EARN Summer Internships 2008

The EARN Summer Internship is a ten-week internship consisting of real-world applications of economic analysis skills and policymaking. This opportunity is a joint project of EARN, Howard University and University of Texas- Pan American and internships are only open to students from these schools. For information on other job opportunities, go to the EARN jobs page.

Information for Applicants
Participating EARN Groups (by State) and EARN Intern Projects 2008
Application Materials

Information for Applicants

EARN interns learn new ways of shaping public policy. They work with state-level EARN groups to fight for important state- and regional-level policies that often have national implications. EARN interns apply their skills in many ways: conducting research, writing policy papers, working on media campaigns, and persuading the general public, policymakers, and legislators. This state-level training ground prepares interns for the full range of policy analysis and leadership.

What is EARN?

Coordinated by the Economic Policy Institute (EPI), EARN’s national network currently has 55 state-level multi-issue research, policy, and advocacy organizations in 40 states. EARN’s mission is to improve the lives of Americans through state and local policy, and change the nature of the national policy debate—state by state. EARN seeks to advance progressive policy at the state level, to use the collective capacity of its organizations to develop new ideas and strategies, and to deliver important national messages at the state and regional levels.

Who should apply?

EARN Interns are undergraduates who have demonstrated a commitment to progressive values. EARN interns are passionate about achieving change on many issues, such as health care, the environment, education, and minimum and living wages. EARN Interns work as paid interns ten weeks during the summer at any of the 55 EARN groups listed below. Your university contact and EARN groups work together to place interns in the state of their choice.

For more information or to apply, contact Lauren Marra, Economic Policy Institute, 1333 H Street, NW, Ste. 300, Washington, DC  20005, email lmarra@epi.org. The Economic Policy Institute and all EARN groups are equal opportunity employers.

Participating EARN Groups by State

Internships positions are open in Alaska, California, Colorado, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Minnesota, Missouri, North Carolina, Ohio, Oregon, Utah, Vermont, and Wisconsin.

Alaska
Alaska Center for Public Policy
Anchorage, AK

An EARN intern may do policy research, analysis, blogs, newsletters, presentations at hearings, technical assistance for other non-profits or legislators, development of specialized search engines and/or websites, marketing our products and services, etc.  The Alaska Center for Public Policy covers a very wide breadth of policy topics, many on which the intern will work.

Arkansas - Internship Filled.
Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families
Little Rock, AR

California
Center on Policy Initiatives
San Diego, CA

Working Partnerships USA
San Jose, CA

Working Partnerships USA’s mission is to address the needs of working people through strategic initiatives that build the institutional power of working class communities, reframe issues, and create replicable models for progressive action.  An EARN intern at Working Partnerships USA in San Jose for the summer 2008 will have the opportunity to work on both research or organizing projects (based on student interest).  Our projects are all related to social and economic justice.  Issues that are likely to be part of our efforts in Summer 2008 health care, land use, city budget and child care.   

Colorado
Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute
Denver, CO

Florida - Internship Filled.
Research Institute on Social and Economic Policy
Miami, FL

An EARN intern at the Research Instistute on Social and Economic Policy (RISEP) in Miami for the summer 2008 will engage in a number of tasks related to our research on social and economic justice issues.  We operate very much as a "team", so the intern will be working with other young researchers. Familiarity with a database management program such as Excel, or being a "quick learner" on such a database program, is important.  Specifically, the intern will be asked to do one or more of the following things:  (1) put together tables and graphs for our fall 2008 *State of Working Florida* report; (2) explore federal and state databases and update tables on our website (www.risep-fiu.org ); (3) perhaps engage in some of our "survey" work (probably by telephone) to create original databases; and (4) miscellaneous office work, as needed. 

Illinois - Internship Filled.
Center for Tax and Budget Accountability
Chicago, IL

Indiana
Indiana Institute for Working Families
Indianapolis, IN

Iowa
Iowa Policy Project
Mt. Vernon, IA

Kentucky
Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED)
Berea, KY

MACED works to promote economic alternatives that work for people and places in eastern Kentucky and Central Appalachia. A research and policy summer intern will likely work on one or more of several research projects: 1) Working on a report about the status of working poor families in Kentucky; 2) Doing research on MACED sector focuses: renewable energy/energy efficiency, sustainable forestry, affordable financial services, and child care; 3) Building a database of social and economic indicators of the Central Appalachian region 4) Collecting information on the true costs of the coal industry.

