April – Dec. Chinatown Voter Engagement Internship – workstudy eligible

Chinatown International District

Voter Engagement Internship

The Washington Bus engages tomorrow’s leaders on their own terms, and empowers them through education, civic and cultural engagement, and hands-on democracy.  This summer, the Bus team will be working across Western Washington in key districts to turn out voters. In Seattle, one of those areas is Chinatown International District in partnership with Seattle Chinatown International District Preservation and Development Authority.

SCIDpda, a 40-year-old community development organization, serves one of the city’s most diverse neighborhoods. Its mission is to preserve, promote, and develop the Chinatown International District (CID) as a vibrant community and unique ethnic neighborhood.

Both organizations know that our democracy is strongest when everyone is involved. The CID Voter Engagement Intern will learn voter engagement tactics from The Washington Bus and implement them with cultural engagement tactics learned from SCIDPDA in order to register, engage, and turn out voters in the CID neighborhood.

The CID Voter Engagement Intern will be in charge of multiple facets of the campaign, including creative event planning and implementation, developing campaign strategies, organizing data, and staffing outreach events in the district. Yes, that means you’ll be talking to a lot of strangers and making a lot of new friends.

The CID Voter Engagement Intern will work closely with the Bus’s Engagement Coordinator and SCIDPDA’s IDEA Space Manager on this nonpartisan campaign.

Responsibilities:

• Commit to 14 (more if not work study) hours a week for meetings and fieldwork in the district from April 15 to December 15, including evening and weekend work, as that is the nature of this particular beast
• Set goals and develop a work plan with The Bus’s Engagement Coordinator and SCIDPDA’s IDEA Space Program Manager
• Registering hundreds of voters in Chinatown International District at events, building meetings, canvasses, and other opportunities to meet people face-to-face and engage voters
• Turning out voters for the August Primary election through voter outreach possibly including facilitating phone banks, organizing ballot parties, and assisting in organizing candidate forums
• Full implementation of your work plan

Accomplishments and Skills Gained

At the end of this internship, you will have:

• Registered a diverse variety of voters including young voters, senior voters, and voters with limited English proficiency
• Organized and facilitated a ballot party, helping voters with limited English proficiency fill out and turn in their ballots
• Participated in professional development trainings and social justice workshops covering topics ranging from building a better resume to dismantling gender hierarchies in API communities
• Perhaps we’ll give you a fancy made-up award at the end, like CID Voter Engagement Intern of the Year. You know, for your resume

At the end of this internship, you will be able to:

• Communicate across cultural differences
• Plan and implement voter engagement campaigns
• Organize events serving a diverse community
• Recommend the best pho place in the district and mean it

Required Qualifications:

• Excellent interpersonal skills with an interest in working with a team of volunteers and staff
• A commitment to building knowledge around social justice and community empowerment
• And yes, be an independent self-starter with a good sense of humor

Preferred Qualifications

• Interest in politics is encouraged, but not a must
• Proficiency in Cantonese. Mandarin and/or Vietnamese a bonus
• An impassioned stance in the debate about the best boba tea in Chinatown

Application Procedure:

Please send coverletter and resume to Jamie Lee at jamiel@scidpda.org

Compensation:

If in school, this position is work study eligible.  If not, a stipend is possible.

The Washington Bus is an inclusive organization, fostering and drawing on leadership from communities of color, recent immigrant communities, and emerging young leaders. People from these communities are highly encouraged to apply.

The Washington Bus is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. Employment and program policies of the Washington Bus are nondiscriminatory in regard to race, color, gender, religion, age, national origin, disability, veteran status or sexual orientation.

This position description generally describes the principle functions of the position, the level of knowledge and skills typically required and the general scope of the responsibility.  It is not intended as a complete list of specific duties and responsibilities and should not be considered an all-inclusive listing of work requirements.  Individual may perform other duties as assigned including work in other functional areas to cover absences or relieve other employees, to equalize peak work periods or otherwise to balance the workload as needed.

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