Summer 2026 - Intern, Advocacy & Partnerships

Vera Institute of Justice • Brooklyn, NY

16d • $17 - $25 • Hybrid

About The Position

Vera’s Advocacy & Partnerships department is responsible for coordinating the vision, strategy, and staff development across Vera’s initiatives to pass legislation, change policy, and create change at scale. We work to ensure that the goals of our advocacy campaigns align with the people and communities most impacted by criminal justice and immigration policies, and we collaborate with movement and advocacy partners to produce the right knowledge and ideas needed to change policies and legislation at the right time. Vera’s advocacy department serves the following core functions: Providing state and local government and movement strategy guidance to Vera’s national and place-based initiatives, with a focus on lobbying, campaigns, and coalition work; Vera Insights, a rapid response data and evidence team responsible for developing and producing data and knowledge to key partners and audiences; Federal Policy expertise to lead Vera's advocacy strategies in DC; and Vera Action, an independent (c)(4) entity. The learning goals of this internship include gaining insight into the issues affecting incarcerated individuals across the country, research learn and provide resources to incarcerated individuals and will learn about the various areas of the criminal legal and immigration reform that Vera’s Advocacy Department works on to gain insight that will help the intern in choosing a career path in the field.

Requirements

• Interest and experience in program management or equivalent work experience
• Experience conducting a wide range of research to support department needs
• A demonstrated interest in the criminal legal and immigration systems by recognizing racial equity and social justice
• Experience building and refining document organization systems
• Demonstrated verbal and written communication skills

Nice To Haves

• Knowledge of project management software and models ( i.e. Smartsheet, Asana)

Responsibilities

• Coordinate the backlog of communications from incarcerated individuals: Researching and producing a landscape and literature review about Housing First policies and other efforts to expand safe, affordable housing for people with criminal just involvement Supporting Vera Action’s preparation for the 2026 midterms election cycle.
• Assist with desk research and drafting written memos: Conduct online, media, literature, and news reviews. Draft research synopsis memos Supporting Vera Action’s preparation for the 2026 midterms election cycle.
• Help c reate and maintain internal information systems: Assist with maintaining the issue matrix to make sure all of the information is up-to-date and has all relevant materials. Create a database/list of all the state legislatures Vera works with, as well as some basic information on their voting history.
• Other duties as assigned by Manager, but not limited to Providing support for department meeting s and special events , to include but not limited to scheduling, meeting set up, creating agendas, ordering needed materials, etc.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 251-500 employees