Summer Policy Intern

Research Foundation of The City University of New York • New York, NY

8d • $20 - $25 • Hybrid

About The Position

Thank you for considering a career with the Research Foundation of The City University of New York (RFCUNY). The team at RFCUNY is made up of dedicated, talented professionals committed to providing the services that allow CUNY researchers, faculty, and staff to focus on their intellectual curiosity and scientific discoveries. We are pleased that you are interested in exploring opportunities to join RFCUNY. Primary Location: CUNY INSTITUTE FOR STATE & LOCAL GOVERNANCE Bargaining Unit: No CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance (ISLG): About Us The CUNY Institute for State and Local Governance has a mission to improve the financing, delivery, and measurement of critical public services through research, technical assistance, and education. We lead projects aimed at reforming the criminal justice system, measuring urban inequality, expanding the reach of social service providers, and more. Each project has a dedicated team of research and policy experts who collaborate closely with internal and external organizations. For more information about ISLG, please visit www.islg.cuny.edu. Our Goals for Diversity and Inclusion We strive to foster an office environment and an approach to work that welcomes and respects different perspectives, backgrounds, and life experiences. We are working towards our goal of recruiting and retaining staff, interns and advisory group members who are diverse in terms of race, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, religion, veteran status, socioeconomic status, disability, and justice system involvement. Who we are looking for: ISLG is recruiting up to 5 CUNY undergraduate and/or graduate student interns to work on a variety of projects, spanning a range of policy areas, including: Community-Based Restorative Justice – ISLG is managing the Community-Based Restorative Justice Grant program (CBRJ), on behalf of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. This program aims to incorporate or expand restorative practices and approaches in New York City. Through this initiative, 16 organizations have been funded to already perform restorative justice work or to incorporate restorative justice practices into their work. Interns will participate in team meetings and meetings with grantees, take notes, develop international RJ landscape analysis, and work on comms i.e., blogs and grantee spotlights. Project Restore- In partnership with the King’s County District Attorney’s Office (KCDA), ISLG is developing the infrastructure, administering contracts, and ensuring the sustainability of Project Restore in Brooklyn. The goals of Project Restore are to reduce gang-related and retaliatory violence, improve community safety, and support the positive development of young people most at risk of involvement in gun violence. The program aims to interrupt cycles of violence before they escalate by providing trauma-informed, community-led interventions rooted in restorative justice and public health principles. It seeks to create pathways to stability and opportunity through access to education, employment, mentoring, and emotional healing, while reducing young people’s contact with the criminal legal system. Project Restore also strives to build sustainable, community-based infrastructure for violence prevention by investing in local organizations and leaders with lived experience. Interns will participate in team meetings and meetings with grantees, assist with the development and execution of a solicitation, and support logistics and administration for the initiative. Diversion and Reentry and Community Safety Initiatives- Diversion and Reentry and Community Safety Initiatives- ISLG is assisting the NYC Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice (MOCJ) to develop and implement policies and programs aimed at reducing the jail population and increasing stability and wellbeing in the community through high-quality diversion and reentry initiatives. Additionally, ISLG is partnering with MOCJ and other government agencies to implement a precision public safety and community wellbeing initiative focused on investing in community supports at the hyper local level to develop tailored crime reduction strategies in partnership with residents to reduce violence and increase safety. Interns will participate in team meetings and meetings with non-profit service providers and government agencies, research evidence-based practices and clinical trainings, write policy and procedure documents, and support logistics and administration for the initiatives. Education: ISLG in partnership with NYC’s Campaign Finance Board, also launched a new fellowship in 2025 for CUNY Seniors called the Civic Engagement Fellowship (CEF). The fellowship is an innovative program designed to foster voter education and engagement in the Bronx by embedding CUNY students (Fellows) in community-based organizations (CBOs) grantees that serve the borough. Interns will support CEF by attending and taking notes during internal planning meetings, supporting logistics for Fellowship meetings, and attending CBO grantee check-ins. Gender Based Violence Projects: One of the projects in ISLG’s gender-based violence portfolio is the Criminalized Survivor Project. This is a participatory initiative aimed at documenting the barriers faced by GBV survivors who have experienced arrest, indictment, incarceration, or other interactions with the criminal legal system. The policy intern will also assist on a project that explores what happens in NYC during the first 24-72 hours after a crime is reported, including mandated and voluntary responses, coordination across agencies, and barriers to survivor services and wellbeing. The policy intern will participate in team meetings, help transcribe interviews, and review data. The core of this internship is creating community and peer-to-peer learning among ISLG interns; to foster community we will have bi-weekly in-person convenings that will cover a range of topics such as relationship building, project management, participatory policy making, etc. We are hiring interns to work at ISLG from May 26th to July 30th. Interns will have a hybrid work schedule and report to a designated ISLG staff member. Interns will work on a range of tasks within the projects listed above as well as others not listed here. Interns may work on one or more of the project areas above, as well as other projects. Tasks that the interns may be responsible for include: Taking notes at meetings Providing coordination support for scheduling meetings with partners Assisting in the preparation of materials for meetings, policy briefs, blogs and other communications Other tasks as needed to support ISLG’s work

Requirements

• Ability to commit to a consistent schedule of up to 35 hours per week for the internship period (i.e., May 26th– July 30th)
• Ability to attend peer-to-peer credentialed in-person weekly sessions, currently anticipated to be scheduled on Wednesdays from 9:00am-11:00am
• Personal, professional, or academic knowledge of any of the following fields: gender-based violence, criminal legal reform, police reform, peer leadership development, restorative justice, community engagement, youth development, civic engagement, and violence intervention
• Excellent time management skills and experience working in deadline-driven environments
• Ability to write and present in an articulate, structured, and compelling manner
• Ability to prioritize and work on a number of tasks simultaneously
• Flexibility about projects and workflow
• Passion about equitable state and local policy solutions to pressing social issues

Nice To Haves

• Experience in participatory action research and/or other community engagement approaches a plus
• Fluency in a language other than English is a plus

Responsibilities

• Taking notes at meetings
• Providing coordination support for scheduling meetings with partners
• Assisting in the preparation of materials for meetings, policy briefs, blogs and other communications
• Other tasks as needed to support ISLG’s work

Benefits

• RFCUNY Employee Benefits and Accruals
• Equal Employment Opportunity Statement The Research Foundation of the City University of New York is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action/Americans with Disabilities Act/E-Verify Employer. It is the policy of the Research Foundation of CUNY to provide equal employment opportunities free of discrimination based on race, color, age, religion, sex, pregnancy, childbirth, national origin, disability, marital status, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, genetic information, marital status, domestic violence victim status, arrest record, criminal conviction history, or any other protected characteristic under applicable law.

What This Job Offers

• Career Level: Intern
• Education Level: No Education Listed