Internships available with the CISPES National Office in Washington, DC and San Salvador, El Salvador.

…and with local CISPES chapters in San Francisco and Seattle (additional cities may be possible)

Contact: Lisa Fuller -  tel. 202.521.2510 ext. 204, email lisa@cispes.org.

About CISPES

Founded in 1980, the Committee in Solidarity with the People of El Salvador, CISPES, is a grassroots, US-based organization dedicated to supporting the Salvadoran people’s struggle for self-determination and social and economic justice. The alternative that they are building –based upon democratic and socialist ideals – is an example to all people who seek a world free of domination and exploitation. We focus our work on El Salvador because of the US government’s continuing military, economic, and political intervention on behalf of US corporate interests, and because the Salvadoran people’s tenacious and inspiring struggle to build social justice. We work to achieve three main objectives: 1) end US intervention in El Salvador 2) provide political and material support to the grassroots left in El Salvador and 3) strengthen the left in the US.

Internship Qualifications

For all placements, we are looking for interns who have an ongoing commitment to organizing around El Salvador or issues that promote social change. People of color, women, LGBTQ community members and people with disabilities are strongly encouraged to apply.

General Internship Requirements

• Familiarity with the impact of US policies internationally, particularly in Latin America (i.e. globalization, neoliberalism, and resistance movements that are creating alternatives to such policies)
• Strong personal identification with political activism and social justice work
• Organized and self-motivated
• Ability to adapt to new circumstances and work strategies
• Openness to learning, understanding, and respecting cultural differences

Preferred Skills & Experience

• Experience in grassroots solidarity organizing (especially in El Salvador or with a local CISPES committee)
• Familiarity with Microsoft Office and graphic design software
• Comfort in written and oral Spanish and English (required for San Salvador internship)
• Fundraising experience

DC National Office Internship – Washington, DC

The National Office in DC is the liaison between El Salvador and CISPES chapters across the country.  By being in constant contact with staff inEl Salvadoras well as our long-term Salvadoran allies, the National Office oversees the implementation of CISPES’ national program and strategy.  In the coming months our major program will include organizing a national labor tour for the winter with a Salvadoran union leader and recruiting for a Salvadoran/Salvadoran-American delegation to El Salvador. This year, we are especially interested in interns that can offer either:

1) strong communications skills including writing, blogging, facebook/twitter/other social media skills or;

2) experience organizing with the US labor organizations, unions and workers associations.

We will be developing multi-media materials to pitch national and local unions on hosting a Salvadoran union leader for tour events, as well as developing informational brochures on CISPES, and writing articles for our quarterly newsletter, El Salvador Watch.

San Salvador National Office Internship – San Salvador, El Salvador

This office maintains communication between CISPES and our Salvadoran allies, providing CISPES with information for periodic public updates and informing the underlying strategy for our political organizing campaigns.  On a practical level, this team works with the National Office to coordinate delegations to El Salvador and works with Salvadoran social justice leaders who travel to the US on CISPES speaking tours.

Specific Internship Requirements (in addition to the General Internship Requirements listed above):

• Spanish/English written and oral fluency
• Strong writing skills, including blogs & social media
• Multiple years of organizing and solidarity experience, preferably within theCentral Americasolidarity movement.  (In the past, San Salvador interns have been members of a local chapter whose committee work motivated them to become more deeply involved by spending time in El Salvador).
• Basic knowledge of the revolutionary history of El Salvador
• Capacity to communicate and relate well with CISPES Salvadoran partners

Local Chapter Internship – San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA (and possibly more)

CISPES chapters are our grassroots organizing engines made up almost entirely of volunteer activists committed to supporting the revolutionary Salvadoran movement and fighting US interference in the Salvadoran struggle! The chapters carry out the national CISPES program, which this year includes organizing the 2013 winter labor tour and recruiting for the summer “Radical Roots” delegation for Salvadorans and Salvadoran-Americans. They will also be focusing on general outreach/recruitment, ongoing grassroots fundraising to sustain the local chapter and organizing political events, often in collaboration with local organizations and coalition partners.

Internship Credit, Compensation and Schedule
We generally prefer interns to work between 10 and 20 hours a week, for a period of four months. As a grassroots organization with a shoe-string budget, we cannot provide monetary compensation to interns. But maybe you can help us with our grassroots fundraising work!  We are committed to working with interns and universities to obtain school credit for CISPES work. Most universities have internship programs which will guarantee credit. If not, you can try for independent study credit.

Apply Today!

Download a CISPES Internship Application and email the completed form to Lisa Fuller, lisa@cispes.org. Or mail to CISPES Internship Coordinator, 1525 Newton St. NW, Washington, DC 20010.

For more information on a CISPES internship, contact Lisa Fuller – Tel: 202-521-2510 x 204, email: lisa@cispes.org

CISPES IS AN EQUAL OPPORTUNITY/AFFIRMATIVE ACTION EMPLOYER:

People of color, women, gay men, lesbians, bisexuals, transgender and gender non-conforming people, and persons with disabilities are encouraged to apply.