the future
Qualifications:
- Be familiar with the Muslim community
- Have experience in working with mosque leadership
- Be familiar with the Bridgeview area
- Have previous experience in recruiting volunteers/working with large groups of volunteers
back to top
VOTER EDUCATION PROJECT INTERN
Intern(s) will work with the Governmental Affairs Coordinator to develop creative educational material for the Muslim community.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Develop voter education materials to distribute to the Muslim community
- Research new civic education materials to be distributed to the community
- Assist in planning civic duty 101 classes for mosques and local area community centers
- Assist in establishing communication with elected officials' personnel to obtain information as needed
Qualifications:
- Self starter and ability to multitask
- Proficient in Microsoft Office applications
- Outgoing and able to communicate with offices of elected officials
back to top
POLICY RESEARCH INTERN
Intern will work with the Governmental Affairs Coordinator to develop CAIR-Chicago's position on all relevant legislation and policies.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Research new legislation relevant to CAIR-Chicago
- Assist the Governmental Affairs Coordinator in analyzing current and proposed legislations
- Developing detailed analysis for internal use
- Occasionally working with other intern(s) to develop educational materials for the Muslim community
Qualifications:
- Strong background in research
- Strong writing and verbal skills
- Self starter and ability to multitask
back to top
OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT
The Operations Department manages a variety of tasks and processes in order to facilitate the maintenance and improvement of daily functions within the organization and its constituent departments. Internally, this includes HR related tasks, updating organizational records and files, corresponding with government offices and vendors, IT support, and directing incoming communication via email and phone to their respective departments.
The Operations Department also coordinates HTML and graphical composition for the creation of printed materials, website updates, and email campaigns. The Operations Department performs ongoing research and undertakes special projects designed to improve CAIR-Chicago's function and efficiency.
GRANT RESEARCH INTERN
The intern will work closely with the Outreach Coordinator and the Grant Coordinator to conduct research on government, organization and foundation grants suitable for CAIR-Chicago.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Research grant-making organizations and programs
- Create a database with grant information
- Create an Events Portfolio for all of CAIR-Illinois's past events
- Maintain Events database and files
- Assess department projects to seek potential grant qualifications
Qualifications:
- Proficient with Windows XP and Microsoft Office
- Organized, able to multi-task and follow through various on-going and newly assigned tasks
- Attentive to detail and skilled in oral and written communication as well as problem-solving
- Able to conduct extensive research
back to top
TRANSLATOR AND INTERPRETER
The extern will work with each department administrator to translate literature, multimedia and communications for mass distribution. In addition, the extern must attend major functions and events where non-English speakers will be present. Applicants interested in this externship should email a resume and cover letter to: externships@cairchicago.org
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Translate existing literature and written materials
- Interpret CAIR-Illinois multimedia and news coverage
- Attend events and conferences to translate presentations for non-English speaking audience members
Qualifications:
- Skilled in reading, writing, and speaking one of the following languages (formal and colloquial): Arabic, Urdu, Spanish, Farsi or other languages spoken by Muslim populations in the greater Chicago area
- Able to perform consecutive and simultaneous interpretation, and conduct thorough, analytical research
- Proficient with Windows XP and Microsoft Office
- Friendly and sensible
back to top
OUTREACH DEPARTMENT
The Outreach Department seeks to forge mutually beneficial partnerships with local and national institutions. It also works to foster an understanding between Chicago's Muslim and non-Muslim communities via educational collaborations. Lastly, it recruits and pairs the right talent (volunteers and interns) with the appropriate CAIR-Chicago projects.
PUBLIC RELATIONS INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Outreach Coordinator on establishing or maintaining relations with Chicago-based organizations on issues that are of CAIR-Chicago's scope.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Research organizations that overlap with CAIR-Chicago in scope
- Meet with representatives of various organizations in the Chicagoland area
- Conduct Intro to CAIR-Chicago presentations
- Maintain appropriate files and databases
- Maintain Online Partners Page
- Design promotional materials for different events and different audiences
- Publicize CAIR-Chicago events
- Post events to appropriate websites and list serves
- Manage the CAIR-Chicago Publicity Committee
Qualifications:
- Friendly, outgoing and self-motivated
- Strong organizational and multi-tasking skills
- Excellent critical thinking and visual skills
- Demonstrate the ability to follow through the various on-going and newly assigned tasks
- Excellent oral and written communications skills
- Ability to work well under pressure
back to top
PUBLIC EDUCATION INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Outreach Coordinator or Cultural Sensitivity Trainer on developing educational material on Islam and Muslims, as well as coordinating and/or conducting presentations on topics relating to Islam.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Create educational material on Islam and Muslims
- Create a speaker's bureau database on topics relating to Islam
- Conduct presentations on topics relating to Islam (training provided)
- Coordinate workshops relating to Islam, as needed
Qualifications:
- Organized, multi-tasked and demonstrate the ability to follow through the various on-going and newly assigned tasks
- Strong problem-solving skills
- Possess excellent oral and written communications skills as well as the ability to do extensive research
- Familiar with Excel, Access and Microsoft PowerPoint
- Ability to integrate graphical software within Power Point presentations
- Education, Middle Eastern Studies, and Religious Studies majors preferred
back to top
HUMAN RESOURCES INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Outreach Coordinator on maintaining both the internship and volunteerism programs of CAIR-Chicago.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Assist in setting up for-credit internships for undergraduate and graduate university students by completing the appropriate paperwork and maintaining the necessary databases
- Conduct presentations on the importance of volunteerism and discuss existing volunteer opportunities at CAIR-Chicago within the Greater Chicagoland area
- Direct volunteers and liaisons as needed
- Plan and coordinate social outings for volunteers
- Assist in developing CAIR-Chicago volunteer gear
- Follow-up on new volunteer applications using SmartFTP (training will be provided)
- Maintain Online Volunteer Center Blackboard (training will be provided)
Qualifications:
- Friendly, outgoing, and demonstrate strong leadership skills
- Self-motivated
- Excellent oral and written communications skills
- Detail-oriented and excellent organizational skills
back to top
MUSLIMS CARE PROJECT INTERN
Intern will work closely with the Outreach Coordinator on managing the Muslims Care project: a national initiative which promotes volunteerism.
Essential duties and responsibilities include the following (other duties may be assigned):
- Plan and coordinate 1-2 community service events per month
- Work in conjunction with other Chicagoland organizations on monthly community service events
- Publicize events to CAIR-Chicago constituents
- Attend events and report back to the Outreach Department
Qualifications:
- Friendly, outgoing, and demonstrate strong leadership skills
- Self-motivated
- Excellent oral and written communications skills
- Detail-oriented and excellent organizational skills
back to top
|
|
|
|
|
AmrexMedia.com
