Internships

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This Development and Membership Assistant will work primarily with the Development Associate and the Development Director to maintain and increase membership, major donor giving. Located in our Boone, N.C. headquarters.

Intern activities include:

• Helping with the grant proposal process: writing, editing, tracking grant writing schedules, researching new grants
• Help improve Business League membership acquisition and retention.
• Assist with events planning
• Assist in general membership development through writing, editing, mailing, and reporting on the outcome of renewal mailings, acquisition mailings
• Acquiring new members by staffing an Appalachian Voices booth at events
• Researching events for Appalachian Voices to set up a booth
• Organizing volunteers to help with above activities
• Answering phones
• Database Entry

Skills/Qualifications:

• Good writing skills
• Commitment to environmental issues in Appalachian Region
• Excellent research, communication, organizational and leadership skills
• Detail oriented
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Excellent leadership skills
• Perform duties with minimal supervision
• A well-developed sense of humor

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Located in our Washington, D.C. office, the Outreach Assistant will be responsible for assisting our National Field Coordinator in educating the public about and promoting our organization and program work. This includes finding and setting up information tables at different events, producing quality outreach materials, and communicating with our members, volunteers and activists.

The Outreach Assistant may also help with our Appalachian Treasures Project, our targeted outreach program to educate and activate citizens across the United States about mountaintop removal coal mining. This position may require travel, which will paid for by Appalachian Voices.

Intern activities may include, but are not limited to:

• Finding and signing up for booths at festivals in the region
• Recruiting volunteers to help run the table
• Updating our Appalachian Treasures Hosting Kit, Mountaintop Removal Action Kit, and our mountaintop removal press briefing book
• Possible creation of new outreach materials
• Assisting with our Appalachian Voice Paper Distribution
• Setting up and speaking out presentations on mountaintop removal in the area
• Communicating with members, volunteer and activists when need be

Skills/Qualifications:

• Commitment to environmental issues in Appalachian Region
• Excellent organizational and leadership skills
• Detail oriented
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Strong communication skills
• Perform duties with minimal supervision
• A well-developed sense of humor
• Computer and design knowledge preferred

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Located in our Washington, D.C. office, the Mountaintop Removal Campaign Assistant will help with 2 major components of our Mountaintop Removal Campaign–our Annual Week in Washington (spring only) and our Appalachian Treasures Project.

Our Week in Washington bring citizens from all the United States to Washington, DC to advance the Clean Water Protection Act in Congress. Our Appalachian Treasures Project is our targeted outreach program to educate and activate citizens across the United States about mountaintop removal coal mining.

Intern activities include, but are not limited to:

• Research and contact community organizations in target congressional districts for Appalachian Treasures tours
• Keep in contact with Appalachian Treasures hosts as they organize Appalachian Treasures presentation
• Mailing out host kits to Appalachian Treasures hosts
• Update online calendar of Appalachian Treasures presentations on our website
• Work with Appalachian Voices’ staff to plan and implement a national lobby week in Washington, DC
• Recruit Appalachian Voices’ members and volunteers across the country and in the coalfield to participate in the lobby week
• Develop training schedule, materials, and speakers for our participants for Week in Washington

Skills/Qualifications:

• Committed to environmental issues in Appalachian Region
• Detail orientated
• Great communication skills- ability to make cold calls
• Organizational skills
• Can meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Sense of humor
• Excitement to learn about the inner workings of non-profits
• Use of Microsoft Office Suite (word, Excel, etc)

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Located in our Boone, N.C office, the North Carolina Campaign Assistant will assist the North Carolina Campaign Coordinator help with various aspects of our  campaign to help transition North Carolina away towards a cleaner energy future. Ou campaign will primarily focus on building a grassroots movement in North Carolina dedicated to defending and strengthen our nation’s clean water laws that are currently under attack by the coal industry.

Anyone can apply, but Government Studies, Environmental Science and/or Communications Majors are strongly encouraged.

