PIRGIM Campus Action at the University of Michigan Internship Application

A semester of rewarding experience to gain grassroots organizing skills while working to reduce single-use plastic pollution or to turn out the youth vote for the 2022 elections.

The PIRGIM Internship program at the University of Michigan is designed for college students who are passionate about political engagement and looking to increase their experience in political organizing and strategy. This program provides interns with opportunities to build their leadership skills, political engagement, and interest in advocacy careers. Interns will take on a leadership role on one of our campaigns (Break Free From Plastics, New Voters Project, and more!). Students taking part in digital learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic can still apply and be considered for the position.

Internship Program Details

Our approach requires each intern not only to develop expertise in campaign strategy but also to become skilled in organizing and the political process. As an intern, you will work side by side with campus organizers, and be working with students across the state.

The Campaign:

  • Break Free From Plastics: Interns will raise awareness and grassroots support from our campus community to leverage support for passing campus policy to eliminate single-use plastics. Interns will build a campus-wide network of support consisting of their peers, faculty, and media to show support for tangible action to address single-use plastics
  • New Voters Project: Interns will work on the PIRGIM campaign to make voting easier for everyone, especially students, by expanding vote my mail opportunities, on-campus voting, and other resources. Additionally, we will work to set our campuses up for the primaries and general elections in 2022 by working to create a campus culture of voting and running peer to peer voter registration drives.

Responsibilities for interns will include:

  • Organizing political support. PIRGIM interns will help to broaden the constituency for our campaign, assist in building, organizing, and managing a coalition of groups that are interested in our campaigns.
  • Devising an effective strategy to implement civic engagement plans on college campuses. Interns will work to craft effective tactics for the campus to use to increase participation on campus at all levels and set goals to win the campaigns.
  • Media outreach. PIRGIM interns work to get our issues and opinions covered by the media, through news releases, “op-eds,” online webinars, and more.
  • Attending a weekly "Activist Class" taught and led by PIRGIM Campus Organizers.

Examples of potential skills workshops:

  • Working with the media –Generating media coverage on the need to transition away from fossil fuels
  • Running a meeting- From getting the right people in the room to facilitating a productive meeting
  • Building diverse and effective coalitions and mobilizing student leaders
  • Developing winning campaign strategies and tactics
  • Public Speaking –in forums varying from classrooms to town halls and press conferences
  • Using social media to educate and mobilize

Internship Requirements:

  • 8-10 hours per week
  • A commitment to making a difference on issue-based campaign work
  • Strong organizational abilities
  • The ability to engage others, whether one-on-one or in a group
  • The ability to think strategically
  • Strong writing and communication skills

Internships are available for undergraduate and graduate students from any major. Previous campaign and/or advocacy experience is a plus.

By providing my contact information, I am consenting to have the Student PIRGs, and their affiliates contact me with information about this and future campaigns.