We use in-depth research, reporting, and data analysis to produce influential reports and articles. Our work illuminates the public policy decisions that have fueled concentration and shows how we can change the rules to create a more equitable and democratic future. Our analysis is frequently featured in national news media and sought out by policymakers. We work closely with a broad range of allies to move these ideas and policies.
Composting for Community Communications Internship — Full-time (Remote, U.S.)
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is hiring a communications intern to join our Composting for Community (C4C) Initiative team. We are advancing home, community, and on-farm composting as part of our mission to build healthy and equitable communities. Composting reduces food waste, cuts pollution, protects the climate, supports local food systems, and creates local jobs. It is an integral part of moving toward a circular zero-waste economy and replacing the burn-and-bury wasting paradigm, which disproportionately harms low-income and BIPOC communities. Our strength is sharing best practices and elevating model programs and policies. We provide workshops, training, guides, outreach materials, networking opportunities, and more via a wide range of media: podcasts, webinars, social media channels, mapping, videos, and website posts. We are specifically supporting the growth of a national Community Composter Coalition and amplifying members’ stories and tips for replication.
See the initiative homepage for the team’s recent work.
The ideal candidate will have a passion for storytelling and communications strategy, making sometimes complex information accessible to diverse audiences and supporting equitable sustainability solutions that benefit marginalized communities as well as farmers and other locally rooted businesses.
Who We Are:
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To achieve this vision, we build local power to fight corporate control. Founded in 1974, we are a national research and advocacy nonprofit organization that partners with allies across the country to build an American economy driven by local priorities and accountable to people and the planet. We work in key sectors including energy, waste, broadband, and small business.
What You’ll Do:
The Composting for Community Communications Intern will help the C4C Initiative team execute our communications strategy as well as strengthen the networking capability of the national Community Composter Coalition. This will entail coordinating with ILSR’s Communications and Composting teams to support the following:
- Drafting and posting to social media and ILSR’s website, and tracking engagement
- Maintaining website (such as updating tags and posts, supporting a website reorganization)
- Designing and implementing targeted outreach campaigns to disseminate our training, policy and other resources
- Composting for Community podcast (such as conducting background research, scheduling interviews, reviewing audio and and editing transcripts, drafting web posts, pushing out posts)
- The Compost Pile, a monthly email newsletter that highlights the Initiative’s recent work, upcoming events, and relevant news
- Developing outreach lists and contact management via Sales Navigator and HubSpot
- Workshops and webinars (such as registration, outreach, analyzing feedback surveys and participation data)
- Community Composter Coalition:
- Membership maintenance (recruiting and onboarding new members, adding new members to the Composting for Community Map)
- Communicating with existing members (drafting and sending Mailchimps, drafting Circle.so posts)
- Populating resource databases on Circle.so (a networking platform)
- Assisting with the Peer Learning Community (following up with people interested in presenting, uploading PLC recordings to Circle.so)
- Analyzing data from feedback surveys
- Tracking a calendar of events (C4C events, Food Waste Prevention Week, Earth Day, ICAW, World Soil Day)
- Other projects as assigned
Who You Are & Keys to Success (the must-haves):
To be successful in this job, you will excel in the following areas:
- An effective storyteller: A good communicator in both written and visual formats. Able to synthesize and convey complex ideas and policies in a clear and compelling way. Experience with social media with a firm grasp of available tools and platforms.
- Highly organized, motivated, and detail-oriented: Strong sense of ownership over goals. Able to juggle competing demands and prioritize without sacrificing quality. Flexible and able to adapt to shifting priorities. Leave things better than you found them.
- Reliable and collaborative: Follow through on commitments. Welcome feedback and able to adapt to new ideas and priorities. Respect diverse cultures and working styles.
- Strong communicator: Pride in providing clear, helpful information. Effective writing and speaking skills and comfortable with email communications. Attention to detail.
- Committed to racial equity and social justice: Recognize ways that race, income, and other identities intersect in shaping societal disparities. Interest in joining a team who are working to recognize how our own identities show up in the work, and welcome, reflect on, and act on feedback with an eye toward continuous learning about race, ability, and other lines of intersection.
- Computer proficient and able to work remotely: Comfortable with computers with proficiency ideally in WordPress, Mailchimp, Canva, and Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Drive, Calendar, Meet and more). Prepared to participate in virtual meetings and spend long hours on a computer.
Graphic design skills, prior communications experience, and familiarity with Sales Navigator and Circle.so are preferred but not required. Knowledge of systems thinking and environmental issues is a plus.
Compensation:
This internship pays $18 to $19/hour depending on skills and experience. We work remotely and welcome applications from anywhere within the U.S.
Term of internship: 40 hours per week (there is some flexibility) for approximately 3 to 6 months: Early to mid-February to mid-May or July. Vacation leave accrual begins at 3 months of employment.