Intern activities include, but are not limited to:

• Research and contact community organizations in target congressional districts for presentations and other events. 
• Keep in contact with hosts as they work to recruit audiences for our presentations 
• Coordinating tabling events and speaking events across North Carolina 
• Research target members of Congress
• Update online calendar of presentations and other events on our website, Facebook and Twitter
• Potentially help create fun and engaging videos on YouTube
• Inputing new sign-ups to campaign to our database
• Help develop messaging for online and offline communications (i.e. blogs, emails, brochures, factsheets, letter to the editor, Opinion Editorials) for Red, White and Water campaign
• Phone bank activist lists to update them on campaign
• Potentially run volunteer nights related to North Carolina campaign work (dependent on schedule)

Skills/Qualifications:

• Committed to environmental issues in the Appalachian region
• Highly detail orientated
• Great communication skills- ability to make cold calls 
• Organizational skills
• Can meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Sense of humor
• Excitement to learn about the inner workings of non-profits
• Use of Microsoft Office Suite (word, Excel, etc)
• Self-starter and can work somewhat independently (but also knows when to ask questions)
• Use of Facebook and Twitter

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Located in our Boone, N.C., office, the Appalachian Water Watch Assistant will help
with Clean Water Act litigation against coal companies that pollute water, water quality
and mine permit data base creation and maintenance, and the citizen water monitoring
program during the summer of 2012.

Coal mining, processing, burning, and waste disposal seriously threatens Appalachia’s
biodiversity, ecosystems, and people. We address this threat through civil litigation and
through citizen water monitoring. State agencies in the Appalachian coal-bearing regions
have failed to hold the coal industry accountable for inaccurate and sometimes unlawful
record keeping of surface water and ground water impacts. This lack of enforcement
highlights the need for independent monitoring, in the form of compiling and reviewing
existing records, as well as actual water testing.

Intern activities include, but are not limited to:

• Compiling and reviewing coal company water quality records (discharge
  monitoring reports)
• Compiling and reviewing mine permit data
• Mapping data in ArcGIS and Google Earth
• Maintain citizen monitoring database
• Help keep in contact with Appalachian Water Watch volunteers and coordinators
  to ensure regular water monitoring and uploading of test results to the AWW web
  site
• Help maintain a training schedule, materials, and equipment for our participants
  in Appalachian Water Watch

Skills/Qualifications:

• Committed to environmental issues in the Appalachian region
• Should be highly proficient with Excel spreadsheets, data entry and data queries
• Use of Google Earth, ArcGIS and Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, etc),
  familiarity with SQL a plus
• Detail-orientated with a tenacious drive to review discharge monitoring reports
  and identify violations of the Clean Water Act
• Great communication skills
• Organizational skills
• Can meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Sense of humor
• Excitement to learn about the inner workings of nonprofits

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Working as lead editorial assistant for our quarterly publication, The Appalachian Voice, this internship will focus on journalistic writing including conducting interviews, researching stories, writing articles, reformatting press releases and assisting with other aspects of print production including copy-editing, production and layout, photo managing and distribution. The assistant will also write news articles for our Front Porch Blog and monthly e-newsletter, The Advocate, as well as other communication needs of the organization.

This position will require the assistant to keep up to date with environmental news and current events, and write regularly about these topics as they pertain to the Appalachian region and the work of Appalachian Voices. Subjects of focus will include topics that parallel the organization’s primary programmatic work, including mountaintop removal coal mining, air pollution, forestry and land stewardship and water issues, as well as renewable energy and sustainable development, Appalachia history and culture and outdoor recreational opportunities.

This position will be located in our Boone, N.C. main office.

