Entry Level Civil Rights Activist Jobs in Florida

ABOUT THE INTERNSHIP

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) Foundation of Florida seeks an Orlando Field Intern to join our Field Department and help achieve the organization’s goal of protecting the liberties that define our democracy. This position is based in Orlando, Florida, requiring transportation for in-person community events.

The American Civil Liberties Union Foundation of Florida (ACLU of Florida or ACLU-FL) is an affiliate of the national ACLU, a national public interest organization devoted to the defense of the Bill of Rights. For over 100 years, the ACLU has served as the nation’s primary protector of the liberties that define our democracy. The organization implements its vital civil liberties mission in all 50 states, in large part through affiliate entities such as the ACLU of Florida.

The ACLU of Florida, the state’s largest civil rights and civil liberties organization, employs litigation, public policy advocacy and organizing, and public education to protect and promote a broad range of constitutional values and individual rights, such as freedom of speech, racial justice, right to privacy, religious liberty, criminal justice reform, voting rights, reproductive rights, LGBTQ+ rights, disability rights, and immigrants’ rights. The ACLU of Florida litigates a broad range of complex constitutional cases in federal and state courts through direct representation, filing amicus briefs, and submitting administrative complaints to state and federal agencies.

Our Organizing Approach

The ACLU of Florida has adopted a “campaign” approach for its work. Work is focused on pursuing specific integrated advocacy issue-area campaigns to achieve measurable goals that will expand civil liberties and civil rights, while building the long-term power of the communities served by the affiliate and the civil liberties movement.

At the moment, the ACLU of Florida is focused on three strategic imperatives: First Amendment Freedoms; Equality, Justice & Dignity; and Democracy & Accountability. The priorities in which the organization engages are integrated advocacy, and include policy, communications, and litigation in addition to grassroots organizing.

As a result of this campaign approach, the ACLU of Florida’s organizing model focuses on developing volunteer leaders for the civil liberties movement, mobilizing grassroots support for campaign objectives, and educating Florida residents about campaign objectives through person-to-person field contact. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida centers the experiences and leadership of directly impacted people and engages directly impacted people in the work, while also ensuring that non-impacted allies engage in effective and substantive action.

The Field team works with Florida residents to influence decision-makers, and by holding events and actions. Organizing at the ACLU of Florida is oriented toward systemic change and policy action — moving people to take strategic actions that influence decision-makers to advance specific campaign objectives across electoral, legislative, legal, and community education contexts. It is also designed to build long-term political and community power for the civil liberties movement.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

Reporting to the ACLU-FL Program Manager and working in close collaboration with the ACLU-FL Field team, the Orlando Field Intern will work with the Orlando Senior Organizer to support volunteer engagement and recruitment by hosting team meetings and events, having a presence at community events and college campuses, building relationships with volunteer leaders, phone banking, text banking, canvassing, inputting data, and designing flyers and presentations. While this position entails work in a range of tools/software, we do not expect the Field Intern to have previous training on these and will train them accordingly.

YOUR DAY TO DAY

• Participate in tabling at community events, fairs, and college campuses, including UCF, Valencia College, and Rollins, to reach new supporters and voters.
• Participate in small- and large-scale protests, distributing materials, legal observing, and/or leading a group of volunteers who are legal observing.
• Conduct Know Your Rights trainings virtually and in person.
• Organize and conduct other volunteer trainings and events under the direction of an Organizer.
• Develop and maintain relationships with ACLU-FL volunteers and activist leaders.
• Help identify and build new community partnerships in the Orlando area, including local nonprofits, faith communities, and campus organizations.
• Grow our local Orlando volunteer team.
• Phone bank volunteers, supporters, and voters on a weekly basis, and text bank as needed.
• Design flyers and training materials in support of Field team events and trainings.
• Conduct door-to-door canvassing as needed.
• Input data into NGPVAN as needed, and work with NGPVAN, Scale to Win/SPOKE, Google Workspace, Outlook, Asana, Signal, Mobilize, Canva, Mailchimp, and the suite of ACLU Florida tools.
• Record TikToks for social media education and engagement on our key issue areas.
• Help track local press and support basic local media outreach materials as needed.
• Support our Database Manager with setting up text banks, phone banks, and general data management.
• Support organizers with community research projects, such as power mapping across different communities.
• Help document event outcomes and volunteer engagement to build out Orlando program records.
• Center the voices and leadership of directly impacted people in all organizing programs.

FUTURE ACLU’ERS WILL

• Be committed to advancing the mission of the ACLU of Florida and the broader civil liberties movement.
• Center and embed the principles of equity, inclusion, and belonging in their work, using a personal approach that values all individuals and respects differences in race, ethnicity, age, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, religion, ability, and socio-economic circumstance.
• Be committed to working collaboratively and respectfully toward resolving obstacles and conflict.

WHAT YOU’LL BRING

While no one person will have all the qualities enumerated below, the successful candidate will bring many of the following qualifications and attributes:

• Willingness to learn and think creatively.
• Strong communication skills, and confidence to interact with community members of all backgrounds. A willingness and ability to speak in public and to facilitate meetings and trainings.
• Displays a high level of empathy.
• Comfortable with participating in protests, community canvasses, and other events that may be perceived as high stakes in our current political climate.
• Experience managing multiple projects and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.
• A history of working collaboratively and successfully with people from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds and a broad range of ideological positions and religious views.
• A flexible team player who works collaboratively and shares responsibility and credit.
• Unwavering commitment to the mission and goals of the ACLU of FL, including a demonstrated commitment to racial justice and civil rights, and a familiarity with civil rights issues that are currently confronting Floridians.
• Reliable transportation to get to and from community events required.
• Fluency in other languages is a plus but not required.
• Must live in the Orlando area.
• Willingness to work a flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends.