Trust for Public Land Federal Relations Internship

Position Title: Trust for Public Land Federal Relations Internship
Start Date: Approximately September 30^th, 2024
Location: Washington DC preferred, remote possible

About the Organization:
At the Trust for Public Land, we don't just save land—we save land for people to enjoy, from neighborhood parks to national parks. We depend on the ongoing support of individuals to make sure our work carries on well into the future.
Our mission is to create parks and protect land for people, ensuring healthy, livable communities for generations to come. Every park, playground, and public space we create is an open invitation to explore, wonder, discover, and play. We're proud to say that we've been connecting communities to the outdoors—and to each other—since 1972. Today, millions of Americans live within a 10-minute walk of a park or natural area we helped create, and countless more visit every year.

Description: The Federal Relations team at Trust for Public Land (TPL) is seeking two highly motivated undergraduate students or recent graduates for a Fall 2024 internship. Our team is dedicated to TPL’s mission to create parks and protect land for people. We are responsible for TPL’s federal policy strategy and advocacy, including appropriating federal funds for conservation programs, ensuring equitable outdoor access, protecting public lands, and increasing opportunities for outdoor recreation.
The Federal Relations Interns will each fill a distinct role on our team, while sustaining ample opportunities to collaborate. The primary responsibilities of one intern will involve assisting the Federal Relations team in the research and advocacy for schoolyards and urban parks legislation, two priorities of TPL’s federal work. The other intern will work on more broadly on our federal portfolio including but not limited to trails, tribal lands, landscape protection, and federal grants. Both positions will also include assorted administrative, clerical, and programmatic tasks. These duties will be in support of staff’s lobbying activities on Capitol Hill and our federal grants management.

Responsibilities:

• Support the implementation of our national campaign to increase funding for local parks across the country
• Research federal schoolyards and urban park legislation, tracking support and opportunities to engage members of Congress
• Research and track federal grant and funding programs focused on increasing equitable access to the outdoors
• Conduct research and prepare blogs, advocacy letters, fact sheets, internal communications, and press releases related to schoolyards and park equity
• Track outreach and communication to members of Congress
• Attend lobby meetings, coalition meetings, federal agency webinars, etc.
• Participate in regular team and organizational meetings
• Perform general administrative duties in support of assigned project work

Minimum Requirements:

• At least 3 months experience in an internship position required. Policy, government, or environmental experience strongly preferred
• Demonstrated desire to learn about our work
• Excellent oral and written communication skills
• Detail oriented and organized
• Self-motivated, passionate, and professional
• Must be a team player; ability to work both independently and in a collaborative environment
• Willingness to adapt and remain flexible as projects and priorities change
• Basic computer skills and working knowledge of Microsoft Office programs

Compensation and Time Commitment

This is a paid internship at $17/hour.
Applicants must be able to work from 12 to up to 30 hours per week. Internship runs about 12 weeks, from approximately September 30th through December 20^th.

Trust for Public Land’s active goal is to be an inclusive and equitable place to work and build community. As the organization actively works to eliminate racial and other disparities it welcomes candidates with diverse backgrounds and/or multicultural skillsets. We are open to the possibility that a great candidate for this job may not precisely meet all the above criteria; if you believe you are the right person for this job and can persuasively make that case, we encourage you to apply.  Join a diverse team of dedicated and passionate people working toward a mission you can believe in— creating parks and protecting public land where they’re needed most so that everyone will have access to the benefits and joys of the outdoors for generations to come.