(**PAID POSITION**)

Approximately 60 million people in the U.S. face the day-to-day reality of managing the symptoms of a mental illness every year.  That’s 1 in 5. And the other 4 are family and friends. The National Alliance on Mental Illness of NYC (NAMI-NYC) helps families and individuals affected by mental illness build better lives through education, support, and advocacy. NAMI-NYC is an affiliate of NAMI, a nation-wide organization of people helping others who are impacted by mental illness in their own lives.

Description:

NAMI-NYC seeks a dynamic, self-starter to support our public policy and advocacy work and help take us to the next level. Our program is aimed at providing participants with hands-on learning experience in policy creation, community coalition management, and liaising with stakeholders and elected officials. At the conclusion of the internship, participants will have a clear understanding of the steps required to build support for mental health policies and issue-based advocacy campaigns.

This internship position is currently remote due to the COVID-19 pandemic until further notice.

Responsibilities:

• Research policy topics related to mental health at the intersections of criminal legal reform, health insurance reform and parity, substance use disorder challenges, supportive housing issues, and education advocacy
• Contact elected officials and/or their respective staff members
• Stay updated on New York City and State political trends
• Participate in weekly department strategy meetings, as deemed necessary
• Attend coalition and external partner meetings, city council hearings, occasional in-person rallies, and external events as schedule permits to take notes, pictures and brief the team
• Work with staff to collect program data to update monitoring and evaluation reports and internal databases and translate data into advocacy tools
• Assist in the development of email, text and phone banking advocacy campaigns
• Collaborate with the communications department to create advocacy communication pieces, including but not limited to emails, newsletters, event descriptions, op-eds
• Help manage the Advocacy Ambassador Program, including with screening and interviewing potential Ambassador candidates and coordinating every day external communications with program participants
• Support the Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy in facilitating monthly advocacy training sessions and Ambassador meetings, when necessary, and in providing technical assistance to Ambassadors and other advocates in crafting and presenting their stories for legislative change

Qualifications:

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to present before a group of people
• Must work well independently – we dive into what needs to be done, and so must you
• Creative thinker, not afraid to offer up ideas for new ways to reach our audiences
• Must have access to reliable internet connection
• Active user of tools and platforms in the social media space as well as virtual meeting platforms, such as Zoom and GoogleMeet
• Proficiency in Google Office Suite
• Good sense of humor. It makes for a good working environment.
• Enthusiasm for the mission of NAMI-NYC, mental health advocacy, and the people we serve.

Reports to: Kimberly Blair, Manager of Public Policy and Advocacy

Start Date: Position open until filled, requires a 10-week commitment minimum, with flexibility for your school requirements.

Hours: Flexible hours, with preference given to candidates who can commit at least 16 hours/week, preferably twice a week. Please include your availability–days and times–in your cover letter. We are open from 10am-6pm ET, Monday-Friday, with some programs running occasionally in the evenings or on weekends. 

Compensation: A per-semester stipend will be provided upon the successful completion of the internship program.

To Apply: Please send a cover letter about your interest, and your resume, to advocacy@naminyc.org with “Public Policy and Advocacy Intern” in the subject line.