Maryland - Internship Filled.
Progressive Maryland/ Progressive Maryland Education Fund
Silver Spring, MD

At Progressive Maryland Education Fund in Silver Spring, Maryland, an intern will work on preparing the State of Working Maryland report which offers a detailed look at the challenges facing working families and proposals on how to help lower- and middle-income families. This paper's findings are widely circulated to lawmakers and activists across the state after its public release.In addition, an intern will assist in conducting research into how government workers are compensated.Interns will conduct research on wages paid to workers employed at public facilities (UMD, BWI, Port of Baltimore, etc.). Based on his/her findings, an Intern will then write a report for public release determining the merits of expanding Living Wage coverage to those workers.

Minnesota
Minnesota Budget Project
St. Paul, MN

This internship at the Minnesota Budget Project would entail working with data collected from the Minnesota Nonprofit Study (a collaborative project between the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and the Humphrey Institute at the University of Minnesota) to analyze the results of a recently completed survey and develop a customized reporting tool that nonprofits can use to compare their performance to similar organizations. The Minnesota Nonprofit Study is a ground-breaking effort to gather key information about nonprofit finance and management issues and combine it with existing IRS data. The internship will provide you with extensive hands-on experience working with original data and transforming the information into a practical tool for the public.

The Minnesota Budget Project provides independent research, analysis and advocacy on budget and tax issues, emphasizing their impact on low- and moderate-income Minnesotans and the organizations that serve them.

Missouri
Missouri Citizen Education Fund
St. Louis, MO

North Carolina
North Carolina Budget and Tax Center
Raleigh, NC

At the NC Budget & Tax Center in Raleigh, North Carolina, an EARN intern most likely would be involved in three types of projects: 1) research various issues around economic and workforce development policy; 2) contributing sections to various reports; and 3) monitoring various legislative committees and state boards. An intern also would have a chance to contribute to some of the center’s “new media” work and gain a broad exposure to the work of the Center’s parent organization, the NC Justice Center.

Ohio
Policy Matters Ohio
Cleveland and Columbus, OH

An EARN intern will help produce high-quality research by gathering, analyzing and working with data and assisting in creating, conducting and analyzing surveys. Topics the intern may work on include work, wages and working conditions, economic development, green energy, job development, education and training, and health and social services. For a full internship description, click here.

Oregon
Oregon Center for Public Policy
Silverton, OR

At the Oregon Center for Public Policy in Silverton, Oregon the research assistant for the summer of 2008 will likely focus on background research for our biennial State of Working Oregon report, which will be released around Labor Day. Other projects involving taxes, consumer lending, poverty, and/or economic development may also emerge as part of the research assistant's responsibilities. The research assistant should be prepared to perform the following tasks:

* analyzing quantitative data using various software packages
* developing charts, graphs, or informational pieces
* writing brief analyses or parts of larger research reports
* developing educational materials
* gathering research information from traditional and electronic sources
* other duties as assigned

Pennsylvania - Internship Filled.
Keystone Research Center
Harrisburg, PA

Summer interns at the Keystone Research Center will provide research assistance in preparation for the release of the State of Working Pennsylvania. Assistance may also be required for on going projects tracking state tax revenue and spending, evaluating health care and tax reform, researching economic development subsidies, and evaluating Pennsylvania workforce development policy. 

Generally a prospective intern should be prepared to:

• Research, write and edit analytical reports, briefing paper, op-eds, and other written materials on Pennsylvania public policy issues.
• Prepare literature reviews: collect and summarize current research through the Internet, libraries, and other resources.
• Collect and organize data.
• Code data to produce descriptive statistics using SAS statistical software.
• Provide information and technical assistance to KRC’s external constituencies and to public policymakers in determining the economic impacts of existing and proposed public policies and programs. 

Texas - Internship Filled.
Center for Public Policy Priorities
Austin, TX

At the Center for Public Policy Priorities in Austin, Texas, interns will work on State of Working Texas  2008 (data analysis and writing), along with classifying and summarizing payday loan complaints from 2005-2007.

Utah
Voices for Utah Children
Salt Lake City, UT

At Voices for Utah Children in Salt Lake City, Utah, an intern would work on one or several of the following projects, depending on his or her interests:

• The development of a report under the auspices of the Working Poor Families Project. Tasks would include data analysis and presentation, as well as research and analysis of policies that are designed to promote worker education and skills training.
• A study that attempts to quantify the fiscal impacts of undocumented immigrants in Utah, from study design to (light) data analysis to publication. This study would be presented in a Legislative Interim Task Force meeting, as well as circulated in the media and in public events.
• The design, preparation and presentation of a series of candidate briefings on fiscal issues facing the state. The emphasis would be on helping candidates of both parties for the November elections to the state legislature understand the fiscal issues facing state government and the way that diverse policies affect these issues.

