Rainforest Action Network is looking for a motivated, passionate and hard-working intern to support the Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign. Are you an aspiring campaigner or organizer and exceptional motivator with a passion for the environment, food sovereignty issues, Indigenous rights and corporate campaigning? If so, we want you to spend the winter of 2009 supporting the Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign at Rainforest Action Network - one of the most effective corporate campaigning organizations around.
Working directly with the Rainforest Agribusiness campaigner, you will support and help shape the Rainforest Agribusiness Campaign as it works to defend forests, family farmers and our climate by challenging one of the fastest growing threats to the world's tropical forests: the rapid expansion of industrial agriculture. We need your help researching campaign opportunities and palm oil in the U.S. marketplace to help us implement strategies to influence tough corporate targets. You may also have the opportunity to support RAN's Forests Program as part of a dynamic campaign team focusing on paper, timber, agrofuels, UN REDD negotiations, and other drivers of deforestation.
For more information on the nature of the campaign, you can visit www.ran.org and www.theproblemwithpalmoil.org.
This internship is unpaid.
Desired Qualifications
- Strong research skills and ability to take on big research projects
- Campaigning and/or organizing experience
- Superior written and verbal communication skills, including writing and networking skills
- Familiarity with online organizing and a variety of online organizing tools such as facebook and twitter
- Interest with issues including nonviolent direct action, grassroots organizing, corporate social responsibility, climate change, biodiversity, human rights, fossil fuel and renewable energy politics
- Proficiency in English; conversation level language skills in either Indonesian or Malay are a plus
- Excellent prioritization and time management skills
- Familiarity with some of the following issues: Indigenous rights, biodiversity, global agriculture policy, bioregional foods, organic foods, slow foods, biofuels
Responsibilities
- Work with and report to Rainforest Agribusiness campaigner to support campaign strategies related to challenging the main drivers of rainforest agribusiness including: 1) the U.S. consumption of palm oil from converted rainforests; 2) U.S. agribusiness giant Cargill which is establishing palm oil operations in some of the planets' most biodiverse forests and trading and marketing those products in the U.S. and beyond.
- Conduct research to support campaign goals and activities
For the past 24 years, Rainforest Action Network has been campaigning for old-growth forests, their inhabitants and the natural systems that sustain life. In coalition with indigenous communities and allies from around the world, RAN uses non-violent direct action, grassroots organizing, education, and strategic communications to challenge corporations to phase out destructive operations, respect human rights, and adopt comprehensive policies that mitigate their contributions to global warming. RAN values diversity, educates staff on issues including privilege and oppression, and integrates these values into all of our work. We are seeking candidates who have a commitment to engage in this process and work with us to create a just, inclusive, and sustainable work environment and world. RAN provides all people with equal employment and volunteer opportunities.