Skills/Qualifications:

• Commitment to environmental issues in Appalachia
• Excellent research, writing and organizational skills
• Knowledge in journalistic writing and blog writing
• Interest in journalism and non-profit work
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Detail oriented
• Competence with word processing
• Familiarity with InDesign, Photoshop, copy-editing and AP style are all a plus
• Able to perform duties with minimal supervision
• A well-developed sense of humor

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The online communications assistant will work with the Communications Team in our Boone, N.C. main office and be responsible for maintaining and promoting the Appalachian Voices’ Front Porch Blog, developing, maintaining and activating our online social networks on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Flickr. Intern activities include, but are not limited to:

• Researching and posting events, articles, videos and other relevant items to the Front Porch Blog
• Accepting and inviting friends, posting blog items, posting bulletins
• Responding to post and emails on our social networking pages in a timely manner
• Blogging about our work on the Front Porch Blog and other blogs
• Organizing our Flickr and YouTube accounts
• Updating our Wikipedia entries
• Organize an “online event” to encourage online activists to take action on our campaigns

Skills/Qualifications:

• Savvy internet skills
• Experience with blogs and social networks
• Commitment to environmental issues in Appalachia
• Excellent research, writing, communication, and organizational skills
• Strong writing skills
• Knowledge of HTML code highly preferred
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Perform duties with minimal supervision
• A well-developed sense of humor

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The Graphic Design Assistant will work with the Communications Coordinator in our Boone, N.C. office and be responsible for:

• Helping to design and produce relevant promotional materials for the organization, including brochures, handouts, tshirts, signs, or other needs;
• Helping to produce our bi-monthly newspaper, The Appalachian Voice, including page layout, ad design, graphic creation for special spreads, image color correction and CMYK preparation for print;
• Assisting the Web Design intern with creating graphics for the various organizational websites including appvoices.org, iLoveMountains.org, appalachiawaterwatch.org as needed.

MUST HAVE:

• Proficiency in the Adobe trio (Photoshop, Indesign and Illustrator); other Adobe products a plus;
• Knowledge of basic color printing principles and preparing files for press necessary;
• Knowledge of web design a plus;
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office;
• Ability to perform duties with minimal supervision;
• A well-developed sense of humor.

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The web design assistant will work with the Communications Team in our Boone, N.C. main office and be responsible for helping to update and maintain the AppalachianVoices.org website. Intern activities will include (but are not limited to):

• Transferring content from our previous website into our current WordPress site and applying a pleasing design to each page
• Maintaining and updating the looks of various web pages throughout AppVoices.org
• Helping to post the bi-monthly Appalachian Voice newspaper on the website
• Designing new web graphics for our online campaigns and special events, as well as other web-related graphics needs

MUST HAVE:

• Academic experience in at least 1 web-design class or related personal experience
• Proficiency in Adobe Photoshop or related imaging program and basic understanding of creating graphics for the web
• Knowledge of basic HTML, CSS (knowledge Adobe Dreamweaver and WordPress or other blogging software a plus)
• Eagerness to learn web design and work with CSS, HTML and other web-related skills
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Ability to perform duties with minimal supervision
• A well-developed sense of humor

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The Website Development Assistant will work closely with Appalachian Voices’ Conservation Director and IT Specialist to develop new web-based applications for our database of coal production and consumption across the US. Specific projects will include updating and enhancing our existing Google Maps-based project, My Connection, and developing new map-based projects on www.AppalachianVoices.org to show where new coal-fired power plants across the country, if built, are likely to source their coal. This intern will also be responsible for updating and overhauling sections of the Appalachian Voices website. The position will be located in our Boone, N.C. main office.

Intern activities include, but are not limited to:

• Produce a new Google Maps based project on the Appalachian Voices website showing the locations of proposed new coal-fired power plants and which mining regions they are likely to source their coal from.
• Update the look and functionality of the Air Pollution section of www.AppalachianVoices.org.
• Miscellaneous tasks to update and enhance the My Connection section of iLoveMountains.org

Skills/Qualifications:

• Commitment to environmental issues in Appalachian Region
• Excellent research, communication, and organizational skills
• Detail oriented
• Ability to meet deadlines and work well in a fast-paced office
• Knowledge in website development
• Basic competence with web programming languages such as HTML, PHP and MySQL
• Perform duties with minimal supervision
• A well-developed sense of humor