More interns than ever, learning more, accomplishing more
The Sierra Club Bay Chapter internship program has been growing - in numbers and in accomplishments - to be a substantial part of our organizing efforts.
This summer a total of 13 interns, from the Bay Area and around the country, answered the call of Sierra Club organizers to spend a summer working with the Chapter learning the ins and outs of grassroots organizing. We got to learn key organizational and communications skills while campaigning for environmental improvements.
This dedicated group of college kids, ready with clipboards, sunscreen, and new knowledge and skills, engaged in a summer-long effort to promote clean energy, get the Chevron refinery to pay more in taxes to Richmond, preserve funding for East Bay parks, and advance numerous local environmental concerns. We also worked closely with two environmental candidates and their campaigns in the East Bay and with 10 in San Francisco.
Most of us had never, before this summer, been involved in grassroots politics, but each of us brought a personal desire to aid in one of the most important efforts of our time - stopping global climate change. We spent hours at farmers' markets, getting people to write letters to their elected officials imploring them to buy more renewable energy. We walked door-to-door and called over 5,000 people, educating the public on crucial environmental campaigns.
"It's hard sometimes," said Jesse Durkin, 21, a senior at UC Berkeley in peace and conflict studies. "But you get to work with people who are very energetic and passionate about what they do. It's invigorating." Durkin said he most enjoyed talking with people about the details that make a big difference, such as the Community Choice Energy campaigns in Marin and the East Bay.
We also got to meet and spend time with local politicians who have made it among their top priorities to work for environmental policy. In the June election we recruited volunteers to help, among others, Loni Hancock, endorsed by the Sierra Club, win the primary election for the 9th District seat in the state Senate.
Rewards were many. Of course, we relished the feeling of accomplishments in a good cause, but rewards came also to our palates: pizza breaks during phone banks, a dinner of sausages and salads at the home of Hancock's campaign manager, and freshly ground coffee and Chinese pastries before the walks in San Francisco.
Beyond the free food, the Sierra Club knows how to treat its interns and volunteers right. Tracy Shephard, Misha Rashkin, Jessica Hendricks, and Laura Hahn are the intern organizers. We call them our "boss-friends" because they are young, fun to work with, and incredibly patient while they mold our young minds and teach us the ways of community organizers.
"Tracy and Misha are really good role models in how to be effective leaders," said Rae Schindler, 23, a Bay area native who recently earned her B.A. in English literature from Brandeis University near Boston. "They are always calm and always able to come through in a clinch," she added.
Schindler and another summer intern, Katharine Anderson, 21, who just earned her B.A. in peace and conflict studies from UC Berkeley, will be doing paid work for an Assembly race this fall, doing more of what they learned at the Sierra Club.
Katie Tang, 20, a senior in development studies at UC Berkeley, wants to use her new organizing skills to work in third-world countries and initiate educational change at the local level, especially among poor children and girls.
Joe Swartley and Jake Bauch, both 19 and sophomores in environment, economics, and politics at Claremont McKenna College in southern California, used their summer internships as credit for a class. They both want to go into environmental law or consulting.
Nick Borelli, 20, a junior at Boston College in political science and a loyal San Franciscan "city kid", said he is not a typical conservationist. "I'm an environmentalist [because] I don't want my city to be underwater," he said. Borelli and three other interns worked San Francisco's streets, fairs, and phone lines this summer to raise awareness about the city's ongoing endeavors to prevent global climate disruption.
The skills and knowledge we have gained this summer have been invaluable. We will look back fondly on this experience as having been a reciprocal relationship with a powerful and effective environmental and political organization. We have made great friends and learned a good deal about local and national politics, and are certainly more ready than before to go out and make an impact. Thanks, Sierra Club!
You too can be an intern
Become a conservation intern yourself.
The Chapter is always looking for energetic, passionate conservation activists to bring aboard as interns. Interns can work on a number of local to national campaigns alongside a staff conservation organizer. Internships typically last 10 weeks at approximately 10 hours per week. We do not have paid openings, but colleges may give work/study pay or course credit. Applications are filled on a rolling basis. If you're interested, contact or call (510) 848-0800, ext. 323
For information about internships in the Club's Washington DC or San Francisco offices, visit www.sierraclub.org/careers/jobs_all.asp
For information about internships in Washington DC visit the Sierra Student Coalition or contact Jesse Prentice-Dunn at (202)548-4593 or by email to jpd -at- ssc.org