Summer 2026 Graduate Intern, Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives -Program and Strategy

The ACLU seeks a Graduate Intern for their Affiliate Support and Nationwide Initiatives Department's (ASNI) Internal Operations Team of the ACLU New York National office. This internship is hybrid.

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 Program & Strategy Team within ASNI works with ACLU affiliates to strategically align our chief program drivers – advocacy, communications, and legal – to bring the full power of ACLU affiliates to reach their goals, increase connectivity between national and affiliate staff, better drive nationwide strategies, and leverage the strengths of the whole nationwide enterprise. This team works with other ASNI teams, national office partners, and affiliate leadership to build programs and attend to the institutional and cultural work that is needed to operate successfully. 

As our intern, you will have the opportunity to gain valuable experience in program development and project coordination in a nonprofit setting. 

What You’ll Do:

• Project coordination and logistics planning assistance: 

• Supporting multistate initiatives, including the Southern Collective (regional work with our 13 affiliates in the South) and the Battlegrounds Initiative (election safeguarding work) 

• Supporting the experts on the team from the advocacy/legislative, organizing, legal, communications, and digital functional areas to ensure well-organized and efficient projects/programs 

• Supporting the Southern Legal Internship Program 

• Supporting the roll-out of guides, toolkits, playbooks, and other resources for affiliate knowledge and learning 

Your Day to Day

• Support administrative tasks, such as taking notes for and assisting with the coordination of meetings related to working groups, learning communities, and other initiatives
• Draft preliminary language for deliverables, such as internal communications, summaries of meeting notes, and PowerPoint presentations for different audiences
• Support survey data collection and analysis of results
• Create and maintain resource banks regarding advocacy/legislative, organizing, legal, communications, and digital program management
• Assist in organizing virtual/hybrid workshops and convenings of ACLU affiliates
• Assist with tasks that ensure the team’s grants portfolio and budget are well-organized 

What You’ll Bring:

This internship is open to undergraduate (rising seniors starting Fall 2026) and graduate students. 

• Experience assisting with administrative tasks in an office setting, preferably a nonprofit
• Proficiency with Word, Excel, and PowerPoint
• Strong organization skills with great attention to detail
• Ability to take initiative, think creatively, contribute innovative ideas, problem solve, work well under pressure, and take ownership of projects and assignments
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills
• Eager to learn and curious to ask questions, particularly about the range of disciplines that the team manages: advocacy/legislative, organizing, legal, communications, and digital work with affiliates
• Some knowledge of event planning or logistics coordination preferred 

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 and hybrid from our NY National 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 are the stipend rates:
    • $20/hr for undergraduate students or equivalent experience
    • $24/hr for graduate and law students or equivalent experience

Priority Application Deadline: Monday, March 16, 2026 

While there is a priority deadline, our team is committed to reviewing all applications on a rolling basis until the closing of posting. 

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.