How to Apply:
Use the subject line “Compost Communications Intern” when sending your materials to [email protected] and include a cover letter (no more than one page), resume, writing sample that demonstrates your approach to storytelling, and two professional or academic references. Additional samples that demonstrate communications proficiency or graphic design skills are also welcome. We will keep applications open until the position is filled.
Composting for Community Research Internship — Full-time (Remote, US)
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance (ILSR) is hiring a research intern to join our Composting for Community (C4C) Initiative team. We are advancing home, community, and on-farm composting as part of our mission to build healthy and equitable communities. Composting reduces food waste, cuts pollution, protects the climate, supports local food systems, and creates local jobs. It is an integral part of moving toward a circular zero-waste economy and replacing the burn-and-bury wasting paradigm, which disproportionately harms low-income and BIPOC communities. Our strength is sharing best practices and elevating model programs and policies. We are engaging in new research to capture the costs and benefits of local and diverse composting and to provide a roadmap for local governments of the core elements they need to invest in and implement. The research will be compiled into a report with case studies and aggregate data to make the economic case for small- and medium-sized composting infrastructure.
See the initiative homepage for the team’s recent work.
The ideal candidate will have a passion for learning, research and data collection, and persuasive writing.
Who We Are:
The Institute for Local Self-Reliance has a vision of thriving, diverse, equitable communities. To achieve this vision, we build local power to fight corporate control. Founded in 1974, we are a national research and advocacy nonprofit organization that partners with allies across the country to build an American economy driven by local priorities and accountable to people and the planet. We work in key sectors including energy, waste, broadband, and small business.
What You’ll Do:
The Composting for Community Research Intern will help us conduct a national economic assessment of composting and agenda for action. This will entail coordinating with members of the Composting for Community team to assist with the following tasks:
- Develop research questions and identify data to collect
- Research, identify, and conduct outreach to stakeholders and partners for case studies
- Create an internal database of model community composters
- Develop and execute a mini census survey of community composters
- Research and update data on landfills, incinerators, and the benefits of composting
- Conduct qualitative and quantitative analysis of data collected to identify trends, summary statistics, and key findings
- Synthesize and present aggregate data to develop narrative and storytelling
- Write case study highlights detailing model programs and components and draft narrative of census findings
- Determine statistics to display visually and develop graphs, charts, and other visualizations
- Writing website posts
- Other projects as assigned
Who You Are & Keys to Success (the must-haves):
To be successful in this job, you will excel in the following areas:
- Comfortable with research: Able to gather, manage, and analyze qualitative and quantitative data with a high level of accuracy and organization. Interest in interviewing those leading model programs to capture their information and lessons learned in order to foster replication. Able to identify pivotal questions, track down the right sources, and develop an insightful analysis.
- Strong communicator: Pride in providing clear, helpful information. Effective writing and speaking skills and comfortable with email and phone communications. Able to synthesize and convey qualitative and quantitative data into accessible and persuasive narratives. Attention to detail. Ability to write clearly and concisely.
- Highly organized, motivated, and detail-oriented: Strong sense of ownership over goals. Able to juggle competing demands and prioritize without sacrificing quality. Flexible and able to adapt to shifting priorities. Leave things better than you found them.
- Reliable and collaborative: Follow through on commitments. Welcome feedback and able to adapt to new ideas and priorities. Respect diverse cultures and working styles.
- Committed to racial equity and social justice: Recognize ways that race, income, and other identities intersect in shaping societal disparities. Interest in joining a team who are working to recognize how our own identities show up in the work, and welcome, reflect on, and act on feedback with an eye toward continuous learning about race, ability, and other lines of intersection.
- Computer proficient and able to work remotely: Comfortable with computers, ideally with proficiency in Google Workspace (Gmail, Docs, Sheets, Drive, Calendar, Meet, and more). Prepared to participate in virtual meetings and spend long hours on a computer. Graphic design skills, prior communications experience, and familiarity with Sales Navigator and Circle.so are preferred but not required. Knowledge of systems thinking and environmental issues is a plus.
Experience researching, summarizing, and analyzing data, along with knowledge of waste, composting, farming, or other environmental issues, is preferred but not required.
Compensation:
This internship pays $18 to $19/hour, depending on skills and experience. We work remotely and welcome applications from anywhere within the U.S.
Term of internship: 40 hours per week (there is some flexibility) for approximately 3 to 6 months: Early to mid-February to mid-May or July. Vacation leave accrual begins at 3 months of employment.
How to Apply:
Use the subject line “Compost Research Intern” when sending your materials to [email protected] and include a cover letter (no more than one page), resume, writing sample that demonstrates your ability to distill complex information, and two professional or academic references. We will keep applications open until the position is filled.
ILSR is an Equal Opportunity Employer
ILSR is committed to providing employees with a welcoming work environment free of discrimination and harassment. Qualified job applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, creed, color, citizenship status, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, age, national origin, genetic information, status as an individual with a disability, status as a protected veteran or any other legally protected status.