Vermont
Public Assets Institute
Montpelier, VT

This is an opportunity to learn first hand how to mine the mountains of government data for the nuggets of information the public can use. Working in the heart of the smallest state capital in the country, you'll get a chance to experience the benefits of accessible state government. For those who appreciate small town life, Vermont is also a beautiful place to be in the summertime.  

As part of a public budgeting and budget transparency project, Public Assets Institute is compiling a database of reliable, consistent and easily accessible state fiscal information. We are seeking help to gather specific data and, in some cases, to enhance the information to make it more useful to the general public. The work of the intern will involve data entry based on web research as well as research of hard-copy documents. Strong skills in Excel are required; familiarity and experience with MySQL, Access or other relational database programs would be a great help.  

The other major task of the interm will be to help us prepare our State of Working Vermont report, which we will publish in the fall.  

Virginia - Internship Filled.
The Commonwealth Institute for Fiscal Analysis
Richmond, VA

Summer interns work closely with the Executive Director and staff, providing critical support to the work of The Commonwealth Institute through their involvement in quantitative analysis, research, and writing. Projects in the Summer of 2008 would include:

• As new data becomes available, updating and supplementing our first “State of Working Virginia Report” released in December, 2007.
• Researching Virginia’s unemployment insurance program and drafting a brief detailing how the program can be improved to cover more working Virginians.
• Further investigation of the retirement plans offered by Virginia employers. Questions to be addressed include: what percentage of Virginia employers offer retirement options to employees? What do these options look like? How many employees take advantage of these benefit options?
• Supporting our ongoing analysis of health care in Virginia, particularly in regard to coverage expansion proposals.  Virginia has an expanding population of uninsured, and movement for reform has been incremental to date.  Along with other advocates in the state, The Commonwealth Institute will be working to significantly expand health care coverage in Virginia and the intern will assist in those efforts. 
• Enhancing The Commonwealth Institute’s capacity to perform regional analysis by identifying sources of data for key demographic variables, labor and wage variables, and revenue and spending variables.
• Maintaining and developing The Commonwealth Institute’s webpage.

Contact: Michael Cassidy, Executive Director
The Commonwealth Institute, www.thecommonwealthinstitute.org
P.O. Box 12516, Richmond, VA 23241
michael@thecommonwealthinstitute.org
804-643-2474, ext. 118

Washington - Internship Filled.
Economic Opportunity Institute
Seattle, WA

At The Economic Opportunity Institute in Seattle, Washington, an intern’s responsibilities will include:

• Communications work – Review selected blogs and newspapers on a daily basis, and summarize material relevant to EOI’s policy work. Analyze research on messaging and framing. Draft blog entries, op-eds, press releases, and web postings. Perform other communications-related work.
• Policy research – Research, analyze data, and draft fact sheets and reports. Attend policy strategy meetings with coalition partners. Potential topics include childcare worker career paths, early learning financing, Social Security and pension policy, and paid family leave.

Wisconsin
Wisconsin Council on Children and Families, Inc.
Madison, WI

At the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families in Madison, WI, an intern would hone his/her research and writing skills, helping policy staff put together briefs on issues such as health care, juvenile justice, and early care & education and assisting with data collection on poverty-related indicators in Wisconsin. He/She would also play a major role in coordinating our Vision 2020 Campaign (www.2020wi.org), helping plan outreach events, presentations & strategy connected to the campaign, and you would be exposed to our organization’s broader media, policy and legislative strategy work as we gear up for the next state budget debate.

Application Materials

In order to be eligible for the an EARN Summer Internship, you must be an undergraduate at either Howard University or University of Texas- Pan American. To apply, please submit a one- to two- page résumé and your response to the following questions to Lauren Marra at lmarra --at-- epi.org.

Name:
Current area of study:
Year in school:

1. What is your academic/activism/experiential background in working on progressive issues? (100 words)
2. What are your future career goals? (100 words)
3. What's the cause of poverty and who's responsible for reducing/eliminating it? (100 words)
4. If you were given an assignment to research a topic you knew little or nothing about(e.g. funding or creating a system of universal health care; documenting why income inequality matters; etc) what are the first three steps you would take? (75 words)
5. Please list the EARN groups with whom you would be most interested in working and why. (List at least 5 groups).

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, though the recommended deadling is Friday, March 28. Your materials will be sent to the groups in which you have expressed interest. Upon review, EARN groups will contact you for interviews.