DREDF Seeking Applications for the Marilyn Golden 2024 Summer Policy Internship

Posted: January 17, 2024
Updated: January 18, 2024

Disability Rights Education and Defense Fund (DREDF) is in our 45th year as a leading national disability civil rights law and policy center. We are directed by people with disabilities and parents who have children with disabilities. This summer we seek an intern to work with us for 8-10 weeks for 40 hours/week over the summer on our mission to advance the civil and human rights of people with disabilities through public policy and legislative development, training, education, and legal advocacy on such core principles as equality of opportunity, disability accommodation, accessibility, and inclusion. We seek a just world where all people, with and without disabilities, live full and independent lives free of discrimination. Having a disability is not a requirement for the position but we strongly value the lived experience of disabled persons, including those who have faced additional barriers due to race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender identity, or age.

DREDF’s primary base is in Berkeley, California, and we also work actively in Washington, D.C. on proposed and current federal legislation, some California state legislation, policy proposals, and advocacy strategy that affect the range of rights of people with disabilities. The intern is welcome to base themselves in either location (Berkeley or D.C.) and can also choose to work remotely. Regardless of whether the internship turns out to be in-person, fully remote, or hybrid, DREDF is committed to providing our interns with a meaningful summer experience. We maintain safety precautions for in-person work (proof of vaccine, masking, social distancing, etc.), and all employees and interns working in-person are required to be vaccinated for COVID-19 unless there is a documented medical exception or other exception allowed by law.

Our current projects include legislative and policy work on achieving marriage equity for persons on Social Security Income, public transportation, accessible autonomous and electric vehicles and infrastructure, accessible air travel, ensuring the inclusion of people with disabilities in reproductive justice initiatives, and healthcare (including home and community-based services, addressing disability health and healthcare disparities, improving healthcare data collection, promising housing practices for unhoused persons with disabilities, better integrating disability within the public health field, and elevating unique concerns relating to disability algorithmic bias and the use of artificial intelligence in diagnosis and assessing treatment effectiveness).

Our summer Policy Intern will be paid a stipend of up to $8,000 for the summer, which is made possible through the generosity of Marilyn Golden, a senior policy analyst at DREDF with expertise in transportation, assisted suicide, and many other areas of policy and law covered in the Americans with Disabilities Act until her untimely death in 2021. We request that applicants who are offered a position look for additional possible sources of funding as well, and that they apply for internship support offered by their school or for academic credit that will be satisfied through our internship if they are eligible. We will be happy to assist in the application.

We will work with the intern where possible to develop materials such as a written report, a presentation, or other item that they can cite as a work product or use to fulfill a requirement for academic credit.

Qualifications

• Strong interest in or knowledge of disability rights
• Enrollment in a college or graduate level policy-related field that touches advocacy topics of importance to DREDF or a commensurate level of practical experience
• Strong close reading and critical thinking skills
• Ability to express ideas clearly and concisely through writing
• Ability to work independently as well as able to collaborate with others on team projects
• Capacity to handle feedback well, and change direction as needed when provided with clear reasoning

We welcome candidates who have demonstrated:

• Strong research, interviewing, survey design, or summary statistics skills
• Experience reading and/or analyzing research, government, or policy documents
• Interest in achieving equity and inclusion for people with disabilities within low-income communities, communities of color, and tribal communities

To Apply

Applications will be considered on a rolling basis until we fill the internship. Please email a cover letter, resume, short writing sample, and the name and contact information for two references, to Hong Min at HMin@dredf.org.

DREDF values diversity, and we strongly encourage and welcome people of color, people with disabilities, parents of children with disabilities, LGBTQI+ people, and people with diverse life experiences and backgrounds to apply. DREDF is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All employees and interns working in-person are required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 unless there is a documented medical exception or other exception allowed by law.